Good morning Sifted reader,

It's the big day: 2,000+ founders, investors and operators are descending on Magazine London for the Sifted Summit. We'll be sharing highlights on social — follow us on X and LinkedIn — and in this newsletter on Friday.

From next Monday, we'll also be taking this newsletter daily, bringing you the latest news, juiciest intel and most revealing data on Europe's startup scene every weekday morning. That means we can more comprehensively:

Share the most interesting deals of the day
Flag the news that matters to founders and investors
Report on the trends impacting the ecosystem

No need to do anything to receive it — just sit tight and let us know what you think!

– Amy, editor

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🦾 HCVC, a Paris-based VC firm dedicated to "hardtech" has closed a new $75m fund to back pre-seed and seed startups.

“There is no chance that we will resolve some of the biggest problems that we face — like climate change or decarbonising our industries — thanks to software alone,” HCVC founder Alexis Houssou told Sifted. “For this, you have to build solutions that exist in the physical world. That’s hardtech.”

🙅‍♀️ Unitary, a content moderation startup, has raised $15m from Creandum, Paladin Capital Group and Plural. It's built an AI model that analyses video and image content to assess violations of its customers’ safety policies — and cuts down a lot of (fairly traumatic) manual labour.

🤫 Europe's worst-kept secret is finally out: Atomico has raised $1.1bn for two new funds, according to SEC filings. The London VC firm is aiming to raise $1.35bn, reports the FT, cementing its position as one of Europe's most heavyweight investors.

🚀 The EU has published a list of 10 critical technologies it aims to protect to bolster its economic security.

The highest priority technologies listed are: advanced semiconductors; artificial intelligence; quantum; and some biotechnologies like genome sequencing and synthetic biology.
The EU wants to help nurture the development of these key technologies — and avoid intellectual property theft from hostile states.
It will ask member states to carry out risk assessments of the priority technologies by the end of the year.

The UK isn't planning to create a Britain-based international body for AI safety, says Matt Clifford, one of its senior AI advisors and organiser of its upcoming AI summit — or at least, not anytime soon.

“It would be absurd for a new institution” to come out of the summit, given engagement with participating countries began only weeks ago, Clifford told Sifted.
It's also unlikely that the event will result in countries calling for a moratorium on AI development, he said. “Personally, I think there’s a lot more work that needs to be done on the identification [of risks] before we get to that.”
We also learnt that the summit will focus on the risks posed by AI — like the creation of bioweapons and stronger cyber attacks — and won't devote much time to artificial general intelligence.

🚀 Exor CEO John Elkann: Why one of Italy’s wealthiest families is betting big on Italian tech.

🤖 The best non-creepy robots in Europe: A very subjective ranking.

💉 11 drug discovery startups to watch, according to VCs.

🤝 M&A advisors: Who to bring in when you’re looking to sell.

"We are liars, hypocrites and egoists." One VC's view on the follies and failures of investors — and the problems they cause.

💼 20-30-year-olds love the office. So finds a new report out today, which surveyed 2,000 young techies across Europe.

More than half (56%) said they choose to be in the office four to five days per week because it makes them feel more motivated and engaged
Just 9% prefer to work remotely
59% think their job is secure (up from 51% last year)
However… 56% said their job impacts their mental health

🇬🇧 The whole team of Sifted journalists (17 and counting…) will be at the Sifted Summit in London today and Thursday.

🧩 For those of you struggling to find product-market fit, join our Sifted Talks on October 18. Hear advice from a serial entrepreneur, seasoned product operator and unicorn founder. RSVP — it's free!

💊 And if you're an investor interested in healthtech, join our next Pitch event on October 24, exclusively for Sifted Pro subscribers. We'll showcase some healthtech startups in fine fettle looking for funding in Q4.

🔥🔥

Automata, the London-based lab automation startup, has raised $40m led by US-based VC Dimension, with participation from Octopus Ventures, Hummingbird and Isomer, among others. Customers include various NHS Trusts in the UK, pharma giant AstraZeneca and The Francis Crick Institute.
France-based Umiami, a plant-based meat startup that says it has a “unique protein texturising process”, has closed a €32.5m Series A extension (bringing the round total to €59m). It plans to open a new factory in Alsace and — like plenty of other European startups which have raised recently — expand to the US.
Paris-based sales ops startup Qobra has closed a €10m Series A, led by VC firm Singular.

🔥

London-based green energy software startup Granular Energy closed a €7.5m seed round led by Norrsken VC.
Paris-based Kraaft bagged a €3.2m seed round to digitise communications for construction companies.
Swiss robotic systems startup Bota Systems has closed a $2.5m seed round led by Marathon Venture Capital.
Oslo-based HR tech Fairsight has raised a $2m seed co-led by Skyfall Ventures, Sondo Capital and FuturumVC.

🤝

Factorial, the Barcelona-based HR platform, has acquired Fuell, an expense management startup, also from Spain.

If you’d like to submit a deal, get in touch.

Who once declared Atomico (and Skype) founder Niklas Zennström "public enemy number one"? Sifted's founder and editorial director John Thornhill can tell you, following his Lunch with the FT with the Swedish tech billionaire.

There are plenty of ways to get your fix.

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