Sifted - Exit blues

Good morning there,

As a founder, you likely have one eye on an exit event down the road — and if you don’t, your investors will. But what’s often seen as a big pay day and permission to relax after grinding away for years isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Today, we bring you stories from founders who’ve suffered from the exit blues. 

Elsewhere, we dig into how you can really take time off over the holidays, reveal Europe’s fastest-growing robotics startups and highlight 13 of Europe’s newest female VC partners.

As we get ready to turn on the OOO and pull down the curtain on 2023, throughout this week we’ll also be taking a look back at the year that was in European tech. Look out for that.

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Exit blues

If you’re a founder, it’s likely the idea of a big payout after an exit has crossed your mind. But what if you get to exit day and the newfound financial freedom you thought would bring you fulfilment, actually leaves you with the exit blues?

That's what happened to Emma Obanye, who left her fan engagement platform BuddyBounce following an exit to Crowdmix, a social app for music fans. She says her post-exit mental health struggles were rooted in feelings of lost identity. “It was my baby — and then all of a sudden, it’s gone. I was like, ‘Who am I?’” she says.

“It’s more common than not to feel this way,” says Johan Nordenström, who exited marketing company Kaplan in 2018. “From conversations with other founders, I only know a few instances where true happiness has come from exit.”

The pressure of getting an exit right can also sever cofounder relations, as Jonny Plein found out after selling Pouch, a browser extension for discount codes, in 2019. He and his cofounder — who’d been best friends since school — had two offers on the table, and as CEO Plein made the call to go with the option he thought had a better chance of going through. His cofounder thought he’d made the wrong decision, and six weeks after the sale he left the business.

“What should’ve been a really joyous occasion that we all celebrated, wasn’t. It had a nasty tinge to it. I lost one of my oldest mates through the process,” Plein says. 

Long-term though, struggling post-exit has benefitted each of the founders Sifted spoke to. After re-entering the world of tech, they say they’re doing things differently second time around.

Plein and his cofounder are friends again, and he says he’s applying the lessons learned from the breakdown in communication to his new company, e-commerce startup Yaso. “We’ve had equally stressful situations at Yaso, but handled in a completely different way. We’re very good at having difficult conversations in a very transparent and professional way,” he says.

“I realise that the chest filled with gold coins at the end of the rainbow isn’t necessarily what you should strive for,” adds Nordenström, who launched healthtech Medoma in 2021. “The journey itself, including the tough parts, is what makes you feel human and alive, and gives you meaning.”

— Sadia Nowshin, editorial assistant

🇸🇪 Two workers die after separate accidents at Northvolt factory. On Thursday, a worker employed by construction company NCC working at Northvolt’s Skellefteå site in northern Sweden, died after a crane accident. Then on Friday, an employee of Northvolt who had been injured when an explosive fire broke out at the site in November, died in hospital, the company said.

• Peter Carlsson, CEO and cofounder of Northvolt, said in a comment to Sifted that it is a “dark day” for the company, adding that “measures have been put in place, while support has gone out to families and colleagues.”
• The Swedish Work Environment Agency is looking into the two accidents. The agency’s section head, Madeleine Wachter, told Sifted an investigation into the accident that occurred in November is in its final stages, and that it is currently inspecting the accident site from Thursday.

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🏝 How to really take time off. As the festive break approaches, many workers across Europe will be turning on the out-of-office and checking out for a much-needed break — but the temptation to check one email, have a scroll through your LinkedIn messages or open Slack just in case is hard to resist. Marta Michniewicz, a leadership development expert and therapist, shares her top tips on truly switching off, including:

• Go cold turkey on tech. Cutting the ropes on all sources of work-related stress is a vital first step, from sending the work phone to voicemail to deleting the email app if you know you’re inclined to check. For early-stage teams anxious about falling behind, she recommends deciding what needs to be done before the holidays so you can take time off without a guilty conscience, and making the post-holiday to-do list before you sign off. 
• Reflect and ask yourself who you are without work. Remind yourself of the non-career-furthering activities you like, and make time to do them — whether it’s running through the woods, climbing or painting. 

🤝 Meet 13 of Europe’s newest female VC partners 

🤖 Europe’s fastest-growing robotics startups

📝 2023 was somewhat of a reality check for European tech — and Sifted’s latest briefing has the numbers to prove it:

• Total funding for Europe’s startups in 2023 (up to December 5) fell by 42% compared to 2022.
• The biggest drop came at Series C and beyond, with the money raised slashed in half ($30bn in 2023 compared to $61.4bn in 2022).
• Every European country tracked by Sifted saw total funding decrease this year compared to 2022 — with the exception of Denmark, which managed to match the €1.4bn it brought in last year.  

Dig into the full numbers here. (Exclusively for Pro subscribers).

🇪🇸 ENISA, Spain’s national innovation agency, has certified more than 565 Spanish startups since it started offering certification in July this year — startups that get the stamp of approval get tax benefits and become eligible for the agency's funding mechanisms.

• According to new data released by ENISA, it has also approved 643 loans to startups so far in 2023, totalling €112m. The average loan was €174k, more than 6% higher than last year. 
• Early-stage startups founded less than a year ago represented 23% of the loans approved, and 17% of the money.
• Most loans went to startups in Catalonia (34.6%), followed by Madrid and the Valencia region.

Vienna-based Hydrogrid, a data tool that monitors the performance of hydropower plants, raised $8.5m. Investors Inven Capital and Karma Ventures led the round, and were joined by investors including CNB Capital and SET Ventures. 

Tallinn-based Arbonics, which is building a platform that helps landowners calculate the carbon removal potential of their land, raised €5.5m in seed funding from investors including NordicNinja, Plural and Tilia Impact Ventures.

Gilching, Germany-based Vectoflow, a maker of customised 3D-printed flow measurement tools, raised a €4m Series A from investors including Bayern Kapital, WN Invest and One Investment.

Sheffield, UK-based Tribosonics, which develops digital sensing tech to detect wear and tear in hardware including wind turbines, raised £1.5m from investors including NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance.

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