Sifted - Customer is king in southern Europe

Good morning there,

Today we have a new ranking for you that looks at the 50 fastest-growing companies across Southern Europe. And the good news for anyone who’s a little jaded by AI, edge computers — I still have no idea what those are — and crypto (same?), there are plenty of growing companies on there that are selling comfortingly normal things, like healthier snacks for office canteens, insurance for dogs and outdoor activity holidays (expense management software startups make the cut too, if they’re more your bag). Scroll on as I take you through the things that caught my eye most.

Elsewhere today:

• UK healthtech Zoe raises $15m for US expansion
• 20 biodiversity and conservation startups to watch
• Quantinuum preparing for US IPO?

— Éanna Kelly, contributing editor

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Customer is king in southern Europe

What do hair restoration supplements and ugly fruit have in common? Apparently you can build rapidly-growing tech businesses on the back of both. 

That’s according to Sifted’s newly published Southern Europe Leaderboard, which ranks the region’s fastest-growing companies by revenue growth. The ranking reveals a vast middle ground: many of the tech companies that make the cut aren’t household names but they’re all growing just fine, thanks for asking. Spanish and Italian companies dominate, taking 40 out of the 50 spots. 

Something that jumped out for me is how the customer remains king in this part of the world (so-called business-to-consumer, or B2C, companies were the second-most represented industry in the list, taking up 13 places). The downturn may have exposed the weak foundations of many of Europe’s newer consumer brands — but here we find companies that are not only hanging in there, but are also bringing in the money. 

Top of the list is Olistic, a Barcelona-based company that scientifically treats hair loss and the factors that contribute to it with supplements it sells directly to customers. The company has raised just €6.5m from investors but has seen revenues grow a tidy 529.01% over the past two financial years.

And about that ugly fruit. The founders of Lisbon-based Equal Food (9th on the ranking) were motivated by the challenge to do something about the estimated 50m tonnes of misshapen fruit and veg that are discarded every year in Europe. Its solution? Stick the blemished avocados and green lemons into cheap, wonky-looking food baskets and deliver them straight to people's doors.

Up and down the list, there’s a string of companies solving everyday problems — like securing health coverage for your dog or delivering vital medications to your door. Noticeable by their absence are the tenuous tech propositions — the blockchain this, crypto that blah blah companies — which were attractive to investors when money was free.

What I’ve come to appreciate by doing these leaderboards with colleagues is that not every company is hot enough — or needs to be — to slap on the cover of a business magazine. The downturn, and the economic hangover in its wake, have refocused minds on what really matters: getting money in the door. And these companies are all quietly succeeding on this score. 

Read the full ranking here.

— Éanna Kelly, contributing editor

🇬🇧 UK healthtech Zoe has raised $15m to scale its gut microbiome testing and diet app in the US. The Series B extension, raised entirely from US VC Coefficient Capital, comes as the startup sets its sights on the “huge opportunity” stateside, according to cofounder and CEO Jonathan Wolf.

• “Successfully penetrating the US is famously one of the hardest things for a tech company from outside of the country to do,” Wolf tells Sifted. But the reward if Zoe gets it right could be huge, he adds. “That’s partly because the market is so large, but also because the health crisis is so bad.”
• The round takes Zoe’s total funding to $118m. Previous investors include Steven Bartlett’s Flight Fund, Balderton, Ahren and Daphni.

🇪🇸 Barcelona-based beauty tech startup Olistic has topped the newly launched Sifted 50: Southern Europe Leaderboard — a ranking of the 50 startups with the strongest revenue growth over the past three financial years across Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus.

🇺🇸 Quantinuum, the company founded in 2021 by the merger of UK-based quantum startup Cambridge Quantum and US multinational Honeywell’s quantum division, is preparing for a potential IPO in the US, according to a Bloomberg report. The listing could happen as soon as next year and seek up to a $10bn valuation. 

• Quantinuum is one of the best-funded quantum companies in the world, having raised around $625m to date; at the start of the year, the company closed a $300m round at a $5bn valuation. Honeywell declined to comment; Quantinuum did not reply to a request for comment.

🌿 20 biodiversity and conservation startups to watch. (Sifted Pro subscribers)

💳 19 payments startups to watch, according to VCs.

🏥 19 AI healthtech startups to watch, according to VCs.

Final call — Germany Startup Leaderboard!

Don’t miss out on gaining unparalleled exposure and credibility for your startup by featuring on our ranking of the fastest-growing startups in the region. Free to apply — applications close August 2.

Sifted 30: Central Europe. Dive deep into our top-listed startups in Central Europe, as we explore the interesting trends behind the companies with the fastest-growing revenue in the region. Download it here.

H1 2024 Review. The tech ecosystem is arguably in a better place than it was at the start of the year, with €47.3bn injected into Europe’s startups. Dig into the data and big trends in our inaugural report tracking all of H1’s data. Download it here.

Future of Flying. With environmental pressure mounting, this report takes a journey through the tech that is changing airports — and air travel — across the globe. Download it here.

Going global through M&A. 90% of executives expect an increase in foreign M&A targets in 2024. If you’re looking to go global, our Sifted Guide will help you better understand how to navigate the complexities of moving to a new market. Download it here.

Mannheim, Germany-based osapiens, an ESG platform that helps companies comply with international ESG regulations, raised €110.7m in Series B funding. Goldman Sachs and Armira Growth led the round. 

Copenhagen-based Female Invest, an app and community for women to learn about investing and personal finance, raised €10.3m in Series A funding. Educapital and Rubio Impact Ventures led the round.

Amsterdam-based Epum, a data analytics and research platform for the commercial real estate sector, raised €1.47m in pre-seed funding. Curiosity VC led the round and was joined by investors including NP-Hard Ventures, Remote First Capital and Heartfelt.

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

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After a soaking wet opening ceremony Friday, the Olympic Games are now underway in Paris — and startups too are determined to be a part of the fun.  

• Olympic-themed marketing campaigns are multiplying, from fintech Sumeria’s new mascot-branded debit cards to medical appointment booking platform Doctolib announcing it's now available in multiple languages to accommodate visitors to the French capital. 
• Ride-hailing app Heetch has gone for a more inventive approach, with ads encouraging tourists to pick the startup’s main competitor Uber — and promoting itself instead as the preferred choice for local residents. But topping the list of sports fandom is probably EV charging point startup Electra, which has pledged to reduce the price it charges for 1 KwH of energy by one cent for every gold medal won by French athletes.