Sifted - Atomico's overhaul

Good morning there,

Last Monday, Atomico announced a fresh $1.24bn raised across two new funds; over 50% more than it raised for its last fund in 2020. What the London-based VC didn't announce was that there's been a partner merry-go-round at the firm since then: five investment partners have left, and seven have joined or been promoted in the past four years. Amy Lewin looks at who's in, and who's out.

Elsewhere today:

• 14 Paris-based startups to watch, according to VCs
• Men’s health provider Manual has raised £29m to ramp up expansion in Brazil

P.S. We’re hiring! Sifted is on the hunt for our next news editor. Know someone perfect? Please share the role; job advert here.

— Tom Nugent, newsletter editor

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🇬🇧 Scoop: Men’s health provider Manual has raised £29m to ramp up expansion in Brazil. The UK-based startup, which sells and prescribes medication, diagnostic tools and supplements for a number of men’s health conditions, issued new shares in May and June this year, according to Companies House filings. Manual confirmed the raise with Sifted.

• “We will continue using this capital to invest in delivering even better health outcomes for our patients, while ramping up our investment in technology and accelerating our expansion across Brazil,” says George Pallis, the company’s CEO and cofounder. 

🇩🇪 Exclusive: Berlin-based Smalt, a training academy and tech platform to train installers of things like solar panels, has raised €8m in seed funding led by proptech VC Noa, formerly A/O PropTech. The startup is also now pivoting into commercial PV installations as the residential solar market has taken a big hit in the last year. 

👀 Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala has taken a stake in Revolut for the first time, according to the FT. The paper reported Friday that the investor participated in the UK fintech’s employee share sale last month alongside Coatue, D1 Capital Partners and Tiger Global, citing three people with knowledge of the transaction.

• Mubadala was one of the most active investors in European tech from the Gulf when Sifted pulled the data earlier this year.

🇫🇷 Paris-based AI startup Poolside is in talks to raise nearly $500m at a $3bn valuation, according to Bloomberg. Poolside did not reply to Sifted’s request for comment.

• The company, which hasn’t publicly released a product yet, moved its HQ to Paris from the US last year, raising a $126m seed round in the process. It’s cofounded by former GitHub CTO Jason Warner and serial entrepreneur Eiso Kant, and plans to build an AI tool that could write software.

💰 Atomico overhauls top ranks between funds: five partners out, seven in. In the past four years, between announcing its last fund of $820m and closing two new funds totalling $1.24bn, the London-based VC’s investment partners have almost all changed. Seven new partners have joined, or been promoted, since 2020, while five have left the firm or moved into new roles. 

👀 14 Paris-based startups to watch, according to VCs.

🗣️ Dr Soum Rakshit, the cofounder and CEO of MV.Health, shares his tips on how to operate in a taboo market. 

• Soum is speaking at the Sifted Summit in just over two weeks. Not got a ticket yet? You can get one here. 

⭐ Interested in expanding into MENA? Here's how to get access. (Sponsored by Expand North Star)

What does the future airport look like?

The increasing pressure on aviation to reduce fossil fuel use is kicking all kinds of climate-friendly innovation into gear, from vertiports to hybrid planes. Our report explores the new tech revolutionising airports and the current pressure on the airport industry.

How to tap the Gulf for investment. As competition for the region’s capital heats up, how can European startups stand out to investors from the Middle East? Join our online Sifted Talks on September 18 to find out. RSVP.

Network with the best of European tech. In just over two weeks (across October 2 and 3) Sifted is bringing the best of startup Europe to Magazine London for Sifted Summit. Get your ticket now before they're all snapped up!

Paris. French tech reporter Daphné Leprince-Ringuet is at France Digitale’s FDDAY Wednesday. If you’re also there, get in touch. She’s also on the jury for a startup pitch competition at B2B Rocks on September 25.

Berlin. Reporter Sadia Nowshin is at Atlantic Labs’ From the Labs event Thursday. Drop her a line if you’re also attending.

London. Senior reporter Freya Pratty is at the Frame conference for VCs and LPs Thursday, and the RealTech conference Friday. If you’re at either of those, get in touch.

Manchester, UK-based F2G, a developer of novel therapies to treat life-threatening rare fungal infections, raised $100m in funding. AMR Action Fund and ICG led the round and were joined by investors including Novo Holdings, Advent Life Sciences, Forbion and Sofinnova Partners.

Munich, Germany-based Reverion, which is building reversible, carbon-negative power plants, raised $62m in Series A funding. Energy Impact Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Honda, European Innovation Council, UVC Partners and Extantia Capital.

Évry, France-based Abolis Biotechnologies, which provides micro-organism technology capable of developing new bioproducts, raised €35m in funding from investors including L'Oreal, Evonik Venture Capital, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, Clay Capital, ICOS Capital and Liberset.

Eindhoven, Netherlands-based Morphotonics, which manufactures nanoimprint lithography equipment, raised €10m in Series B funding from investors including 3M, BOM Brabant Ventures and Innovation Industries.

Antwerp, Belgium-based Beebop, developers of power grid software used by utilities companies and grid operators, raised €4.9m in seed funding. Angular Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Contrarian Ventures.

Pärnu, Estonia-based Patchstack, an open-source software company addressing emerging security threats, raised $5m in Series A funding. Karma Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including G+D Ventures and Emilia Capital.

Paris-based Standing Ovation, which produces animal-free proteins for dairy products, raised a €3.75m Series A extension from investors including Astanor Ventures.

Kyiv-based Osavul, a media intelligence company that uses AI to analyse and counter disinformation, raised €2.78m in seed funding. 42CAP led the round and was joined by investors including U.ventures and SMRK.

Vaud, Switzerland-based ClearSpace, which is an in-orbit servicing company aiming to remove space debris, raised €2.75m in funding from the UK Space Agency.

Paris-based Bib Batteries, which is focusing on extending the lifecycle of EV batteries, raised €2.2m in funding. Family Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including NextGear Ventures, SuperCapital and the Wendel family office.

Amsterdam-based UserGuest, a conversion tool for hotel online bookings, raised €2.2m in seed funding. Al Mada Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including CDG Invest, Saviu Ventures, UM6P Ventures, Kalys VC and Plug & Play.

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