Sifted - The best countries for stock options

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Today, Kai Nicol-Schwarz breaks down the fastest-growing digital health startups by headcount, a sector that faced a bruising 2023 but is showing signs of recovery this year.

One noteworthy thing from that list is nearly a third of the companies have made it their job to help care workers and families better look after the elderly. They work across the value chain, and include a recruitment platform for care providers as well as an app for elderly patients and carers to manage at-home healthcare — services that will become increasingly important as more of us live longer and cope with the associated health risks.

Elsewhere, new data from Index Ventures says Germany (which has historically pitted founders against a lot of bureaucratic red tape) has a stock options setup on par with the US after making one significant policy tweak — I get into that below.

We’re also gearing up for the UK budget on Wednesday. Nicol-Schwarz is across that for Sifted. Got something to say? Drop him a line.

Plus:

• Open-source cybersecurity platform Filigran raises $35m Series B
• How to get into Y Combinator

— Tom Nugent, newsletter editor

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🇫🇷 French startup Filigran, which provides open-source tools to help organisations protect themselves against cyber attacks, has raised a $35m Series B.

• It comes less than 12 months after closing a $16m Series A last February, as the company plans to ride the wave of growing global demand for cybersecurity products.
• Global software VC Insight Partners led the Series B raise, with participation from existing investors Accel and Moonfire VC.

💪 Europe’s 10 fastest-growing digital health startup teams.

👀 How to get into Y Combinator.

Germany is on par with the US and closing in on France and the UK when it comes to stock options rules, according to new data from Index Ventures released as part of its Not Optional campaign to improve options schemes across Europe. In 2023, Germany had the worst setup for stock options in the region, according to Index. 

What’s changed?

The big difference from the last time the data was pulled is the country’s Future Financing Act, which became law in early 2024. It defers taxation on stock options until they’re sold for employees at companies with fewer than 1,000 staff and an annual turnover of less than €86m. Prior to that, options were taxed when they were exercised — the process of turning them into actual shares in the company before they can be sold.

Some other notable points from the data:

• Six European countries (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, the UK, Portugal and France) rank higher than the US.
• The three worst-performing countries are Switzerland, Norway and Finland. The Netherlands and Belgium haven’t performed much better.

Why do stock options matter?

All tech hubs benefit from money being recycled back into the ecosystem — and employees being able to cash in their options after an IPO, acquisition or via a secondaries transaction often leads to that; many use their new capital to launch their own companies, others become angel investors.

But European startups haven’t always been great at offering employees ownership. As I wrote earlier this year, plenty of staff don’t really understand what their options mean, or what they’re worth. 

Things do seem to be changing though. Five years ago, European employee ownership at late-stage startups averaged 12%, compared to 20% in the US. Today it stands at 16% and is rising, according to Index. A number of the countries on its ranking are also trying to improve things domestically. 

“Every improvement makes it easier for startups to attract and retain talent, and more likely that they’ll be able to create the next tech giant in Europe,” says Index partner Martin Mignot.

There’s also been a policy push on a Europe-wide level. Leading scaleups and VC firms in the region recently called on European policymakers to create a new single, pan-European legal entity (‘EU Inc’) which would allow startups to follow one set of business rules that would apply across the bloc. That would include creating a unified employee stock options framework across the EU.

— Tom Nugent, newsletter editor

Antwerp, Belgium-based Agomab, which develops therapeutics for fibrotic diseases, raised $89m in Series D funding from investors including Sanofi and Invus.

Ghent, Belgium-based MobilityPlus, an EV charging provider, raised €40m in funding. Suma Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Concentra. 

Rome-based Radical Storage, an online platform providing travellers with luggage storage services, raised $7m in Series A funding. CDP Venture Capital, Azimut and Opes Italia Sicaf co-led the round and were joined by existing investors including Finint Investments and Vertis.

• Over $2m of the total funding was raised through an equity crowdfunding campaign on Mamacrowd.

Riga-based Origin, which develops dual-use aerial systems such as drones with computer vision, raised €2.4m in funding. Change Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors including Silicon Roundabout Ventures.

• The company also raised €1.6m in grant funding from the EU and the Latvian Ministry of Defence.

Paris-based Aether, which uses AI tools to provide data about building rooftop solar tech systems, raised $2.5m in seed funding. Noa led the round and was joined by investors including Y Combinator, Collab Fund, Amino Capital and Climate Capital.

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