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Edtech

Edtech's biggest threat? Kids

Without physical classrooms, students are no longer able to play many of their usual pranks on teachers.

So some ingenious kids have come up with new tricks.

Tim Smith finds out how Kahoot! bots are causing havoc in virtual classrooms across the world.

🚀 Scale globally with M12 — Microsoft's venture fund 🚀

M12 invests in early-stage enterprise software companies. The team provides support beyond capital, offering product integration opportunities, additional sales power and access to the Microsoft ecosystem to help your startup scale globally.

Intrigued? Find out more about M12. [Sponsored post]

Talent

What's happening to the talent market?

Hiring is not at the top of many founders' to-do lists at the moment, with one report finding that 49% of startups have frozen hiring, while also making good use of job retention schemes across Europe.

So what's the outlook for talent looking for new roles, or graduates hoping to jump into startups?

We gathered an expert panel to find out — and here are the highlights of our discussion.

Diversity

Finally, some data on diverse founders

For years, there has been virtually no data on ethnic minority founders.

Now, finally, that's changing. Extend Ventures has just published the results of its first survey, on the impact of Covid-19 on black and ethnic minority founders, and is starting a much deeper piece of research into investment into BAME founders.

But why is gathering data so important? “If you don’t have information and evidence, you don’t have a voice,” says Tom Adeyoola from Extend.

Amy Lewin finds out more.

Recruitment

Raising $30m to grow... slowly

Zenjob co-founder and chief executive, Fritz Trott, doesn’t have the hypergrowth-first mindset of many founders. He is not planning a hiring spree, rapid international expansion or to completely reinvent a category.

But his company, an automated staffing platform that matches students with flexible or temp jobs, recently closed a Series C round of $30m right in the midst of a wider slowdown in funding due to coronavirus.

How?

Julia Neuman in Berlin speaks to Zenjob.

🎭 Which corporates are going beyond 'innovation theatre'? 🎭

Corporate innovation is often a bit like the emperor's new clothes; all show and no substance.

But some companies have cracked it — and innovation advisory firm Mind the Bridge reckons it knows who they are.

Find out what good looks like. [Sponsored post]

News that matters

🇫🇷 France is deciding whether to launch a home-made Covid tracking app. But will parliament give it the green light? Marie Mawad in Paris investigates.

Plus, there's been a funding round bonanza...

🚕 Uber, watch out. Bolt, the Estonian mobility company, has raised $100m. It's now valued at €1.7bn but isn't in tip-top health; it saw revenues drop by 75% mid-March.

🚛 Scandit, a Swiss barcode scanning platform, has raised $80m. Contactless logistics solutions like this are all the rage now, the Scandit CEO tells VentureBeat.

💊 Exscientia, an Oxford-based drug discovery company, has raised $60m. It uses AI to design and develop drugs (including Covid-19 treatments), and speed up the time it takes to bring new drugs to clinical trial. Find more on what Exscientia is up to in this piece from our Maija Palmer.

☎️ Aircall, a French platform which helps companies like Glovo, Mindful Chef and Natwest manage customer support and sales calls, has raised €60m. It wants to make 100 hires by the end of the year.

👗 Otrium, a Dutch retail tech platform, has raised €24m. It helps clothing brands sell collections that would otherwise go unsold — a pretty pressing problem for most retailers right now.

🏥 Medwing, a German healthcare jobs platform, has raised €28m. It matches health workers with employers — some for permanent roles, others for shifts — and works with an impressive 80% of Berlin's hospitals.

📬 Delivery! Milkman, a Milan-based logistics platform, has raised €25m from investors including the Italian post service. It helps companies like Zara, Coop and Nespresso offer customers same-day delivery.

Senior Manager, GCP Quality Assurance, Orchard Therapeutics, London
Data and Insights Lead, Farewill, London
Product Manager, Hutch, London
Customer Operations Manager, Freetrade, London

Check out our jobs board if you are looking for your next startup job.

Sifted Suggests

👍 Tricky French stock options. How healthtech startup Alan is making its team's equity actually worth something. (For more on Alan and its fascinating company culture, read our profile here.)

📸 How to get media attention. Sifted's Amy Lewin joins journalists from The Financial Times, Fast Company and The Sunday Times to discuss how editorial teams are thinking in the 'next normal'. Sign up here (and apologies for the broken link on Monday!)

👊 Can quantum-inspired supercomputers crack the Covid-19 drug challenge? Sifted's Maija Palmer takes a look.

Sifted resources

Amy Lewin
Deputy Editor

Get in touch with her at amy@sifted.eu.
She loves a bit of reader feedback.

Follow the whole Sifted team for news and views:
@MStothard, @amyrlewin, @maijapalmer, @i_woodford, @Marie_a_Paris, @KitGillet, @timmpsmith, @connorbilboe, @MimiBilling, @kittygknowles, @johnthornhillft

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Sifted - Kids trolling edtech 😈

Edtech

Edtech's biggest threat? Kids

🚀 Scale globally with M12 — Microsoft's venture fund 🚀

M12 invests in early-stage enterprise software companies. The team provides support beyond capital, offering product integration opportunities, additional sales power and access to the Microsoft ecosystem to help your startup scale globally.

Intrigued? Find out more about M12. [Sponsored post]

Talent

What's happening to the talent market?

Diversity

Finally, some data on diverse founders

Recruitment

Raising $30m to grow... slowly

🎭 Which corporates are going beyond 'innovation theatre'? 🎭

Corporate innovation is often a bit like the emperor's new clothes; all show and no substance.

But some companies have cracked it — and innovation advisory firm Mind the Bridge reckons it knows who they are.

Find out what good looks like. [Sponsored post]

News that matters

🇫🇷 France is deciding whether to launch a home-made Covid tracking app. But will parliament give it the green light? Marie Mawad in Paris investigates.

Plus, there's been a funding round bonanza...

Senior Manager, GCP Quality Assurance, Orchard Therapeutics, London
Data and Insights Lead, Farewill, London
Product Manager, Hutch, London
Customer Operations Manager, Freetrade, London

Check out our jobs board if you are looking for your next startup job.

Sifted Suggests

👍 Tricky French stock options. How healthtech startup Alan is making its team's equity actually worth something. (For more on Alan and its fascinating company culture, read our profile here.)

📸 How to get media attention. Sifted's Amy Lewin joins journalists from The Financial Times, Fast Company and The Sunday Times to discuss how editorial teams are thinking in the 'next normal'. Sign up here (and apologies for the broken link on Monday!)

👊 Can quantum-inspired supercomputers crack the Covid-19 drug challenge? Sifted's Maija Palmer takes a look.

Sifted resources

Older messages

Monzo gets a new CEO 💥

Marketing with no money, in a pandemic 🏋️

Monzo's 40% valuation drop 😬

Why tech still doesn't understand periods 🩸

Unmissable virtual events: a list 🎪

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🗞 What's New: How 5 vibe-coded games went viral w/out big audiences

⏳ 72 hours left! Don’t miss the biggest ecommerce sourcing event of the year

Positioning Startups in the Age of AI

AI strategies for industrials

[CEI] Chrome Extension Ideas #181

$2.7M ARR

Why you’re so angry at work (and what to do about it)

Growth Newsletter #244

🛎️ Hey Friend , did you get your product costs wrong? (Here’s how to fix it)

The next French unicorns

Sifted - Kids trolling edtech 😈

Edtech

Edtech's biggest threat? Kids

M12 invests in early-stage enterprise software companies. The team provides support beyond capital, offering product integration opportunities, additional sales power and access to the Microsoft ecosystem to help your startup scale globally. Intrigued? Find out more about M12. [Sponsored post]

Talent

What's happening to the talent market?

Diversity

Finally, some data on diverse founders

Recruitment

Raising $30m to grow... slowly

Corporate innovation is often a bit like the emperor's new clothes; all show and no substance. But some companies have cracked it — and innovation advisory firm Mind the Bridge reckons it knows who they are.

Find out what good looks like. [Sponsored post]

News that matters

🇫🇷 France is deciding whether to launch a home-made Covid tracking app. But will parliament give it the green light? Marie Mawad in Paris investigates.

Plus, there's been a funding round bonanza...

Senior Manager, GCP Quality Assurance, Orchard Therapeutics, London Data and Insights Lead, Farewill, London Product Manager, Hutch, London Customer Operations Manager, Freetrade, London Check out our jobs board if you are looking for your next startup job.

Sifted Suggests

👍 Tricky French stock options. How healthtech startup Alan is making its team's equity actually worth something. (For more on Alan and its fascinating company culture, read our profile here.)

📸 How to get media attention. Sifted's Amy Lewin joins journalists from The Financial Times, Fast Company and The Sunday Times to discuss how editorial teams are thinking in the 'next normal'. Sign up here (and apologies for the broken link on Monday!)

👊 Can quantum-inspired supercomputers crack the Covid-19 drug challenge? Sifted's Maija Palmer takes a look.

Sifted resources

Older messages

You Might Also Like

M12 invests in early-stage enterprise software companies. The team provides support beyond capital, offering product integration opportunities, additional sales power and access to the Microsoft ecosystem to help your startup scale globally.

Intrigued? Find out more about M12. [Sponsored post]

Corporate innovation is often a bit like the emperor's new clothes; all show and no substance.

But some companies have cracked it — and innovation advisory firm Mind the Bridge reckons it knows who they are.

Senior Manager, GCP Quality Assurance, Orchard Therapeutics, London
Data and Insights Lead, Farewill, London
Product Manager, Hutch, London
Customer Operations Manager, Freetrade, London

Check out our jobs board if you are looking for your next startup job.