Sifted - Monzo’s new C-suite hires

Good morning there,

Some of Europe's biggest fintechs hitting profitability this year has brought secondaries fever to the market. Fintech’s move into the black, along with early investors and employees wanting to liquidate their holdings, has created a perfect storm for secondhand share sales, Shing Lo, partner at law firm Latham & Watkins, tells me.

UK fintech giant Revolut kicked off proceedings in August with an employee share sale — a type of secondaries deal which sees equity-holding employees cash in on their stocks — which secured the company a $45bn valuation. Investment platform Moneybox and UK neobanks Monzo and Tide have followed with their secondary transactions. Secondaries investors tell me fintech maturing as a sector has increased demand for secondhand venture assets in the industry. 

But not every company is invited to the party. Market demand for secondary shares favours larger and already profitable companies, meaning it often isn’t a viable option for earlier-stage companies. And misalignment between buyers and sellers on price per share is also common, meaning even companies with significant revenues may face challenges selling shares at their desired valuation. I dig into the trend fully here. 

Elsewhere today: 

• Monzo hires former Nubank and Barclays execs amid IPO rumours
• Google-alumni founded GenAI techbio raises $73m Series B featuring Uber-backer IVP and Index Ventures
• 11 robotics startups to watch in 2024, according to VCs

— Tom Matsuda, fintech reporter

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🤝 UK neobank Monzo has appointed former Nubank exec Tom Oldham as Group CFO and former Barclays investment banker Mark Newbery as its UK CFO. 

• Oldham will oversee the company’s global financial strategy as it expands across Europe and into the US, while Newbery will focus on its UK financial operations. 
• Oldham was global head of financial planning and analysis at Brazilian neobank Nubank when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange. 

💸 Generative AI biotech Cradle has raised a $73m Series B led by Silicon Valley VC IVP — which has previously backed tech giants Uber and Netflix, alongside unicorn AI startup Perplexity. Existing investors Index Ventures and Kindred Capital also participated. 

• Cradle is building software that aims to make developing new drugs, chemicals and agricultural products like pesticides faster and cheaper using GenAI to help design protein sequences.  
• The fresh injection of capital comes on the back of a year of significant commercial growth for the company, which says it has seen a 15x increase in the number of projects paying to use its platform. A single molecule Cradle's SaaS platform is being used to develop counts as one project.

💪 Starling Bank has appointed former Apple and Expedia exec Michele Rousseau as chief marketing officer as new CEO Raman Bhathia looks to make his mark on the UK neobank. Rousseau will spearhead the company’s brand development as well as lead on customer acquisition and product marketing. 

• The C-suite addition is Bhathia’s first since he became CEO of Starling Bank after founder Anne Boden stepped down last year. 
• Last month, several staff at the UK digital bank resigned after he ordered all hybrid staff — many of whom were only in the office one or two days a week — to travel to work for a minimum of 10 days each month.

👀 Mistral AI cofounder and chief scientist Guillaume Lample is considering a move from Paris to the US as the startup continues to expand its footprint there, according to The Financial Times, which cited two people familiar with the company’s thinking. Another person close to Mistral told the newspaper no decision had yet been made.

• Last May, Mistral hired its first US employee, Marjorie Janiewicz, as general manager. The company has opened an office in Palo Alto and has a team of 26 people there — about a third of its total headcount — according to Sifted analysis.
• The company told Sifted in a statement: “Mistral AI is continuing to reinforce its presence and commitments to growth in the United States […] Our founders are committed to supporting this development.”

💰 Secondaries fever has hit fintech — but only a few companies are in demand.

🦾 11 robotics startups to watch in 2024, according to VCs.

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Bristol, UK-based Vertical Aerospace, which is building vertical electric take-off aircrafts, raised $50m in funding from Mudrick Capital.

Sofia-based Ampeco, an EV charging management platform, raised $26m in Series B funding. Revaia led the round and was joined by existing investors including Cavalry Ventures, BMW i Ventures and LaunchHub Ventures.

Paris-based Biolevate, which focuses on accelerating market access for therapeutic innovations with AI tools, raised €6m in seed funding. EQT Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Bpifrance.

Cambridge, UK-based PocDoc, which is developing rapid diagnostic tests that can be performed using a smartphone, raised £5m in funding from investors including MMC Ventures, Molten VC, Simplyhealth Ventures and KHP Ventures.

London-based Magic AI, a fitness platform which uses a hologram video-enabled mirror to deliver workout advice, raised €4.8m in funding. IW Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Baleen Capital, SFC Capital and Ventures Together.

Cambridge, UK-based Molyon, which is developing lithium-sulfur batteries, raised $4.6m in funding. IQ Capital and Plural led the round

Offenburg, Germany-based HyperHeat, which is working on using renewable energy to make zero-carbon industrial heat, raised €3.5m in funding. Amadeus Apex Technology Fund led the round and was joined by investors including Finindus, Possible Ventures, E44 Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Fellows.

Paris-based Mago, an AI tool to transform and stylise videos, raised €1.5m in pre-seed funding. Atlantic Labs led the round.

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