Sifted - Flo wants to buy your startup

Good morning there,

Period tracking app Flo has startup acquisitions on the mind as it looks to splash some of the $200m it raised from General Atlantic last July — a round that saw it make headlines as Europe’s first femtech unicorn.

“We think M&A is the logical next step,” CFO Tamara Orlova told me in an interview. “We’ve already started screening the market and understanding where we could speed up by adding new technology.”

I also dug into Flo’s revenue figures for 2024, how much the company thinks it can grow this year and what type of startups it’s looking to acquire.

Elsewhere, off the back of Sifted’s recent coverage of founder burnout, Sifted cofounder John Thornhill talks through the comparisons between running a startup and his time as a war correspondent.

Also today:

• The women investors to know in defence tech
• Gorillas founder raises money for stealth healthtech despite product delays
• How to build with AI pt. 2

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🍬 Kağan Sümer has raised more capital for his new startup Sugar despite a delayed product launch, as the cofounder of the now-defunct speedy grocery company Gorillas looks to enter the notoriously challenging consumer health market in Europe.

🪦 Microsoft has announced plans to shut down Skype, 14 years after acquiring what was once a buzzy little European startup.

💰 Solo GP Rupa Popat has raised £18.2m for her first fund to back UK B2B SaaS startups at pre-seed and seed. Her firm, Araya Ventures, will write cheques of £150k-450k in around 60 companies across healthtech, fintech, commerce and the future of work. She’s targeting a final close of £20m by May. 

😮‍💨 Running a startup can take a serious mental toll, writes our editorial director John Thornhill, who says the stress he felt leading a company is the only thing that comes close to his time working in a warzone.

🛡️ The women investors you need to know in European defence tech.

👀 Unicorn Flo Health eyeing startup acquisitions following $200m fundraise.

🚀 A few weeks ago Dan Parry, the cofounder of voice survey platform Cluso, revealed his tips on how to build with AI. There was too much in his interview with Sifted’s Anisah Osman Britton to cram into one piece — so he’s back with more advice on how to use AI to take your startup to the next level.

• This article first appeared in Sifted’s Startup Life newsletter — which drops tips on how (and how not) to run a business into inboxes every Wednesday. Not signed up yet? You can do that here.

Sifted Talks | Online. On March 12, Fintech reporter Tom Matsuda is bringing together panellists from Flo Health, Cherry Ventures and Navan to discuss the new CFO mindset — how to balance profit with growth. RSVP here.

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Europe produces unicorns at the same rate as the US across funding stages, according to a new report from data platform Dealroom, with European startups showing equal capital efficiency to US companies when it comes to turning VC capital into billion-dollar valuations.

The report also shows:

• There’s a significant investment gap between the US and Europe at every funding stage. That gap grows at later stages, with US startups raising 129% more breakout capital ($15m-100m rounds) than their European peers, and 567% more scaleup capital ($100m+ rounds).
• That said, after a 30-year late start, Europe’s younger generation of VC-backed startups are taking a growing share of global new enterprise — around 18% over the last decade.

Bournemouth, UK-based Just Move In, which helps homemovers manage the set up of new services, raised $8m in Series A funding. Eos Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Wayra, Second Century Ventures, The FSE Group, Simon Rogerson and Chris Hulatt.

Paris-based Faks, which builds a platform to streamline relations between different types of pharmacy professionals, raised €6m in funding. Speedinvest led the round and was joined by investors including Connect Ventures, Seedcamp and FJ Labs.

Barcelona, Spain-based Orain Technologies, which develops a contactless payment system for micropayments, raised €6m in funding. Acurio, Kfund, Bonsai and Actyus participated in the round.

Dublin-based Vrai, which offers an XR-based training platform for defence applications, raised €5m in Series A funding. Beringea led the round.

Turku, Finland-based Videobot, which develops a short-form video platform for marketing teams, raised €2.8m in funding. Volta Ventures, Expon Capital and Superhero Capital led the round.

Berlin-based Needle, which provides enterprise AI agents for database consultation, raised $2.2m in funding. 468 Capital and Presight Capital led the round.

Tallinn-based Pointship, which makes a digital assets marketplace for loyalty rewards, game credits and event tickets, raised €1.9m in funding. Startup Wise Guys participated in the round.

Oslo-based Kvist, which builds an environmental certification platform for the construction and real estate sectors, raised €1.3m in funding. Kiilto Ventures, Dnb Ventures, Alliance Venture, Ferd, Arkwright X and Squid participated in the round.

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

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