Sifted - ClearScore teases London IPO

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London has been struggling to persuade tech companies to float on the local stock exchange for more than a decade now. Revolut is said to favour a New York IPO, while Monzo’s board has reportedly been wrangling over which side of the Atlantic to list. 

But fintech startup ClearScore offered the London Stock Exchange a ray of hope on Monday, when CEO Justin Basini teased that his company could buck the trend with a public float in its home market. 

Speaking to The Times, Basini described London as the company's "natural destination" for an IPO, but warned Britain needed to push through market reforms and do more to get pension funds to invest in the sector if it hopes to create “world-beating” companies.

Elsewhere today:

• Starling wants to take its SaaS side hustle global — can it succeed?
• Daphni launches €250m climate tech fund to back ‘scientist-entrepreneurs’
• 110 water and maritime tech startups to watch

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✍️ London-based AI startup Builder.ai reportedly used an auditor with links to its founder Sachin Dev Duggal to sign off its UK accounts, raising questions over a potential conflict of interest.

📈 Fintech startup Clearscore could soon IPO in London, after the company’s CEO dubbed its home market the “natural destination” for a public float. 

💸 Paris-based VC Daphni, an early backer of quantum computing startup Pasqal and buzzy agentic AI company H, has raised €200m for its third fund to back ‘scientist entrepreneurs’.

🌎 Engine, the software-as-a-service platform run by UK fintech Starling, is plotting a global expansion, says the subsidiary’s CEO Sam Everington. 

• That’s despite a turbulent six months for parent company Starling, which was slapped with a £29m anti-money laundering fine last year, putting its internal operations under scrutiny, as well as a leadership shake-up among its C-suite. 

🎓 An ambitious plan aims to double the size of the UK’s ancient university city of Cambridge and make it a hub for growth and innovation. But will its infrastructure cope? (Financial Times)

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Can water tech startups quench VC thirst?

• Water-focused tech has never had VCs rushing to turn on the funding taps — but could a slew of deals begin to shift the picture in Europe? 
• There’s certainly no shortage of water-related challenges to draw in founders, including more frequent and severe droughts.
• With Europe’s defence capacity under pressure, expect to see a trend toward unmanned systems to enhance underwater and coastal protection. Guarding critical infrastructure including underwater cables from attack has also become a top priority.
• There are commercial opportunities too, like offshore wind operators that would like to know if an object encroaching on their turbines is a threat or just a passing dolphin.

Wave hello to more water tech startups in our latest Sifted Pro briefing.

Leuven, Belgium-based Augustine Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on developing therapies for neuromuscular, neurodegenerative and cardio-metabolic diseases, raised €78m in Series A funding. Novo Holdings and Jeito Capital led the round and were joined by investors including Asabys Partners and Eli Lilly.

Milan, Italy-based Bevy, a grocery delivery startup, raised €2.5m in funding. Linfa led the round and was joined by investors including FoodLabs.

Milan, Italy-based Cassandra, a platform using AI to improve advertising ROI, raised €2m in seed funding. Italian Founders Fund led the round.

Perugia, Italy-based HypeSound, which has developed a technology which uses novel sound wave technology to speed up microbiological growth, raised €1.2m in pre-seed funding. Eatable Adventures led the round.

Lugano, Italy-based Gaia Turbine, which develops hydroelectric micro and mini-turbines, raised €1.15m in funding. TiVentures led the round.

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Europe v US founder pulse check

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