Fintech 

The lender that keeps fighting

"I reached a 7 [out of 10] in stress..." says Jaidev Janardana, CEO of challenger lender Zopa. 

The fintech has taken punches left, right and centre in the last 12 months — with a valuation cut, an arrest and coronavirus-related revenue losses predicted, luck hasn't been on its side.

But the firm was granted a UK banking licence recently, so could momentum be building up again?

Isabel Woodford find outs.

 Startup Life 

Berlin's diversity problem

More than 78,000 people are employed by startups in Berlin — a city long regarded as a progressive capital where you can be who you want to be.

But behind closed doors, the few black employees in tech are still often faced with racism and discrimination.

So how can Berlin improve its diversity for a better future?

Steven Perlberg talks to Berlin's black tech employees to find out.

📈 CFOs: be strategic with your data 📈

How do top CFOs use company data to make big strategic decisions? What are they keeping their eye on — and how do they plan ahead?

On Friday 10 July, join Sifted's Amy Lewin, Oracle NetSuite and an expert panel of CFOs & investors to find out:

- Dave Rosenberg, business development at Oracle NetSuite
- Melissa McCracken, healthcare investor at Nextech Invest 
- Tatiana Okhotina, chief financial officer at Azimo

Sign up here.

 Health 

The home-testing healthcare hurrah

The past few years have seen a steady rise in startups offering home-testing healthcare solutions — from kits to make medical diagnoses to tests to identify the perfect personalised vitamin supplement for you.

Most have struggled to move beyond the "worried well", or be seen as anything more than a niche product.

Covid-19 may be changing that. Why?

Kit Gillet in Bucharest reports.

🤙 Wanted: Sales superstar to join Sifted 🤙 

We're looking for a confident cookie to help us grow our commercial products — like reports, digital events and advertising — and help us bring them to life.

It's a role for someone who's dipped their toes into media sales before and is now looking to learn more and pick up responsibility quickly.

More information here. 

Sifted Suggests 

⚙️ Clash of the ($50bn) titans. GP Bullhound is back with the seventh run of its ‘Titans of Tech’ report — a deep dive analysis into the players in Europe’s tech ecosystem on the path to colossal valuations.

🎪 What did startup community The Family learn when it moved all of its events online? Treat them like a TV show, encourage people to open up and make sure they're really bloody good.

🇬🇧 VCs in LDN. Beauhurst’s latest report is about the capital’s VCs, 23 of them to be exact, analysing their investment criteria and recent deal activity. Get to know them here.

🙅‍♂️ “No, we don’t need you” is an angel investor’s response to this thread on the relationship between journalists and VCs. What do you think?

😳 Furthering the gender gap. The Telegraph lays out a bunch of insightful (but alarming) infographics on how Covid-19 is setting back women’s careers and finances by decades.

In case you missed it

🖖 “For me, there is no point going to another planet if we’re just replicating the same mistake that we did on Earth.” Inside this founder's mission to build a sustainable society on Mars.

💳 Is this the new face of Generation Z banking? Meet the banks the teenagers in your life will be using soon.

🤝 “He is perhaps the only manager I’ve ever had that, if he told me today to down my tools and come join him, I’d go.” A profile of digital bank Monzo's new CEO, TS Anil.

Events [virtual only]
 

🇪🇪🇺🇦 Hardware startup in lockdown: breaking through | 7 July
Oh the challenge of being a hardware startup in a pandemic. Never fear, startup community LIFT99co and startup matchmaking service Salto are going live on Facebook to show how you can adapt your business strategy and adjust your product.

🇬🇧🇮🇱 UK-Israel Women Leading Innovation Network: Fundraising strategies | 8 July
VCs and founders in the UK and Israel join forces to discuss optimising cross-border networks, funding opportunities for women, tips on diversity and more.

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