Government 

France's startup champion

France’s junior minister for the digital economy Cedric O is the champion of the nation's startups — and is expected to keep his job in the latest cabinet reshuffle (unlike many others).

But who is he? What has he done for you? And why is his second name O?

Sifted's Marie Mawad in Paris gets the story.

🤗 Why company culture really matters 🤗

Want to know how to be company culture gurus and more? The ‘People & Culture Scaleup Guide’ by Techleap.nl is the go-to survival handbook.

It’s flooded with valuable insights, like how to hire for culture or how to create positive company values. This chapter is powered by top advice from leaders like Patty McCord, former CTO at Netflix.

Sign up to their newsletter to access all current and upcoming chapters. [Sponsored post]

 Venture Capital 

Poland’s top VC investors to know

A decade ago there was not much to the Polish startup ecosystem. But that’s all changing with the likes of Docplanner, Brainly and Huuuge proving that big success stories can come from the country.

But who are the top early-stage investors in the Polish tech ecosystem that will fund the next generation of success stories? 

Connor Bilboe finds out

 AI 

AI in the sky to stop rhino poachers

A new startup project to crack down on the illegal hunting of endangered animals in Africa is set to (literally) take off, with drones equipped with image recognition systems sent to weed out poachers.

Maija Palmer has more

News that matters

🛴 Uber-backed scooter startup Lime and European competitors Tier and Dott have won Paris’ competitive e-scooter tender, meaning they will be able to operate 5,000 scooters in the French capital. The three companies — which were assessed on their environmental responsibility, safety and maintenance skills — beat out 13 others including big US company Bird to win the licence.

🚴‍♂️ Belgian electric bike startup Cowboy has raised $26 million just shortly after releasing the third generation of its flagship bike. The Cowboy bikes, which cost around €2,000, are exceptionally beautiful and we at Sifted want very much to own one (but are not bizillionaires so can't). Cowboy’s biggest competitor is the Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof. For more on Cowboy, see our Sifted profile here. 

🤖 The coronavirus pandemic has led to a sharp rise in cybercrime, fraud and money laundering. That’s bad news for most people but an opportunity for Vishal Marria, founder of Quantexa, a scaleup company using machine learning to fight financial crime which on Thursday announced a $65m Series C.

🏠 UK’s Selina Finance has raised $53m for its loans platform for small businesses based on home equity. The idea is that the small business owners can borrow up to £1m faster and more cheaply than traditional loans because it is secured against a property. Another innovation in the lending market.

If you're a fan of our 'News that matters' and 'Sifted Suggests' sections, check out our newsfeed here, where we collect all of these gems — and more.

Sifted Suggests 

📣 VC’s are marketers, not financiers. A great piece reminding us that it's very tough being a venture capitalist. The vast majority of the returns are made by the top 5% of VCs and the rest kind of languish. A VC outperforms by attracting the best founders, which means they all have to be big into marketing.

🥦 Is the European CBD market in trouble? European Union is looking to treat CBD as a narcotic, which is rocking the industry.

💄 How Sharmadean Reid plans to revolutionise the beauty industry post-pandemic.

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