Fintech 

Who's really in charge at Monzo?

A wave of fresh faces have been brought in to take over the reigns at Monzo, alongside some of the old guard.

Sifted asked each of them what they have to say about the new state of business, the challenges ahead and what impresses them when they're recruiting.

Find out what's going on inside Monzo 2.0.

😉 Six ways to increase profits now 😉

Can you sell more to your existing customers? Are there new markets you should be exploring? Or could you be making simple savings with smarter internal operations?

Don't miss a trick when it comes to maximising your startup's profits.

Swot up here. [Sponsored post.]

 Consumer 

CBD: Is it tech enough?

Cannabidiol (or CBD) is everywhere now — in vape juice, face masks and tampons. 

And, as investors love nothing more than a buzzy sector, they're piling into CBD startup funding rounds.

But this isn't exactly unicorn territory, is it?

Mimi Billing finds out how investors are evaluating the market.

🛍️ How we'll buy stuff in the future 🛍️

Soon, you won't have to go to the bank to get credit — you'll be able get a loan for whatever you want to buy, big or small, wherever you're buying it.

Intrigued? 
 

Find out how Solarisbank is making that a possibility.

Read here. [Sponsored post.]

 Opinion 

Stop chasing unicorns

Enough with this unicorn obsession.

It's time for VCs to stop focusing all their attention on getting a billion-dollar exit and start giving some love to all the other startups in their portfolios. 

Hey, they might even help create some serial founders while they're at it — and that's always a good thing.

 Opinion 

Europe, let's have some alternatives to VC

Revenue-based financing is the hot new thing for startups looking for funding. 

But like other funding alternatives to venture capital which have sprung up over time, we're in danger of missing out in Europe. 

Nicolas Colin explains why we need these alternatives sources of capital here more than anywhere — and why we haven't really got them.

 Food 

Iron Man backs bugs

Robert Downey Jr, aka Iron Man, has invested in French insect-farming startup Ÿnsect. 

And he's not alone in taking a fancy to bug-based protein; the company has just extended its Series C funding round to $372m and taken in a chunk of money from US investors. 

Next up, Ÿnsect is heading stateside.

News that matters

🤝 Seedrs and Crowdcube have merged. In a move plenty of people saw coming, the UK's two main crowdfunding sites have agreed to join forces. Question is, will that help them actually turn a profit?

🐂 Spanish VCs are go. Both Seaya Ventures and Kibo Ventures have announced new funds this week. Seaya, which was the first financial investor in Cabify and Glovo, has closed €85m for its third fund. Kibo, which specialises in helping Spanish and Portuguese founders tackle the US market, is also raising its third fund, targeting a €100m close. Sifted's Tim Smith speaks to both teams.

🧀 Swiss VC fund Wingman Ventures has closed a $83m fund. It will invest in seed-stage Swiss startups. 

💇 OakNorth takes a valuation haircut. According to Indian media sources, one of the UK fintech's biggest investors has sold shares in the company at a 30% discount. Sifted's Isabel Woodford has more.

👎 Women-led fintechs account for just 1.3% of global investment into the sector. The FT speaks to prominent European female founders.

🥂 Freelance with us! 🥂

We're on the lookout for freelance content writers, artworkers, designers and data journalists to help us out with the odd project.

Interested? Send in your CV and a line about what you like to work on to jobs@sifted.eu.

Sifted Suggests 

📚 Top reading: The Black Report. Where do black founders in the UK go to raise money? How diverse are their startups' teams? How revenue-generating are their businesses? Angel investor Andy Davis shares some stats.

🌾 Interview with Oatly’s CEO Toni Petersson about taking money from Blackstone. “We believe in this business, we believe we can push Blackstone in the right direction. Blackstone has invested in us because they believe in our vision, not because they want to change it.” 

💡 A very interesting profile on Daniel Ek. The Observer Effect finds out how the Spotify founder thinks.

🤸‍♀️ Share the fun 🤸‍♀️

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