Italy 

'Digitalizzazione: is it finally boom time for Italian tech?

Italian tech is experiencing something of a renaissance.

The traditionally luddite government is now pushing for “complete digitalisation” prompting corporates, investors and Michelin star restaurants alike to embrace the work of startups like never before.

Sifted's Rome correspondent Ben Munster reports.

🗣️ Pro tips on leading your team remotely 🗣️

WFH became one of the biggest unexpected experiments during the pandemic, dramatically changing people’s lives.

Goldman Sachs’ new podcast miniseries asks what the future of work is looking like, and how we can use technology to optimise people’s productivity and happiness.

Listen to 'Exchanges at Goldman Sachs: The Battle for our Screens' now. [Sponsored post.]

 Agritech 

Will we ever get a full meal out of vertical farms?

There’s a revolution going on in agriculture.

Vertical farming divorces food production from the land entirely, allowing grub to be grown everywhere from supermarkets to underground bunkers, schools to disused shipping containers.

But, there’s one problem. To date, most vertical farms startups have only cracked how to grow lettuce and herbs like basil and parsley, rosemary and thyme, and… well, that’s about it.

Connor Bilboe finds out what happens next. 

🐕 Interested in pet tech? We've got a treat for you 🐕

Sifted is partnering with Purina Accelerator Lab to amplify Europe’s growing pet tech community. Through a series of virtual talks, newsletters and reports, we'll be analysing the opportunities and challenges in the sector, and meeting the hottest startups working to change the lives of our furry (and non-furry) friends.
 
Sign up here to stay ahead of the pack.

 Mobility 

Carmakers can't handle our new love for long-term rentals

If you're a young urban professional, it's likely that buying a car is low on your priority list. Indeed, the average age of a new car buyer in the UK is 55.

Carmakers are now scrambling to adapt to other forms of ownership — but their efforts so far have (mostly) been poor.

Partnering with independent car subscription startups like Drover offers a partial solution, but are these companies wolves dressed in sheep's clothing?

Maija Palmer finds out.

🏆 Did someone mention award show?  🏆
 

The results of the 2020 DT50 awards are in, and this year healthtech and green startups have topped the league.

Among the winners are iLoF, a British startup using AI and photonics (the study of light) to personalise healthcare and to reduce the length of clinical trials by 70%. 

Another gold medal winner was HelloBetter, a Berlin-based startup which offers online mental health courses.

Check out the full list of DT50 award-winners here. [Sponsored post.]

News that matters

🚺 Fertility app Natural Cycles just got an upgrade. Natural Cycles will soon (pending FDA approval) allow users to take their temperature using the Oura smart ring, instead of an oral thermometer. Here's why Natural Cycles took this next step.

💳 Monzo's new Premium card costs £50 to make. The digital bank released a new Premium service this week, including travel insurance and a metal card which costs a bomb to produce... Isabel Woodford dives into the new offering.

💸 BlackRock makes another venture investment. The investor has plugged $118m into UK electric van group Arrival to help fuel its US expansion.

❌ Entrepreneurship in the UK is still not a level playing field. A new report from the British Business Bank shows owners from minority backgrounds continue to make less money than white entrepreneurs.

Sifted Suggests 

🎹 Meet the startups trying to save the music industry. Streaming startups are hoping to keep musicians afloat mid-pandemic, after self-employed artists were left out by government salary-support schemes, The Guardian reports.

🤯 Dealing with stress as a founder. Some simple tips from a psychologist on how to reduce the pressure.

🤖 How humans are limiting the development of AI. A smart look at how programming computers is ultimately still dependent on the (flawed) way humans think.

🛴 Inside scooter startup Dott's Parisian operations centre. One for the micromobility fans.

📚 Lessons from a serial founder turned startup coach. If you can't afford to hire your own mentor, take a look at these quick basics — for free — in Forbes.

🤸‍♀️ Share the fun 🤸‍♀️

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