Deeptech 

Tesla's Berlin gigafactory grumble

Construction for Tesla’s gigafactory in Berlin is full steam ahead… but not everyone is happy about it.

It’s shaken local environmentalists and activists as trees have already been chopped down, despite no official environmental approval being confirmed.

But some are praising the job opportunities and tax-revenue advantages that ‘Gigafactory 4’ will bring to the capital.

What do you think?

💁 Stuff Silicon Valley: Let's make Europe the startup heartland 💁

What will it take to make Europe the most entrepreneurial continent?

This Friday at 10am CET, Sifted's editor Michael Stothard will ask this star panel just that:

- Reshma Sohoni, partner at Seedcamp
- Johannes Reck, founder of GetYourGuide
- Jean-David Malo, director of the European Innovation Council

Grab your (virtual) seat here. [Sponsored post.]

 France 

France's big Brexit break

In an exclusive interview with Sifted, France’s junior minister for digital affairs Cédric O said that France is ready — and raring — to steal London's startup crown.

While the UK is bogged down by Brexit, France plans to race ahead and become the favourite tech hub for fintech, IPOs and talent. But how?

Marie Mawad finds out.

🐦 Find us on Twitter for more tech stories 🐦

From news updates to deep dive Twitter threads, follow us on @Siftedeu to be the first to receive the hottest European tech and startups stories, as it happens.

Come say hi here. 👋

 Healthtech 

Put an (Oura) ring on it

Finnish startup Oura’s health-tracking rings are hot stuff. 

First, celebrities like Prince Harry donned Oura rings to monitor their health and track sleep, and now big organisations like the Ultimate Fighting Championship and NBA are keen to track their employees' health with them. There's a chance they might even be able to spot Covid symptoms early.

But is partnering with big business actually the way for Oura, and others like it, to get big themselves?

Kit Gillet reports.

News that matters

🇮🇸 Sidekick Health raises $20m to further combat deaths from lifestyle-related diseases. According to the Icelandic startup, a staggering 68% of all deaths globally are linked to lifestyle-related illnesses — many of which can be managed via apps. Mimi Billing chats with the startup's cofounder Tryggvi Thorgeirssonon about the rise of preventative care. 

🚧 Big tech needs bigger regulation, according to France's junior minister for digital affairs Cédric O in an exclusive interview with Sifted. But Europe is going its own way on decisions, including whether or not to ban TikTok, says O. Marie Mawad reports.

🚀 The European Investment Bank makes its space investment debut. It’s injected €15m of financing into the Italian spacetech startup D-Orbit. The startup has created a proprietary satellite platform called ION Satellite Carrier, and is one of the European startups challenging Elon Musk's space empire.

👗 When second-hand fashion unites. Europe’s largest second-hand fashion online marketplace Vinted has acquired the Dutch second-hand fashion platform United Wardrobe as it eyes up international markets. Despite the fashion industry having a rocky year, some second-hand clothes platforms have fared well.
 

📸 Picture this. BOOM, an Italian startup which provides smart photo solutions for freelance photographers and businesses worldwide, has closed a $7m round led by United Ventures. It has its eyes set on growing its team throughout 2021 while setting up a new base in London.

🤝 PrimaryBid bags $50m. The London-based platform, which connects investors with public companies, landed its Series B funding round from a group of investors including Draper Esprit. The VC has a track record of investing in other companies giving investors access to public markets, like Crowdcube and Freetrade. More here.

🚗 Challenging Uber’s robo-firing algorithm. App Drivers & Couriers Union, an organisation representing and supporting private hire drivers and couriers in the UK, has filed a legal challenge against Uber’s firing of drivers by algorithm in the UK and Portugal.

📱 Sustainable smartphones. Raylo, a UK fintech offering a circular leasing model for smartphones, which allegedly reduces CO2 emissions by 113kg per device and triples the phone’s lifespan, has raised up to £10m in debt.

Sifted Suggests 

🤔 BrewDog crowdfund: beautiful or BS? VC Myrto Lalacos at Praetura Ventures shares her personal views from her BrewDog investment analysis journey, and there’s a bit of a valuation palaver going on.

🇬🇧 Why the UK needs a fund to support angel-backed startups. Wise words from the LSE Business Review.

🦸‍♀️ Startup superheroes 2021: who’s a dream to work for? These 50 UK startups, from fintechs to food companies, according to recruitment platform Tempo. (Based on some slightly woolly metrics...)

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