Media 

Not fake news about fake news

Fake news isn't what it used to be. In the run up to the last US election, fake news was rife; in the run up to this year's US election, it's been less prevalent — but far harder to spot.

Luckily, there are now a bunch of startups who've made it their mission to call out misinformation, including Yorkshire's Logically and Sweden's Newsvoice. 

Is this the way to win back the public's trust in the media? Tim Smith finds out.

 Sifted Talks: Smart startup spending 

        
 In tricky times, which investments are worth making to keep your company growing, without draining the piggy bank too much?

Join Sifted's fintech correspondent Isabel Woodford and an expert panel from Notion Capital, Oracle Netsuite and Currencycloud to find out.

Grab your (virtual seat) here. Tomorrow, 3pm GMT.

 Consumer 

Time for a spot of home decor

You will not be surprised to hear that during the first set of lockdowns, a whole lot of people decided to give their homes an upgrade. 

But, with brick-and-mortar retail stores closed across much of Europe, that gave direct-to-consumer paint startups, sofa-in-a-box companies and online interior designers an opportunity to make their mark. 

Kit Gillet meets the startups here to help you decorate your way through the next set of lockdowns.

 Future of work 

Get the gig economy a new social contract

The big cheeses in Europe have not, exactly, welcomed gig economy companies like Uber and Deliveroo with open arms. There are concerns about workers' rights and who really reaps the benefits from these platforms.

But instead of trying to make this new kind of 'work' fit our old ideas of what we owe the workforce, why doesn't Europe seize the opportunity to develop a new kind of social contract?

That would probably have benefits for society as a whole, argues Nicolas Colin.

 Fintech 

Revolut signals shakeup with new executive-hunt 

London fintech Revolut is on the hunt for a new chief commercial officer, hoping to ramp up development of its "super-app" and to add another major revenue stream.

A job advert for CCO currently circulating on LinkedIn shows the new hire is expected to generate $100m in annual sales — say what?!

The new CCO will also be responsible for selling "platform services" to retailers. Insiders say this means Revolut want to now aggressively onboard merchants to sell goods and services to Revolut's 12 million customers within a full-stack app.
 

🏁 Six profit-building tips 🏁
 

Could you boost your profits by using smart data sets? Can you expand globally to ramp up your revenues? Or are there ways you can refine compliance activities to reduce losses?

That (and more) here. [Sponsored post]

News that matters

👎 Just 21% of B2B 'unicorn' startups in the US and Europe have a single female leader. That means 79% have no women in founder, 'chief of' or VP roles. Those companies that do have women in leadership positions also tend to have more women in their teams overall — and keep ahold of them for longer. Freya Pratty looks at the data.

👎👎 And the gloomy data continues... In the Netherlands, female-founded teams still receive less than 1% of all venture capital. 

🚌 Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a SuperBattery! Estonian startup Skeleton Technologies has raised €41m to develop the kind of batteries which can power electric buses — and help e-vehicles charge up faster and become cheaper to run. Maija Palmer has more.

🌊 New policies to help startups in Europe flooding in. Germany is finally making it easier for startups to give employees stock options, while there are also plans afoot to encourage EU member states to implement other startup-friendly policies. Michael Stothard reports.

🍻 Booze on demand, in demand. Flaschenpost, the German beverage delivery service, has been sold to food giant The Oetker Group for €1bn. Apparently, it made €27m in sales in October alone; bring on the Christmas season. 

🍌 Dark stores galore. Food delivery company Foodora is jumping on the 'dark store' bandwagon; it's opened its first grocery store in Stockholm. Fellow food delivery players Glovo and Wolt are also experimenting with running their own online convenience stores.

🤖 New money for AI startups. Air Street, an early-stage VC firm focused on AI startups, has closed a $17m fund. Specialist investors are a sign of a maturing ecosystem, some might say. 

👬 Double trouble. Marshmallow, a car insurance startup which happens to be run by twin brothers, has raised $30m. It provides car insurance to the people others turn down — like expats, those with a fragmented address or credit history, and the less affluent. 

🛴 Scoot on. The Irish government is considering legalising e-scooters next year.

📸 Who are Europe's top tech Instagrammers? 📸

Sifted Suggests 

⚽ When tech lets you down. A football match was, apparently, ruined when an AI-controlled camera mistook the ref’s bald head for the ball.

🥂 Sifted's biggest fan? 🥂