News 

Pablo Escabar's brother is suing Klarna for millions

Trouble is brewing between Europe’s most valuable fintech, Klarna, and deceased drug lord Pablo Escobar’s brother, who is suing the company for allegedly withholding €400,000 in cash owed to his company Escobar Inc. 

The company set up a deal with Klarna to sell flashy Escobar-branded mobile phones on its platform, but the deal went south after Klarna discontinued the phones.

How did it get into this awkward position to begin with?

Mimi Billing digs into the wild details.

🌟 How to develop the best talent 🌟

The ‘People & Culture Scaleup Guide’ by Techleap.nl is bursting with valuable insights for scaleups, from leadership fundamentals to building top teams.

Its new chapter ‘Scaleup Compensation’ features top advice on salaries, rewards and commissions from GitLab, GrantTree and more.

Learn more here. [Sponsored post]

 Fintech 

The rise of the 'finfluencer'

Forget tube ads or expensive TV campaigns — digital banks and consumer fintechs are increasingly taking their marketing campaigns to social media.

One common trend is to use Instagram influencers to promote their brands; there are now hundreds of fintech-related sponsored posts out there.

In particular, Revolut is now gearing up for an extensive influencer campaign in the US, hoping to target Latino and expat communities via popular local celebrities.

Will it work? Isabel Woodford finds out.

 Opinion 

To sell — or not to sell?

Founders, at some point, you'll want to sell your company — and you should probably be thinking about it sooner rather than later.

Just 'waiting for something to happen' often doesn't pan out all too well, according to seasoned VC Robin Klein, from LocalGlobe.

So what are your options? 

💳 Thought big banks' days were numbered? Think again. 💳

Startups like FintechOS are giving banks and insurers a facelift by accelerating their digital transformation in just a few weeks. But how does FintechOS deliver results so quickly?

Find out here. [Sponsored post]

Sifted Suggests 

🥱 America lost 138,833,045 hours of sleep on election night. According to data from Finnish healthtech startup Oura Ring, the average American lost 25 minutes of sleep over the Biden vs. Trump showdown. Their hearts were also racing, up 1.4 beats per minute. Freya Pratty reports.

👋 Farewell, Blossom. Business angel and former Klarna product manager Louise Samet has stepped down as a partner at VC firm Blossom Capital. Samet is an active angel investor — and one of Europe's top fintech angel investors.

🧐 How has Covid affected VC investments and M&A in France? What percentage of deals in France include foreign investors? Find out this (and more) in this France Digitale and Avolta Partners report.

🍟 Do you want fries with that? On election night, fast-food and alcohol sales spiked as many turned to comfort food while watching the battle between Biden and Trump unfold. Google searches for them surged too.

🤸‍♀️ Share the fun 🤸‍♀️

If you like our newsletter, please forward it on to somebody else who might like it too. It really helps us grow our audience. Thanks!

Events [digital only]
 

🌐 EIT Digital Challenge | Online | 12 Nov
Are you an investor or industry representative? Join the EIT Digital Challenge final this Thursday online and gain access to Europe’s leading deeptech scaleups. [Sponsored post]

🇬🇧 Tech Nation Visa Report Launch | Online | 19 Nov
What skills are UK tech companies looking for when hiring international talent? Find out at this event. [Sponsored post]

💁‍♀️ Women Investing In Women | Online | 12 Nov
Join Women of Wearables and its star panel of female founders, investors and entrepreneurs for top advice on investing in female-led businesses.

🇪🇺 Euro-Med Scaleup Innovation Day | Online | 19 Nov
Calling all Mediterranean startups, don't miss out on this event with over 40 speakers — from founders to investors — to get heaps of advice, from funding opportunities to navigating new regional partnerships.