Founders 

Gen Z entrepreneurs to watch

Gen Z founders start early — they're all under 25 — and investors are starting to pay attention to their entrepreneurial drive.

In this light, Sifted brings you the first of a three-part series on Europe’s Gen Z entrepreneurs and their experiences, kicking off with a shortlist of top Gen Z European tech founders to know.

Meet them here.

💫 How to become a star scaleup 💫

What’s the best way to scale up your company while keeping a great company culture? 

Get inspired by leading C-Suite executives from successful scaleups like MessageBird, Adyen and more in the Techleap.nl ‘People & Culture Scaleup Guide’.

Find out in the new chapter. [Sponsored post]

 Venture Capital 

Is Hopin really worth $2.1bn?

Last month, online events platform Hopin bagged a $125m Series B round at a $2.1bn+ valuation, just 8 months after launching.

But how did Hopin’s investors arrive at this aggressive valuation? And how can Hopin keep up the momentum?

Katja Staple talks VC maths with Hopin's investors.

 Mobility 

Meet the Dutch taxi company taking Tesla to court

Uh-oh, Tesla is under fire from large Dutch taxi firm Bios Group, which operates a fleet of more than 70 Teslas out of Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

It's taking Elon Musk's company to court over €1.3m in damages over "defective" cars. What happened there?

Maija Palmer reports.

 Venture Capital 

Highland Europe raises €700m fund

The growth investor — which has previously backed companies like WeTransfer and GetYourGuide — just closed its fourth fund in just two months.

The aim of this new fund is, in the VC's partner's eyes, to fill Europe's Series B funding gap. But how does it plan to tackle it?

Freya Pratty catches up with cofounder and partner Fergal Mullen.

💪 Startup support beyond VCs and angels 💪

The European Institute for Innovation & Technology (EIT) provides heaps of support to startups via funding, mentoring and workshops in a range of sectors, from health to mobility.

Could it help your company?

Learn more about EIT — and sign up to attend its 2020 Awards — here. [Sponsored post]

Sifted Suggests 

🌱 Saving the planet with data. This article maps out the climatetech software startups and investors to watch, from sustainable neobanks to carbon-offsetting software firms.

7️⃣ 7 reasons you may not need a chief of staff. Are you struggling with the role definition, or do you think they’re there to do everything? Max Bray, chief of staff at Founders Forum explains more here.

🦠 Some startups wouldn’t have succeeded so much without the crisis. Les Echos lays out some Covid startup successes, from productivity software to hygiene solutions. We recently spoke to CEE investors for their Covid winner insights. Check it out here.

🔮 European fundraising in 2021: predictions. Investment banking company DAI Magister has published some predictions about European tech fundraising next year, and they’re optimistic. DAI thinks Series A ‘cohorts’ will raise much larger Series B/C rounds in the next two years.

💰 How to secure £500k for your startup. Broadband startup Cuckoo launched last year and bagged its seed funding in May this year. Here's some good advice it has for others.

🧐 Covid-19 and startups: then and now. Slush has released a report along with City of Helsinki and NGP Capital breaking down the effect of the crisis on startups 6 months ago versus now.

In case you missed it 

🥞 Brunch with Sequoia's Luciana Lixandru. Find out what tricks she's got up her sleeve for kickstarting Sequoia's European launch.

 
👜 List: 14 startups that will change the European fashion industry.

🎯 Target Global closed a new €300m+ fund. This is where it wants to invest it in.

🤸‍♀️ Share the fun 🤸‍♀️

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Events [digital only]

🌍 EIT Awards 2020 | Discover Europe’s top innovators | 8-9 Dec
EIT is back with its annual awards show, which celebrates top entrepreneurs’ cutting-edge solutions to global challenges, from healthtech to transport. [Sponsored post]

💁‍♀️ Women who have moved into tech | Online | Dec 9
Get inspired in this fireside chat by female entrepreneurs who pursued tech later in their careers. Moderating the panel is Katerina Walker, founder and CEO of international coding school for women CodeOp.

🔢 Show the code (EQT Ventures Edition) | Online | Dec 10
Speaking of coding, Silicon Roundabout and Techtree are hosting an event for anyone who wants to pick the brains of developers, CTOs and lead engineers at startups like Peakon and Anyfin.

🇮🇹 Milan Fintech Summit | Online | Dec 10-11
Want to take a peek at what the best Italian and international fintech companies are up to? Grab a spot at this 2-day event.