Venture Capital 

Inside LocalGlobe's mysterious Series B fund

Last year Saul Klein, partner at seed-stage VC LocalGlobe, announced that he'd raised a new fund to back 'breakout' startups at Series B.  

The fund was called Latitude... and that was about all he had to say about it.

Now, as Latitude looks to close its second fund of around the same size ($180m), Klein is finally ready to share more.

Amy Lewin gets the details.

⚡ Power your team with top freelancers ⚡

Whether you need a snappy solution for your marketing strategy or a developer to spice up your website, Fiverr Business gives you fast access to top-tier freelancers.

Use promo code SIFTED20 for 20% off Fiverr Business. [Sponsored post]

 Investment 

Is Germany's €10bn 'Future Fund' enough for startups?

Last month, the German Bundestag approved a multi-billion euro ‘Future Fund’ to help late-stage startups expand their business.

But key figures in the German startup ecosystem — like Christian Miele, president of the German Startups’ Association — remain cautious about the extent to which the fund will actually help to bolster startups.



Why are they on the fence?

 Fintech 

Meet the new fintech lobby group

The UK government may see itself as a staunch ally of the fintech sector, but startup founders say they're still being sidelined.

Enter a new fintech lobby group: Fintech Founders.

Its plan is to develop a direct line between fintech leaders and key politicians, and it's being led by LendInvest cofounder Christian Faes.

Isabel Woodford gets the latest on the lobby group’s plans. 

 Future of Work 

Meet the startup bringing real office life back (virtually)

Missing those random team conversations in the office kitchen? Don't fret, as new virtual office platform Cosmos — cofounded by former employees of Citymapper and TransferWise — aims to bring back the real-life office experience.

The team has just raised £2m from investors LocalGlobe and Entrepreneur First. So how do they plan to bring a sense of normality back to the working day?

Freya Pratty finds out.

🏆 EIT Award winners 2020 🏆

The winners of the 2020 European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Awards have been chosen, with innovations in healthcare, greentech and artificial intelligence leading the way. 

Get to know the winning startups here. [Sponsored post]

Sifted Suggests 

🇪🇺 Did you miss out on the Atomico State of European Tech Report 2020? To save you from reading the whole thing, Sifted has pulled together the 20 top charts you should see (and made a nice Twitter thread, if you prefer).

🔥 SPACs are soaring. But what exactly are they? Essentially, they are a ‘blank cheque’ company that intends to acquire a private company and take it public. CB Insights deep dives into why SPACs are so popular now, why investors love them and what the challenges of them are here.

🇩🇰 Digital happiness in Denmark. Boston Consulting Group has found that Denmark is the country with the happiest tech workers. European runners up include the UK and Germany.

🇱🇻 Latvian online printing startup Printful has done well for itself since being founded in 2013, with a team of over 1,400 across the world and revenues of $116m as of 2019. It’s set up shop in Barcelona and there’s a cool Q&A here with the CEO Davis Siksnans on why Printful sees Spain as a great destination to keep growing.

🍔 Lab-grown meat is getting closer to supermarket shelves. Bloomberg Green maps out the startups building sites to test factory-scale output, and cites Dutch lab-meat startup Mosa Meat, which Sifted covered recently here.

😰 How capital gains tax (CGT) could negatively impact UK startups. Data company Beauhurst thinks proposed reforms to CGT could discourage entrepreneurship in the UK, discourage growth of entrepreneur-led companies and discourage investment into high-growth businesses. Read why here.

🎁 Station F Holiday gift guide 2020 (Startup Edition). Which startup products would make great gifts this Christmas? Station F lists a bunch of eco-friendly goodies, from sportswear to food.

💃 The good times are baaack, says the New York Times, citing some European startups that made it big this year — like Hopin and Snyk — as 2020 closes with a startup deal frenzy.

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Events [digital only]

🗣️ Financing for startups | Online | 15 Dec
Join this roundtable discussion focusing on what startups bring to corporates, criteria to know for startup scouting, financing facts and more. Words of wisdom from corporates like Wayra and Adevinta.

🇱🇹 Inbound customer acquisition to accelerate growth | Online | 16 Dec
Startup Lithuania invites you to get tips and advice on the marketing techniques that will help your startup scale and grow. Featuring EMEA lead at Hubspot Kaythlin Das (formerly at Rocket Internet).