Venture Capital 

Inside Sequoia's secretive scout programme

This year, leading US VC firm Sequoia set up shop in Europe and began building a top team on the continent, starting with former Accel partner Luciana Lixandru.

It also quietly launched the first European offshoot of its famous scout programme. 

Today, Sifted can reveal who some of Sequoia's first European scouts are — and what they're up to. 

Amy Lewin names the scouts. 

🚀 How to launch your business in 14 hours 🚀

Huckletree invites you to its Future Founder Academy on January 30-31, an intensive weekend course for founders-to-be. Use code SIFTEDFFA21 for 20% off tickets.

Sign up now. [Sponsored post]

 Consumer 

Europe’s fastest-growing DTC startups 2020

European direct-to-consumer (DTC) startups have had a smashing year. Several — like Gousto and Gymshark — have even hit $1bn valuations.

But which DTC startups have had the biggest growth spurts in 2020? 

Connor Bilboe finds out here.

 Fintech 

Digital banks: the key trends

Digital banks (aka neobanks) have become the poster-child for fintech.

Investors love them, having splashed $2bn on neobanks globally this year alone — and it’s predicted that 145m customers will have hopped on the neobank bandwagon by 2024.

So what are the key trends and data in neobank land? And what’s to come in 2021?

Isabel Woodford reports.

 Healthtech 

The missing piece of Babylon Health’s $550m round

Swedish listed fund VNV Global last week announced it has increased its ownership in UK-based telemedicine startup Babylon Health through convertible notes in the final part of the company's $550m round.

Mimi Billing talks to VNV Global’s Per Brilioth to find out why. 

Inside Babylon's $100m round.

🏃‍♀️ The Benelux's fastest-growing teams 🏃‍♀️  

2020 was a record year for VC investment into Benelux startups — at a whopping €2.7bn, up from €1.9bn in 2019.

So which startups had the most growth by headcount in the past 12 months?

Find out here. [Sponsored post.]

Sifted Suggests 

🌱 Agtech on the rise. Global VC investment in agtech companies hit $1.6bn in Q3 2020, bringing the total raised thus year to $4.2bn, according to a new PitchBook report. In Europe, Astanor Ventures closed a $325m agtech fund, insect-farming startup Ÿnsect extended its Series C funding to $372m and the vertical farming scene is flourishing.

💣 Seaborg’s nuke plan. It’s not what you think…. Copenhagen-based renewable energy startup Seaborg Technologies has created nuclear reactors that sit on floating barges, and believes that this fossil fuel alternative could power entire countries by 2025.

👀 Just a second, IPO. Digital bank N26 has had quite a rocky year internally amid management concerns, but hit a $3.5bn valuation in May at its $100m Series D. Now, it wants to land another investment round before going public in 2023.

🌍 From local to global. What does it take to repeat the success you’ve had locally when you launch globally? From understanding the customer to the market, here are five golden rules.

👜 Mapping Europe’s sustainable fashion industry. Dealroom has laid out 120+ startups making the fashion industry more sustainable.

Events [digital only]
 

🇬🇧 Fundraising Unplugged: Diving into the world of CVC | Online | 7 Jan
Mountside Ventures invites you to learn all about corporate venture capital. How does the fundraising process work compared to typical VCs? How do you get on investors' radar? Find out here.
 

🛠️ INSEAD Workshop: Venture Capital, Business Angels, and Startups | Online | 15 Jan
This upcoming event is for startups who want to learn how to stand out from the crowd, and for VCs that want to learn how to spot high-performing startups easily.