Venture Capital 

Are Tier and Voi really worth so much?

In the past two months, e-scooter startups Tier and Voi both raised Series C rounds, valuing them at $1bn and $500m respectively. Not too shabby for a sector that’s facing fierce competition and regulatory headaches.

But what happens when we dive into the VC maths that investors use to reach these valuations — do the numbers make sense?

Katja Staple finds out.

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 Opinion 

Don’t make it harder for startups to exit

Policymakers are making it easier for startups to exit by going public — but harder to exit via an acquisition. 

That’s not a good sign, thinks Leo Ringer, partner at VC firm Form Ventures.

Why?

 Future of Work 

Germany voted the top tech relocation destination in the world

For a second consecutive year, Germany has been voted the top destination to move to by tech workers, according to Relocate.me.

Which other countries are top of the list?

Freya Pratty reports.

💇 8 ways into break into the beauty industry 💇

 Opinion 

Why deeptech matters

Last week, The Family investor Nicolas Colin wrote a column on why it's not such a good idea for VCs to back deeptech startups after all.

Zoe Chambers, deeptech investor at VC firm Octopus Ventures, strongly disagrees.

Here's the counter argument: why deeptech is worth investing in.

News that matters

😷 The AR tool making surgery safe. Proximie, a UK-based startup, has developed an augmented reality (AR) tool allowing surgeons to virtually climb into any operation theatre across the globe. The tool has proven to be popular, with an eight fold increase in users this year. What’s its story? Mimi Billing finds out.

👀 TransferWise eyes public markets. Britain’s international payments giant is plotting an initial public offering (IPO). It’s asked investment banks to pitch in the new year for roles in taking it to the public market. Sifted predicted that TransferWise, along with 11 other tech startups, is likely to IPO soon in this piece here.

🇮🇹 TikTok’s next enemy: Italy. The hugely popular social media platform has clashed with Italy’s data protection regulator, which has launched a formal case against TikTok for violation of privacy especially in minors.

😄 Hopin has made its first acquisition. Just a month after it soared way past unicorn status following its $125m Series B round, online event platform Hopin has bought New York-based event tech company Topi. 

💸 SME financing startup raises £70m. Liberis, a UK-based fintech which provides small businesses with financing alternatives from bank loans and overdrafts, raised through a mixture of equity and debt. To date, Liberis has provided over £500m in financing to 16,000 SMEs across Europe, the US and the UK.

🐝 Buzzing around Belgium. Urbeez, a Brussels-based cargo bike startup has snagged a €2.5m seed round from undisclosed investors. Founded this September by former operations manager at Tier Angelino Capretti, its next goal is to go electric by rolling out more eco-friendly vehicles in 2021.

🤝 Revolut’s new partner. Elsewhere in Belgium, insurtech startup Qover has formed a partnership with digital bank Revolut by integrating its digital insurance solution on its app.

⛽ The hydrogen hype. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a €20.7m loan agreement with Danish hydrogen fuelling startup Everfuel. The agreement will allow Everfuel to scale its hydrogen production for use on public vehicles.

🦠 Deliveroo’s saviour: Covid? The FT has reported that Deliveroo faced £317.7m in losses in 2019, which forced the company to take out a loan of £198m. However, in Q2/3 this year it said it turned profitable in 11 of its 12 markets. More here.

🏡 360º virtual tours. Four-year-old Belgian startup Nodalview — which helps real estate agents sell properties by providing panoramic and 360º pictures on their sites — has raised a €4.1m Series A funding round. Now, it plans to double its workforce by hiring 35 people in the coming months.

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If the thought of spending your time researching Europe’s leading startups, investors and innovators excites you please get in touch.

Apply here. 

Sifted Suggests 

📈 DACH investment hits record high. Germany, Austria and Switzerland have had a golden year. In Q2 2020, DACH startups raised $2.6bn, almost double that of Q1 2020 and Q4 2019. Cecile Bussy shares what else you need to know about the growing ecosystem.

🤖 Robot farmers. From snipping tomatoes to identifying ripe fruit, robots could be great allies in the labour intensive farming sector. And farmers are taking robot workers under their wings, thanks to startups like London-based Xihelm.

🩺 Doctor Amazon. For the moment, tech giant Amazon’s digital health platform Amazon Care has only landed in the US, but it could be making its way onto European soil soon. Business Insider looks at how quickly Amazon Care could launch in Europe and what that would mean.

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