Food 

Brunch with Sifted: Karakuri's robot chef

One day, robots will make us dinner and machines will be able to whip up meals to our exact requirements at the press of a button. 

But... not yet. Right now, haute cuisine in the world of robot chefs extends to bowls of muesli.

Sifted's Maija Palmer went for brunch with food tech startup Karakuri's robot chef to find out how it works, when this will go mainstream and why it's so darn tricky to replicate a human cook.

Nibble on it here.

🚀 Take off globally 🚀

Want to know how to find the right market in the US? Or get all your expansion questions answered? 

GoGlobal, Techleap.nl’s global expansion guide, is filled with essential information and access to expert contacts to set you up for global success.

Find out at Techleap.nl's GoGlobal.

 Fintech 

Curve files its accounts late, again

London startup Curve — one of the UK's most valuable fintechs — missed its December deadline to file its financial reports, and not for the first time.

What's going on at the fintech rumoured to be closing a £100m+ funding round?

Isabel Woodford finds out. 

 IPO 

Three tips on preparing for an IPO

2021 could be the year of the European startup IPO. Big names like Klarna and Allegro have said that's their plan, while plenty more — like Deliveroo and TransferWise — are also expected to list. 

What advice does a CEO who's been there and done it have for businesses looking to IPO this year?

Marie Mawad speaks to Link Mobility.

 Startup Life 

Scrap the annual plan

Here are some New Year's resolutions for you: Ditch the weekly mega team meeting, dump the annual performance review and start acting more like a coach and less like a boss.

That's French startup Klaxoon's CEO Matthieu Beucher's advice. 

But why? 

 Sponsored by Microsoft for Startups 

Doing batteries, better

When the battery dies in your TV remote, it's not exactly the end of the world. When a battery dies in an industrial robot or an electric vehicle, things could get a bit more serious. 

Enter BatteryCheck, a Czech startup which is using data science to predict battery life and figure out how to use them better. 

Kit Gillet finds out more.

News that matters

🛍️ Retail tech startup NearSt has raised £2m. Its technology helps physical retailers, like Nisa and Budgens, show their live in-store inventory to people searching online nearby. One of its investors is Grosvenor Group, the international property company, which plans to use NearSt's tech across its fancy Mayfair and Belgravia estates in London.

🦃 Graphcore raised $222m over the holidays. The UK-based maker of microprocessors favoured by AI companies landed a Series E funding round while most of the rest of us were gobbling turkey. The latest round puts it at a $2.77bn valuation.

If you're a fan of our 'News that matters' section, follow us on social for more👇

Sifted Suggests 

👨‍⚕️ How tech is reinventing healthcare. From robot surgeons to vaccine developers, Wired meets some healthtech businesses doing pretty amazing things.

🎤 When to take part in a startup pitch contest — and when to run for the hills. Pitch events are not always great, advises entrepreneur Joe Procopio. 

👼 What I learnt taking part in Atomico's angel programme. From Sarah Drinkwater. More on Atomico's angel programme here and on why Europe needs an angel investing revolution here.

🇪🇪 Which are the Estonian startups to watch? Early Skype employee Sten Tamkivi makes his predictions.

🐸 The 15 French startups to follow in 2021, compiled by Maddyness and suggested by eight investors. Impressively, the list features not one but two startups with 'frog' in their name.

In case you missed it 

🤯 52 things Sifted learnt in 2020. Curated by Connor Bilboe.

👑 The 10 biggest European VC fund raises of 2020. From Amy Lewin.

📊 2020: The year in data. Compiled by Bill Leaver.

🍎 The biggest healthtech stories of 2020. According to Mimi Billing.

😶 2020: The year that shook fintech. From Isabel Woodford.