Fintech 

Inside Revolut's bid to become a bank

Revolut is well on its way to becoming a UK bank. 

But it hasn't been an easy ride, after an on-stage blunder in 2018 supposedly "tarnished" Revolut's reputation at the Bank of England. 

A year later, Revolut CEO Storonsky even looked into acquiring Zopa as a potential "shortcut" to getting the bank licence.

Now finally, regulators seem to be warming up, but can Revolut seal the deal?

Isabel Woodford finds out.

 Sponsored by Zendesk 

CX is hard — but it doesn't have to be

Get Zendesk free for six months, and access to the resources your startup needs to grow.

Learn more about Zendesk for Startups here.

 Europe 

Europe's hottest startups to watch in 2021

Sifted’s list of the top European startups of 2021 is here! 

We’ve picked out the top startups scooping up big funding rounds, growing their head counts and building awesome products.

Check it out and stay informed about Europe’s new economy!

Find out who they are here.

 Sustainability 

List: Top European climate VCs

Contrarian Ventures, a Lithuanian VC firm, has launched Climate50, a new initiative that aims to recognise the most impactful climate VC investors across the globe.

It's kicked off with a ranking of over 130 climate VCs across the globe.

Can you guess who's on it?

Sifted Talks

🛴 Are we about to experience a great green mobility revolution? | Online | 21 January
Cities across Europe are turning to shared bike and scooter operators to help get their citizens moving once again — without getting too close to one another. Join Sifted's Amy Lewin, leading micromobility startup founders and government decision makers to discuss what's coming to a street near you in 2021, in partnership with the British Embassy Stockholm & The Swedish Embassy Britain. 
Sign up now.

🤝 How to manage culture when your startup goes remote | Online | 28 January

2020 was the year that startups went remote. And it’s looking like this will carry over into 2021. But how can you continue to keep the team together — apart? Amy Lewin will quiz people pros from Seedcamp, GitLab and Buffer. In partnership with TripActions.

Sifted Suggests 

🍔 Deliveroo over the weekend won another $180m of funding from shareholders including Amazon, in a move that values the takeaway delivery company at more than $7bn. It comes ahead of a mega stock market listing in the coming months. In other funding news, flow delivery company Bloom & Wild raised a £75m Series D.

💰 London’s VC investment landscape 2020. Spoiler: It's still leading the pack. Find some lovely charts in this Twitter thread.

4️⃣ Considering launching a four-day work week? Joey Gascoigne, cofounder of social media management platform Buffer, answers questions from fellow founders and entrepreneurs about how the startup manages its four-day work week. We covered French startup Welcome to the Jungle’s experimentation of the shorter working week here.

🧐 Checkout.com’s loss amid $450m Series C. The London-based fintech reported a net loss of $9.7m in 2019, the first time it has made a loss since 2013. Earlier this week, Checkout.com raised a whopping Series C round, tripling its valuation to $15bn.

🔮 Looking back, and forward. STATION F catches up with PJ Pärson, general partner at VC firm Northzone, who reflects on European tech and the economy in 2020, as well as sharing predictions for 2021.

🇪🇺 EU regulation and big tech. Time writes about how the EU's sweeping new regulations against big tech could have an impact beyond Europe.

Looking for more European tech reads? Follow us on social 👇

Events [digital only]
 

🙋‍♀️ Diversity and Inclusion in startups | Online | 20 Jan
Join STATION F and three female C-suite execs in a discussion about what diversity actually means for a company, why it’s important and how to achieve it.
 

🛣️ The road to IPO and beyond | Online | 28 Jan
Deutsche Börse Venture Network and Dealroom invite you to learn about private and public growth companies in the DACH region.
 

⌚ Wearables and Healthcare: Female Founders Stories | Online | 11 Feb
Don’t miss out on this event from Women of Wearables, where five female founders will discuss the innovations and trends in healthtech and what the next wave of wearables will bring.

🤸‍♀️ Share the fun 🤸‍♀️

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