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Hi Sifted Reader,

Happy Friday! Here's our line up today:

🏠 Will working from home last?
🏋️ The startup marketing mealworms as sports nutrition
🙄 Trade Republic on Robinhood and the Gamestop saga

\Startup Life

According to data, staff love working from home. Bosses… not so much

The pandemic has radically changed the way we think about work, with lots of companies going fully remote.

But will it last?

New data, surveying 25,000 job applicants and 180 companies, shows that it may not — with employers dramatically less open to flexible working than employees.

Tim Smith looks through the data.

\French Tech

What’s going on with the French?

A lot has changed in 10 years. Economic reform, world-class mathematicians and corporate-startup partnerships are putting French tech on the map.

But how will France set itself apart on the global stage?

Read our latest Sifted Report to find out.

\Food

Macho mealworms: Ynsect is muscling into sports nutrition

In January, mealworms were cleared for human consumption by the EU's food safety agency.
It's the news Europe's insect farmers and food manufacturers have been waiting for.

For one company, Ynsect, it's time to take its mealworm product, YnMeal, to the mainstream, particularly targeting the sports nutrition market.

Sarah Drumm finds out more.

\For members \Investing

We're nothing like Robinhood, says Berlin-based broker Trade Republic

A few weeks ago, Berlin-based broker Trade Republic would have been flattered by a comparison to US trading app Robinhood. Trade Republic took inspiration from Robinhood, which was one of the first to introduce a commission-free trading smartphone app.

Then came the Gamestop saga, which sparked conversations throughout the media about the safety of such apps.

Where does Trade Republic, often referred to as 'the German Robinhood', fit into the debate?

Miriam Partington finds out more.

\Consumer

Can tech help separated couples to co-parent better?

Across the course of the pandemic, there's been a 10% increase in the number of co-parenting cases going to to court in the UK.

One London-based startup, Amicable, has built an app that it thinks could help by giving parents a centralised chat function to talk through, a shared calendar, and access to a coach.

But does tech have a place in solving such a sensitive problem?

\Sponsored by Trip Actions

Here's what the future of business travel looks like

The break in international travel brought on by the pandemic has given the travel industry a chance to evaluate how we can move around the globe in a more sustainable way.

Now, with a vaccine in sight, what will business travel look like in 2021, and beyond?

We find out more.

News that Matters

🖥️ Portuguese low-code platform OutSystems closed a $150m funding round, giving it a $9.5bn valuation. Sifted's Tim Smith spoke to OutSystems' CEO about the news, and how it plans to continue driving talent in Portugal.

💰 Earlybird Digital East Fund, a fund associated with German VC Earlybird, has launched a new $242m fund, focused on 'Emerging Europe' — countries stretching from the Baltics to Central and Eastern Europe, and Turkey.

🎶 Event networking app Grip has raised $13m. It uses AI to give attendees personalised matchmaking recommendations based on their interests. The news follows London-based events platform Hopin's $40m Series A round last year, as the pandemic causes a boom in demand for online meetup software.

🖱️ Copado, a Spanish startup that's built a dev ops platform for Salesforce, has closed a $96m fundraising round, and plans to use the investment to expand internationally. Copado's customer base has grown from 200 to 1000 companies over the past year.

🌼 Actio, a German wellness app, has raised €8.5m. The app aims to connect coaches with customers for fitness and mindfulness training.

Sifted Suggests

👶 Parental leave at startups — can they do it better than other companies? Caring duties still disproportionally fall to women, and paternity leave uptake across Europe is incredibly low. Laura Kennett, head of people at Projects by IF, shares 10 things that startups should think about when creating policies.

👋 To weigh in on the debate, join Sifted's Amy Lewin and Michael Stothard on Clubhouse today at 12pm GMT where they'll be discussing what startups can do better when it comes to parental leave.

🏝️ What's the world learnt from nearly a year of remote work? Here are six insights from our panel on remote-first companies, from why offices could actually be a distraction, to onboarding that ensures staff retention.

🐈 Pet tech companies are transferring the latest human health science onto cats and dogs, from DNA testing to pet health chatbots. Sifted's Maija Palmer looks at four startups that show what's coming next for the industry.

🌲VCs love data so why aren't they interested in sustainability metrics? Danijel Višević, in charge of climate tech investments at Ecosia, looks at why most VCs don't care, and what can be done about it.

👩 'Imposter syndrome', or doubting your abilities, is a diagnosis often given to women. This piece in the Harvard Business Review looks at the dangers of overusing the phrase, which overlooks other biases like systemic racism and classism.