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Hi Sifted Reader,

Top of the agenda today:

🔨 Can the EU fix VC?
👼 Diving into Taavet Hinrikus' big angel portfolio
🌐 Changing the platform economy, by Mariana Mazzucato
🌆 New climate tech VC on a mission to clean up cities

\For members Investing

Inside Taavet Hinrikus' vast angel portfolio

When Taavet Hinrikus stepped down as Wise's CEO (formerly TransferWise) in 2017, he didn't put his feet up. Instead, he ramped up his angel investing — big time.

Hinrikus has now backed over 100 startups, including well-known fintechs like Curve, Habito, Cleo AI and Onfido.

But what makes him tick? (And it's more than just 'fintech'.)

Isabel Woodford interviews Hinrikus here.

\A message from our sponsor Techleap.nl

The best of a tech conference, minus the awkward networking

Did you know you can watch all of Techleap Summit 2021’s sessions and masterclasses on YouTube? Follow their channel for talks on inclusive leadership, global expansion and how to raise a Series A.

Watch Techleap’s archive, and follow them on YouTube, here.

\Opinion

A different kind of platform economy

How is value created and extracted in a digital economy, and what's the best way to govern it?

In an op ed for Sifted, internationally-renowned economist Mariana Mazzucato discusses the emergence of 'platform power'.

Read here.

\Venture Capital

European VC is broken. Can the EU can help fix it?

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has earmarked 40% of its budget fund to invest in startups.

After some healthy debate in Sifted's op-ed section over whether EU money is good for the ecosystem, members of the EIC Fund investment committee spoke to Sifted.

Using the fund, they'll focus on "filling a market gap". That means coinvesting in companies often overlooked by VCs — impactful startups with a long-term view that are less likely to see funding.

Get the full picture.

\Newsletter

Launching today: the Startup Life newsletter

Our third new newsletter launches today. Weekly on Wednesdays, our Startup Life newsletter will cover:

Q&As with seriously smart startup operators
Juicy news on who’s hiring, who’s firing and who’s got a top new job
Actually useful reads on everything from running 1-1s to marketing on social media
Insightful, personal and controversial opinion pieces
A chance to choose what topics we cover each week

Try it out. You might just absolutely love it.

\Sustainability

The new VC fund focused on greening our cities

2150 launched yesterday with €130m in the bank. Another sustainability VC fund has to be good news, but this one's special.

It's focused exclusively on the "urban stack". It'll invest in climate tech, from new construction materials to algorithms, which make buildings more efficient to manage and city planning more sustainable.

It's already invested in CarbonCure, a startup that turns CO₂ into concrete, and it's hoping to close the fund at €200m by mid-2021.

Why is sustainable construction so important?

\Sponsored by Oracle NetSuite

The biggest mistake I've ever made: mistaking confidence for competence

Founder of FreshMinds and CEO of Fluidly, Caroline Plumb's biggest challenge is recruiting people at the right time.

The success of a startup can live or die by its recruitment. The third biggest reason for startup failure — after a lack of market and running out of funds — is having the wrong team.

Find out how to avoid that here.

News that matters

🇬🇧 A thousand EU finance firms are opening UK offices, despite Brexit. An FOI request by Bovill found that two-thirds of the companies that have applied for permission to continue operating in the UK didn't have physical operations in the nation previously.

🚢 Iconiq's crossing the pond. The US VC firm, whose portfolio includes Airbnb, Robinhood, Zoom and Uber, is looking for a European investment partner. One UK investor said: "Honestly, I think they are just contacting every partner under 50 at a European fund."

🌱 Infarm's growing fast. The company, which works with M&S, has now partnered with Goldman Sachs who will oversee its biggest funding round yet. It's expected to secure unicorn status for the vertical farming company.

🚘 Cazoo's bought Cluno. The UK car retailer has acquired Germany's consumer car subscription platform for an undisclosed sum.

💸 Blockchain.com's certainly secured its double unicorn status, having raised $120m in its biggest-ever round including at least eight firms and angels. This has brought the crypto wallet and exchange to a valuation of more than $2bn, according to Fortune.

📊 Rows' $16m round. The spreadsheet platform has completed a Series B round led by Lakestar, and just launched into public beta its spreadsheet that doesn't require its users to code.

👔 In Manchester's second major fundraise this month, worker tech startup Orka has raised £29m to double its headcount and drive further UK expansion of its earned wage access product, Orka Pay.

🐿️ Go for Gophr! The UK-based last-mile delivery company has raised £4m in funding after reporting 300% in revenue growth over the last year. The seed round was led by Nauta Capital.

Sifted Suggests

🌳 Fintech gets green. From metal bank cards to the biodegradable option: wood. Check out our list of climate fintechs to watch, and what they offer beyond timber tokens. [Member]

🤝 What's up with our new membership model? In an interview with Press Gazette, our cofounder and the FT's innovation editor John Thornhill explains.

💻 Six insights on remote-first work. Complete with a visual illustration, check out why 'remote offices' don't work following from our recent Sifted Talks.

💸 Plus, six sales tips for SaaS startups with another funky illustration to share. As VCs poured a record €12bn into European SaaS startups in 2020, it's never been more important to stand out from the crowd.

🎲 What do VCs actually do? Here's a fascinating long read on the opaque process of VC decision-making which was published in the Harvard Business Review's recent magazine edition.

☝️ Scale Up Europe. The new initiative, which will involve discussions from more than 150 of Europe’s entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, corporates and politicians, is taking place over the next few months. And as an ecosystem partner, Sifted will be framing the debates along the way.

\Events

Creating the tech ecosystems of the future

Today, join an all-star cast from La French Tech, Wilson Sonsini, Atomico, Passion Capital, LocalGlobe, the European Commission, Tech Nation, Dealroom and, of course, Sifted to discuss where the tech sector is heading next.

Is the really the dawn of the age of deeptech?
Where are the emerging ecosystems to watch?
Are startup employees really about to relocate to Lisbon?

Sign up here. Today at 3pm GMT.

Sifted resources

Sifted’s startup predictions for 2021

Europe’s top climate tech investors

The best London startups to work at in 2021

How to pitch an opinion piece to Sifted

How to pitch a story to Sifted

Michael Stothard
Editor

Get in touch with him at michael@sifted.eu
Or find him tweeting @MStothard

Isabella Pojuner
Editorial Intern

Get in touch with her at isabella@sifted.eu
She's into climate tech and crypto.

What would you like to read about in the next email?

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Sifted - Green fintechs to watch 🌳

\For members Investing

Inside Taavet Hinrikus' vast angel portfolio

\A message from our sponsor Techleap.nl

The best of a tech conference, minus the awkward networking

\Opinion

A different kind of platform economy

\Venture Capital

European VC is broken. Can the EU can help fix it?

\Newsletter

Launching today: the Startup Life newsletter

\Sustainability

The new VC fund focused on greening our cities

\Sponsored by Oracle NetSuite

The biggest mistake I've ever made: mistaking confidence for competence

News that matters

Sifted Suggests

\Events

Creating the tech ecosystems of the future

Sifted resources

Older messages

Fame-seeking founders... ugh 😒

Bosses, be more flexible 🤸‍♂️

Meet the TransferWise 'mafia' 😛

UiPath investors get 220,000% return 🤑

You’re invited! Become a Sifted Member with your exclusive discount 👥

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