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Hi Sifted Reader,

Today's line up:

🍄 Can psychedelic drugs really scale?
✅ Founders: How to learn hard and fast while fundraising
🔮 VCs predict Estonia's next unicorn

\Healthtech

Europe is powering ahead in psychedelics

European startups have become the leading pioneers of the psychedelic drugs sector, outclassing their US rivals.

We’ve seen companies like UK-based biotech startup Compass Pathways going public at a $1.6bn valuation and Berlin-based Atai Life Sciences eyeing up the stock market too.

So what trends have pushed Europe ahead in the psychedelics space? And what challenges do its leading companies face in commercialising them on a large scale?

We investigate here.

\A message from our sponsor Soldo

Sharing your finance advice could pay off big

Soldo’s ‘Pay it forward’ campaign wants founders and finance leaders to share their top tips for its upcoming guide on spend management. You’ll be helping out other founders AND you could win a Sonos Beam…

Share your tips here.

\Opinion

How to get pitch feedback from VCs

When you're fundraising, a whole lot of VCs are going to say they don't want to invest in your startups.

But how can you learn more from the ones that say no?

D'Arcy Whelan has some tips.

\Members Venture Capital

Who will be Estonia's next unicorn?

Estonia boasts an impressive five unicorn startups valued over $1bn — Skype, Bolt, Pipedrive, Playtech and TransferWise (Wise).

Which Estonian startups will follow in their footsteps?

Here's what five top investors think.

\Members Deeptech

Why now is the right time to invest in quantum computing

Quantum computing startups are scooping up big talent — and investors are splashing more cash in the sector.

These are promising signs that smaller quantum computing startups are able to compete with the big players like Google and Microsoft, according to Markus Pflitsch, cofounder of Terra Quantum.

Is it time to invest? Maija Palmer reports.

\Partner content with TripActions

7 tips for maintaining company culture, remotely

With most teams forced to go remote, keeping up a good company culture has proven to be a challenge.

That's why we asked people pros at Hologram, Seedcamp and GitHub how to keep the team together — when apart.

Read their words of wisdom here.

Sifted Suggests

💸 Covid-19 didn't scare investors away from European startups. Now, what does Europe have to do to take startup funding to the next level, asks Sifted's Marie Mawad.

👼 Angel investing 101. Angel investors Deepali Nangia, Matt Robinson and Ian Hogarth give some top insights and advice on the ins and outs of angel investing.

🌱 Inside Sequoia’s new $195m seed fund. The VC’s new fund will invest in US and European startups. Why is the seed stage important to Sequoia? And how will it operate the fund? Find out here.

🧑‍🎓 Tips for student founders. Get some operational experience, check out Paris and don't even think about starting a company or joining a VC firm if you want to get rich quick. Wise words from Eileen Burbidge and Alice Bentinck.

🍔 Spain’s foodtech sector, mapped. This whopper of a list which includes short profiles of all the startups, corporates, accelerators and more focused on foodtech in Spain. 2021 trends in the sector include “algorithmic” and 3D foods… watch this space.

🗣️ Underrepresented founders are merely collateral damage. Spot on analysis from Daisy Onubogu, head of network at Backed VC on the diversity problem in VC portfolios (featuring top notch doodles).

🇬🇧 The e-scooter explosion. The UK’s e-scooter market has gained quite a bit of momentum, and has doubled in size since last December to 5,700 e-scooter units available across the country. ZAG has more here.

Events [digital only]

Sifted Talks: It's meow or never: Is cat tech about to take off? | Online | 2 March
What is it about cats that makes designing products for them so difficult? Find out on 2 March.

Scale-Up Europe | Online | 4 March
Scale-Up Europe is a new initiative spearheaded by President Emmanuel Macron to accelerate the rise of global tech leaders born in Europe. Learn more about it at its opening event.

Sifted Talks: Crunching the numbers: How to use data to grow your startup | Online | 10 March
How can you use numbers to make your product stand out? Join us on 10 March to find out how.

Sifted Talks: What’s the future of facial recognition? | Online | 18 March
Digital ID verification software is booming — but where is it headed? Sign up to find out more.

Your ultimate guide to 2021 | Online | 18-20 March
The FTWeekend Festival is back, with a new Spring digital edition. Join us as we explore the big ideas and the cultural, economic and political questions of the moment alongside an eclectic array of tastings and demonstrations.