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Hi Sifted Reader,

Happy Friday! Here's today's line up:

💰 One-year-old Hopin hits a $5.65bn valuation
🐴 Paypal: the dark horse of fintech?
🖥️ Quantum companies to watch
🎵 The death of Clubhouse?

\Deeptech

Hopin almost triples valuation to $5.6m just one year after launch

Virtual events platform Hopin has raised a $400m Series C round, at a whopping $5.6bn valuation, just four months after it hit a $2.1bn valuation.

That makes the one-year-old company one of the most valuable startups in Europe and more valuable than Wise, Bolt and N26.

But what on earth does it need so much capital for? And who's joining the team — and the board?

Amy Lewin has the details.

\A message from our sponsor Soldo

Want to support your peers, and win a big prize?

Soldo is looking for founders and finance leaders to participate in its ‘Pay it forward’ campaign. Share what you wish you knew before your business grew, and you could win a swanky Sonos Beam! And, you know, help others…

Share your advice here.

\Foodtech

Super speedy grocery delivery startup Dija launches in London

Dija, which promises to deliver groceries in 10 minutes or less, has launched in London. The company's got three 'dark stores' across the capital and CEO and cofounder Alberto Menolascina says it'll be opening a new location every five to seven days.

But why is speed so important, and why are VCs falling over each other to invest in the lightning quick delivery craze?

Amy Lewin finds out more.

\For Members Deeptech

11 European quantum companies to watch

Europe's quantum computing companies are starting to dive deeper into the pockets of investors. One, or several, of the companies could be the source of the next big breakthrough in the sector.

We've compiled a list of the ones to watch.

See the companies here.

\Fintech

Paypal: the dark horse of European fintech?

We asked AppAnnie to crunch the data on which apps were the most downloaded across 2020.

The results highlighted one dominant player: PayPal. We sometimes forget PayPal, or even dismiss it as one of the dinosaurs of the 1990s.

But now it's rivalling fintechs like Klarna in the buy-now-pay-later space and looks like it would be a threat to the big players if it moved into accounts or trading.

Isabel Woodford has the data.

This article first appeared in our new fintech newsletter. Sign up here to get exclusive content, juicy insights and early access.

\Opinion

Clubhouse is already dying

Audio app Clubhouse showed us what the internet could be: a place where people can collaborate and communicate.

However, trolls are already starting to creep onto the platform, and the intimacy the app creates can lead to overfamiliarity and inappropriate behaviour.

Ronjini Joshua, founder of tech communications firm The Silver Telegram, looks at what the dangers for the app are and how it can preserve the magic of its early days.

Read it here.

\In partnership with Digital Catapult

4 reasons why startups and corporates should work together

The coronavirus pandemic has brought corporates' abilities to innovate into sharp focus.

A McKinsey survey of 200 world leading businesses found that 90% of the respondents felt the pandemic would cause rapid change, but only 21% felt ready to actually deliver it.

For many corporations, partnering with startups could be the way to kickstart innovation — and for many startups, corporates could be the key to unlocking new revenue and scaling opportunities.

Find out more.

\Meet Anisah

Our Startup Life newsletter coauthor

Say hello to Anisah, coauthor of our brand spanking new Startup Life newsletter. But that's not the only hat she wears: she's also founder of 23 Code Street, a coding school for women; CTO at second-hand fashion startup Vinokilo; former director of the Backstage London Accelerator for underrepresented founders; and a huge advocate for diversity in tech. Email her at anisah@sifted.eu and follow her @anisahob.

News that Matters

💊 Exiscientia, an Oxford-based company that uses AI to accelerate drug discovery, has raised $30m in new investment, this time from Blackrock. The funding takes its total Series C round up to $100m. Its tech could mean getting a new drug ready for the clinical trial phase in just 6 months, Exiscientia's founder Andrew Hopkins tells Sifted.

📈 Nextmarkets, a German neobroker, has raised $30m. The company offers commission-free trading but after the Gamestop saga its founders are keen to stress that, unlike American counterpart Robinhood, Nextmarkets has teaching the retail investor to analyse the market at its heart.

🍄 Atai Life Sciences, a global biotech firm which specialises in psychedelic treatments for mental health disorders, has raised $157m, from investors including Peter Thiel. It comes as the race to commercialise psychedelics hots up.

🚴‍♂️ Deliveroo has chosen London for its upcoming IPO. The company's estimated to be worth $7m and it chose the UK after the government committed to rule changes that will allow founders to keep more control once their company goes public.

🇬🇧 Also in the UK, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the 'Future Fund: Breakthrough' as part of his budget. Companies looking to raise £20m or more will be eligible to apply. Sunak said that 1% growth in these companies could boost the country's economy by £38bn.

🚁 Volocopter, an urban air mobility company based in Germany, has raised €200m, bringing its total capital to €322m. The funding will be used to get the VoloCity, a battery-powered air taxi for cities, to market and to accelerate the launch of its first commercial routes.

🇬🇷 Greece's Hellenic Development Bank of Investments has announced a new fund dedicated to financing startups. With an initial fund of €60m, it'll be deployed through VC funds for seed and technology transfer investments in the country.

Sifted Suggests

💸 Can startups grow without venture capital? Startups are increasingly looking for other options, particularly those that let founders keep their equity and board seats and exit whenever they choose. Here's a run down of alternative financing options available in Europe, and who's used them.

🌱 Working together to crack the ESG conundrum. Across Europe, VCs have been quietly meeting up over the past six months to figure out how to apply ESG investing principles to fast-growing startups. LocalGlobe, Cherry, Octopus Ventures, Northzone, EQT and Earlybird are amongst those variously taking action. Sarah Drumm reports on the movement here.

🏆 Europe is leading the sustainability revolution — and for once, the US should take note of what's going on over here.

🇹🇷 Investment into Turkey’s tech scene skyrocketed in 2020, as Turkish startups raised a record $139m and local VCs raised $328m. We took a deep dive into Turkey's VC landscape here.

🇪🇸 The two biggest startup exits in Spain last year, Idealista and Freepik, were by the same buyer: Swedish private equity firm EQT. This piece runs through what EQT seems to understand about the Spanish ecosystem that others don't.

Sifted Opinion

How to get pitch feedback from VCs

How to get AI to sound less drunk: the GPT-3 case study

How to coach your leadership team to greatness

Is it time for more SPACs in Europe?

How to pitch a story to Sifted

Amy Lewin
Deputy Editor

Get in touch with her at amy@sifted.eu
She loves a bit of reader feedback.

Freya Pratty
News Reporter

Send her your news at freya@sifted.eu
Or find her (occasionally) tweeting @FPratty

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Sifted - Speedy food delivery frenzy 💨

\Deeptech

Hopin almost triples valuation to $5.6m just one year after launch

\A message from our sponsor Soldo

Want to support your peers, and win a big prize?

\Foodtech

Super speedy grocery delivery startup Dija launches in London

\For Members Deeptech

11 European quantum companies to watch

\Fintech

Paypal: the dark horse of European fintech?

\Opinion

Clubhouse is already dying

\In partnership with Digital Catapult

4 reasons why startups and corporates should work together

\Meet Anisah

Our Startup Life newsletter coauthor

News that Matters

Sifted Suggests

Sifted Opinion

Older messages

How to learn from VC rejection ❌

The next SaaS superstars 💥

Green fintechs to watch 🌳

Fame-seeking founders... ugh 😒

Bosses, be more flexible 🤸‍♂️

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