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Hi Sifted Reader,

It's the first week of spring and we've got a selection of smashing stories.

SPACs, SPACs and more SPACs
The 15 sustainability startups to watch
Could the next Stripe bypass Silicon Valley?

Sssspot the trend? 🐍

\Venture Capital

What do European VCs really think about SPACs?

Credit Suisse says it's anticipating a "snowball effect" from recent SPAC debuts by Lakestar and eToro — following the trend that's been well and truly established in the US.

But Sifted spoke to 14 top European funds who say they're still hesitant about the craze — and it's not just down to regulatory difficulties and financial hurdles.

So what's the issue?

\A message from our sponsor Soldo

CFOs have a lot on their plate — this podcast wants to help

How are the top CFOs planning for the future? Soldo’s The CFO Playbook Podcast interviews global finance leaders on how they set goals, manage teams and leverage the latest tech.

Listen to the podcast here.

\For Members Sustainability

VC picks: sustainable startups

We gathered investors from Norrsken, MAZE Impact, Talis Capital and ETF Partners to divulge the climate techs, cleantechs and greentechs they're keeping an eye on.

The list includes Greek maritime shipping software platform DeepSea and steel ecommerce company Vanilla Steel — both tackling some of the most polluting industries on Earth.

Read up on the 15.

\Fintech

Would a new Stripe succeed without Silicon Valley?

Payments company Stripe has just announced a whopping $600m raise in its Series H round — at a staggering $95bn valuation.

The company's got strong European roots, with cofounder brothers Patrick and John Collison hailing from Ireland and using their transcontinental connection wisely. Indeed, the recent round will formally establish this as they plan to use the funds to invest in European operations.

But could another European startup make it as far without taking the same detour through Silicon Valley?

Our columnist Nicolas Colin gives his take.

\For Members Venture Capital

Top VCs pick the founders-turned-investors you need to watch

40% of European unicorns were set up by founders who later invested in other businesses. People like Taavet Hinrikus, cofounder of Wise, who has now backed over 100 startups.

But who are the other European founders-turned-investors you should have on your radar?

Here are the ones to watch.

\Sponsored by Startup Sweden

4 tips for scaleup founders looking to break into the Middle East

For scaleups looking to expand, a move into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) could be a crucial next step.

MENA is tech savvy and super young — two-thirds of the population is made up of under 35s.

But only 8% of SMBs in the region have an online platform, so there's a huge gap in the market for scaleups to establish themselves digitally in the region.

What should companies know before entering MENA?

News that Matters

🏆 2020 was a record year for UK tech investment. Tech Nation's new report is out, and it shows that despite Covid-19, the tech sector has boomed, garnering $15bn in VC investment. Our must-see charts from the report here.

📈 eToro's going public via a US SPAC, and it's hit a $10bn valuation. The Israeli trading app is among the first in Europe to do so, but institutional and retail investors in Europe won't benefit.

🇪🇺 Startup-friendly laws are officially a standard. The Not Optional campaign set up by Index Ventures is back in full swing — with 46 big names from across the industry endorsing a Startup Nations Standard they believe every EU nation should adopt.

🐼 Bitpanda is Austria's first unicorn. The neobroker has raised $170m in a round led by Valar Ventures, and is now valued at $1.2bn. This year it plans not only to expand to Madrid, Barcelona, London, Paris and Berlin — but beyond cryptocurrency and into ETFs and fractional trades.

🔬 Teaming up to fight cancer. Two of France's most successful founders, Céline Lazorthes of Leetchi and Jonathan Benhamou of PeopleDoc, have started Resilience: both a telemedicine app for cancer patients and software for doctors which aggregates the latest research. It's raised €5m.

Sifted Suggests

🌳 What areas of climate tech are overlooked by investors? Ada Ventures is hosting a panel today from 16.30-17.30 GMT on that very subject, with participation from Pale Blue Dot and Greentech Alliance.

🎙️The FTWeekend Festival is kicking off this week, and we're signed up to talks by UN special envoy on climate Mark Carney, biochemist Jennifer Doudna and Covid-19 vaccine duo Dr Türeci and Dr Sahin.

😷 For those ready to hear it, here's 14 lessons for the next pandemic. We can feel you cringe, but this is a fascinating compilation of reflections from experts in biotech and immunology on the Covid-19 pandemic. (One of them is: "Put Science First.")

✈️ Monocle on mobility. The magazine's been interviewing key figures in the sector, most recently Blake Scholl, CEO and founder of Boom Supersonic.

🔮 What's the future of newsletters? Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie was interviewed by The Hustle — here are his predictions.

👨‍💻 Will WeWork actually work? Mary Ann Azevdeo of TechCrunch analyses its new strategy, including the "unbundling of space" — but we'll have to see if it rescues the company from the brink of failure.

Sifted Resources

Europe’s top climate tech investors [Member]

How to pitch an opinion piece to Sifted

The media startups to watch in 2021

Top Series A investors [Member]

Top seed investors [Member]

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 tweets about climate at @ipojuner

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Sifted - 15 sustainable startups to watch 🌳

\Venture Capital

What do European VCs really think about SPACs?

\A message from our sponsor Soldo

CFOs have a lot on their plate — this podcast wants to help

\For Members Sustainability

VC picks: sustainable startups

\Fintech

Would a new Stripe succeed without Silicon Valley?

\For Members Venture Capital

Top VCs pick the founders-turned-investors you need to watch

\Sponsored by Startup Sweden

4 tips for scaleup founders looking to break into the Middle East

News that Matters

Sifted Suggests

Sifted Resources

Older messages

Do you need a chief community officer? 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Could a new law kill the gig economy? 🇪🇸

Top seed and Series A VCs in Europe 🔥

Salaries: what are you worth? 🤔

Your membership discount code is about to expire ⌛

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