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Happy hump day reader!

We hope you've had a chance to spend time outside over the last week, but we're here for the inside scoop:

Inside vitamin startups
Inside GoCardless, the fintech with nine lives
Inside Alan, the healthtech with big ambitions
Inside impact-driven startups

\Healthtech

The rise of vitamin startups continues... but do we really need them?

Perhaps it's the age of Covid-19, perhaps it's a general trend towards 'wellness', but the fact of the matter is — more of us are taking vitamins and supplements than ever before.

The industry is now worth £144bn globally, with surveys suggesting 70% of Americans and 51% of Brits take some form of vitamin regularly.

But is it worth it? And how are startups selling themselves?

\A message from our sponsor Mitek

What does ‘Gen Z’ finance look like?

The world’s youngest customers are a lucrative and under-served market. On May 19, our expert panel will discuss:

Are Gen Z customers showing brand loyalty?
What are the emerging trends for fintechs aimed at digital natives?
What does the path to profitability look like for newcomers?

Register now for Sifted Talks.

\Interview

Inside GoCardless: the fintech underdog with nine lives

GoCardless would have been a dating app if it had been up to Tom Blomfield.

His future cofounders Hiroki Takeuchi and Matt Robinson vetoed the idea — instead agreeing that payments was the answer.

10 years on, their subsequent project GoCardless is worth almost $1bn and processing $20bn annually.

Isabel Woodford spoke to the three founders about its early years.

\Healthtech

Alan raises €185m and becomes a unicorn

The French healthtech has big ambitions — and the results to match.

Over the past year, it's doubled its members to 155k, made €100m in annual revenue and saw less than 1% of members churn.

Now, after raising €185m in a Series D round led by Coatue, and reaching a €1.4bn valuation, it's announced bigger plans.

Amy Lewin interviews Jean-Charles Samuelian, Alan’s cofounder and CEO, on the future of the company — and healthtech.

\Sponsored by Nesta

How impact-driven startups are using data to drive change

Impact startups need to show that they're doing good, not just say that they are.

But that's no small feat.

UK innovation agency Nesta talked to us about how data can help identify the genuinely key points of intervention and personalise social programmes, making them more effective.

Discover the range of ways impact startups are taking a data-driven approach.

\For Members Consumer

How Covid-19 has changed fashiontech

The online fashion industry has boomed in the lockdown era.

But how have fashion startups responded to the changing demands of consumers?

Sifted spoke to Lithuania's Vinted, Denmark's Son of a Tailor and UK clothes rental startup Hirestreet to find out.

Sifted members can read more here.

Not yet a Sifted member? Subscribe here for as little as £19 per month.

News that Matters

🌙 Lunar acquires Lendify. The Danish digital bank has bought the Swedish lender (last valued at $1bn) for just over €100m in Lunar equity. Read our exclusive for the full story.

🛴 Dott's doing it differently. The scooter startup has just raised $85m, ahead of a rumoured launch in London as one of three operators chosen for the city's coveted trial. It's differentiating itself with a full-stack approach, which seems to be winning over both investors and city regulators.

🚘 BlaBlaCar weathers the Covid-19 storm, raising $115m. Despite a set of conditions less than ideal for a carpooling and transportation marketplace, the company has fared well relative to its competitors — and acquisitions continue to be its game.

🏦 FintechOS raises €51m to digitalise incumbent banks and insurers. The Bucharest-based fintech's Series B round will be used to add 120 staff and establish offices in the US, Dubai and Singapore.

🥛 Oatly filed to float the Nasdaq on Monday under the symbol 'OTLY'. The filing showed that the Swedish oat milk company made a $60m net loss in 2020, compared with $36m in 2019.

🧚 Tink's taking home €40m. The Berlin-based smart home ecommerce platform has just announced its Series D round, led by Cadence Growth Capital, Rocket Internet and SevenVentures.

🇩🇪 Getir sets foot in Germany. The Turkish startup, which established the 10-minute delivery trend, has officially launched in Berlin.

💰Cusp Capital's mega $361m launch fund. The German VC firm, led by investors who've worked with Klarna and Delivery Hero, will back early-stage European companies. It plans to make up to 30 investments over a six to seven year period — and one of its core hypotheses is on sustainability.

Sifted Suggests

⚽ Business lessons from the European Super League. Louis Saha, who was a striker for Newcastle United, argues that the football clubs keen on joining the new league shouldn't lose sight of their purpose: football players and their fans.

🛴 Scooters: the state of play. Following Dott's $85m raise, Sifted's Amy Lewin has the lowdown on the fierce fight for first place in Europe's escooter space — complete with charts!

🌆 Berlin may have won founders’ hearts, but London is still the investor favourite. That's according to the recent report by Startup Heatmap into Europe's tech hub. We distilled the key findings here.

🇬🇧 Speaking of London, here are the London Mayoral candidates' manifestos on tech. We think they're pretty unambitious. Watch here.

Sifted's complete guide to impact

Impact investors to know in Europe [Member]

Want to save the planet? Tear up the VC system

Fastest-growing European B Corps [Member]

A guide to impact investing for startups

Sustainable products can't just be green — they need to be good

The perils of social impact from afar

Stop hunting for unicorns, start looking for green zebras

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.

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Sifted - Vitamin startups: do we need them? 💊

\Healthtech

The rise of vitamin startups continues... but do we really need them?

\A message from our sponsor Mitek

What does ‘Gen Z’ finance look like?

\Interview

Inside GoCardless: the fintech underdog with nine lives

\Healthtech

Alan raises €185m and becomes a unicorn

\Sponsored by Nesta

How impact-driven startups are using data to drive change

\For Members Consumer

How Covid-19 has changed fashiontech

News that Matters

Sifted Suggests

Sifted's complete guide to impact

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The VCs cashing in when these 6 fintechs IPO 💸

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