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Happy Wednesday Sifted reader!

We're back with more analysis and news from startup land:

Europe has almost 200 female VC partners
Tom Blomfield is now angel investing
The Big Idea: quantum 'fingerprints'
Back Market raises €276m

\Venture Capital

Europe now has almost 200 female VC partners

Sifted is tracking them all.

We're a long way off gender parity in VC — just 13% of senior investment roles in the UK were held by women in 2019 — but there are more than you might think.

Sifted has listed all women VC partners in Europe by country — and (for members only) taken a deeper look at what route they've typically taken to get there.

Here's the complete list of 190+ VC partners, free to read.

Here's our member piece, looking at where partners worked previously.

\A message from our sponsor Oracle NetSuite

How to achieve a more profitable business

Find out top executives' key priorities and concerns on profitability in Oracle NetSuite's latest whitepaper.

Find out more here.

\Venture Capital

Tom Blomfield turns to angel investing, backing fourth venture this year

Monzo founder Tom Blomfield's kept his head down since officially leaving the bank earlier this year.

But the entrepreneur is ready to get hands dirty again by angel investing, he tells Sifted. He's quietly backed four startups already in 2021.

His latest bet is Pento, a SaaS startup focused on automating payroll in-house that has just raised $15.6m.

Read Isabel Woodford's interview with Blomfield here.

\Ecommerce

Back Market raises €276m to build a circular economy giant

Now valued at €2.6bn, the marketplace for refurbished consumer electronics is one of French tech's biggest stars — and it's just beginning.

Over the past year, Back Market has raised $455m — and its ambitious goal is to make refurbished gadgets the first choice for consumers.

Chris O'Brien has more.

\The Big Idea

Computer chips with quantum 'fingerprints'

Introducing our new series: the big idea of the week. Each week we pick a company with a weird, wacky or game-changing notion that could have a massive impact on the world around us if it can turn it into reality.

This week we're looking at computer chips with quantum 'fingerprints', which can be read by London-based company Crypto Quantique — enabling easy identity verification of the machines we use and making them extremely hard to hack.

If it takes off, it could change the way we approach cybersecurity.

Maija Palmer looks into it.

\Sponsored by Mitek

4 things fintechs need to know about Generation Z

They're growing up — by 2030 their collective earnings will make up more than a quarter of global income — but how are they spending and saving their money?

Ahead of today's 4pm talk on Gen Z and finance (sign up here), we spoke to fintech and security experts on the key things fintechs need to know if they want to serve this burgeoning demographic.

Find their key learnings here.

News that Matters

🛴 Scoot scoot, London. E-scooter startups Dott, Tier and Lime can finally operate legally in the city as part of the long-awaited e-scooter trials. (Voi's been snubbed though.) Amy Lewin has the full story.

💰 Crypto custody spending spree. London-based cryptocurrency custodian Copper, which helps big investors store and manage their investments, has raised $50m in a Series B round led by Dawn Capital and Target Global. Ryan Weeks reports.

💁‍♂️ Sequoia's new partner. The US VC firm has nabbed Anas Biad from Silver Lake to help build out its European portfolio — in particular, early-stage companies.

💁‍♀️ And Creandum's first female partner. Sabina Wizander, formerly chief strategy officer at Swedish healthtech giant Kry and now Europe's latest female VC partner, chats about her investment experience and new strategy to Sifted here.

Sifted Suggests

🦄 Which CVCs have the most unicorns? Sifted looked at the corporate startup investors which are most focused on investing in European startups and have the largest portfolios. Sifted members can view the data here.

🐦 Do you need more female VCs on your feed? We've made a handy Twitter list so you can follow all the female VC partners named in our recent article.

🧶 The app combatting fast fashion. Sojo, which featured in Sifted's Sustain 100, acts like Deliveroo for clothes repairs — connecting customers with local seamsters via a network of cyclists. One of its riders interviewed founder Josephine Phillips on impact investors and generational divides.

\For Members Sifted Access

A special invitation

Join Sifted’s Isabel Woodford and Monzo’s Sujata Bhatia on May 27 for a members-only fireside chat. They’ll be taking a deep dive into Monzo’s plans and debating the future of the sector.

Plus, it's your chance to quiz Isabel on anything, from life as a fintech journalist and up-and-coming startups, to crazy valuations and hype bubbles.

Don’t miss out!

Not yet a member? Sign up here and use the code EVENT10 to get £10 off your first month when subscribing to monthly membership. You’ll find the event registration link in your welcome email.

More on representation in VC

What happens when a VC partner has a baby?

In data: diversity in European VC

VC has a diversity problem — can this fellowship change that?

VC-funded founders are a seriously privileged bunch

Female founders received just 1% of funding in CEE region in 2020

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
Find her tweeting at @ipojuner

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Sifted - London, e-scooters are coming 🛴

\Venture Capital

Europe now has almost 200 female VC partners

\A message from our sponsor Oracle NetSuite

How to achieve a more profitable business

\Venture Capital

Tom Blomfield turns to angel investing, backing fourth venture this year

\Ecommerce

Back Market raises €276m to build a circular economy giant

\The Big Idea

Computer chips with quantum 'fingerprints'

\Sponsored by Mitek

4 things fintechs need to know about Generation Z

News that Matters

Sifted Suggests

\For Members Sifted Access

A special invitation

More on representation in VC

Older messages

Most active US VCs in Europe 💵

Paid period leave? 🩸

Universities: sort out your spinouts 🎓

Europe now has 70 startup unicorns 🦄

Transforming epilepsy treatment 🧠

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