• The startup outperforming Elon Musk's Neuralink
• Can Getir deliver on its $7.5bn valuation?
• Meet Rohlik, Europe's latest grocery unicorn

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The brain-computer interface startup outperforming Neuralink

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Can Getir deliver on its $7.5bn valuation?

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Meet Rohlik, Europe's latest grocery unicorn

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What's next for last-mile delivery?

News that Matters

🪄 From witch to angel investor. Harry Potter star-turned-campaigner Emma Watson has made a move into angel investing. She's participated in the £12.5m funding round into FabricNano, a UK-based startup manufacturing alternatives to fossil fuel-based plastic and chemicals in a cell-free way. Maija Palmer reports.

👍 Dev equality. Microverse, a Barcelona-based startup, has raised $12.5m from Northzone and others to expand its global software development training programme. It's one of a growing cohort of schools offering ISAs (income share agreements), where developers pay course fees only once they have landed a job. But unlike most others, Microverse has a focus on developing economies in Africa and Latin America. Its founder, Ariel Camus, thinks that the huge talent shortage for developers has its roots in racism and culture bias. Tim Smith reports.

🇹🇷 Turkey’s new unicorn. Istanbul-based mobile games developer Dream Games has bagged a $155m funding round from a collective of investors including Index and Balderton. It's still a pretty small team, with just 50 people. 

🚴 Getir M&A. Meanwhile Turkey’s other unicorn, Getir, has acquired speedy grocery delivery app Blok to help it expand in Spain and Italy. Blok only launched in February this year. Expect more acquisitions in this sector soon... 

🌉 Building better. 2150, the sustainability-focused VC firm that launched in February, has led the $11m Series A funding round for Nodes & Links. It's a UK-based scheduling platform for large infrastructure projects like building bridges, which aims to help them finish on time and on budget.

Sifted Suggests

🤝 The future of startup-corporate collaboration. Are corporates ready to step up and work more closely with startups? An increasing number of companies, like Vinci and Volvo, have set up incubators and put open innovation at the heart of their R&D strategies. Marie Mawad reports.

🏹 Meet the VC impact analysts. Who are they? What do they do? And how do they figure out which 'sustainable' startups are legit — and which are greenwashing? Sarah Drumm reports.

🇬🇧 UK startup valuations are going sky high. Beauhurst takes a look at how Britain’s VC and PE-backed businesses were valued in 2020, and what's happened to valuations in Q1 2021. (Spoiler: it's looking like prices are cooling slightly.) 

Sifted Opinion

✋ Why you should stop paying so much for PR. There's a whole lot you can do to get your startup out there without breaking the bank, says Mary Glazkova, PR partner at The Untitled Ventures. Here's her PR strategy for startups.

🧐 Culture or cult? There’s a fine line between a strong company culture and a toxic workplace. You know you're the wrong side of that line when your employees are scared to speak up, argues Spill founder Calvin Benton. Here’s how to ensure your team feels psychologically safe.

☠️ The only answer to the quantum cybersecurity threat is quantum. Cambridge Quantum looks at what the cybersecurity threat of quantum means for blockchain technology.