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Hi Sifted Reader,

Need a holiday? This week, we've decided to treat our readers to a brunch in Bucharest — with Sifted's special guest, UiPath founder Daniel Dines. Also on the menu:

VCs leaf through Europe's cannabis capitals
21 upcoming startups in central Europe
Revolut: a required study for any student of disruption
On-demand grocery startup JOKR raises $170m

\Brunch with Sifted

Interview: Daniel Dines, cofounder of UiPath

In downtown Bucharest, Daniel Dines — the richest man in Romania — delves into some of the life lessons he’s learned during his entrepreneurial journey.

Dines recounts his success story, from his Romanian roots to robotic process automation to seeing UiPath listing on the New York Stock Exchange in April, worth just shy of $36bn.

Kit Gillet met the man behind the startup phenomenon.

\Reports Flipdish

What’s next for digital restaurants?

Meet the startups disrupting the booming online food delivery market — from Kbox to Karma Kitchen — and find out what they’re planning next.

Read the report here.

\Healthtech

Europe's cannabis capitals, ranked

The UK is Europe’s most active market for investment deals into cannabis startups by a long way, accounting for 53% of all activity in the sector.

Tim Smith finds out why — and asks if Europe is now starting to play cannabis catch-up with its US rivals.

Get the whole picture here.

\For Members Venture Capital

21 startups to watch in central Europe, according to VCs

When it comes to startups, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have had their fair share of success stories, from Docplanner to Prezi.

But who's next? Sifted asked six top investors who focus on the region.

Here are the up-and-coming stars of central Europe.

If you're not yet a Sifted member, subscribe here for as little as £19 per month.

\Fintech

Analysing Revolut’s rise to the top

After raising $800m from SoftBank and Tiger Global at an impressive $33bn valuation, Revolut is now the most valuable private company in the UK.

Nicolas Colin explores its exponential trajectory.

\Sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank

So you want to exit — now what?

The exit process — the last in the life cycle of a startup’s growth — might appear mysterious. But we’re here to lift the veil.

From choosing an exit strategy to deciding whether or not to SPAC, Sifted spoke to people who know the process inside and out.

Poppy Koronka finds out more.

News that Matters

📈 CVC investment in Europe hits all-time high. Corporates invested a record $4.6bn in European startups in the first three months of this year, with big-ticket rounds from Visa and Salesforce backing boosted funding deals.

🃏 On-demand grocery startup JOKR raises $170m in debt and equity — and says it's really very different from its competitors. It offers 15-minute grocery delivery from 100 dark stores around the world, but it's also transforming ecommerce supply chains, argues CEO Ralf Wenzel. Balderton, Tiger Global, HV Capital and a whole bunch more investors see potential in the model. Amy Lewin finds out more.

🔋 Why we need giant gravity batteries. Gravity storage company Energy Vault grabs another $20m investment to pursue sustainable energy storage — and its big, bizarre batteries are the key.

💵 Addiction treatment startup Quit Genius raises $64m. The London-based telehealth startup, which has given more than 2m people access to its opioid, alcohol and tobacco addiction programmes, increased its revenue tenfold over the last 12 months — and plans to keep expanding.

👩‍⚕️ German startup Her1 tackles gut health. From kimchi to kombucha, gut health is the new wellness trend. Her1 is working on products to improve female gut health, and has raised a Series A raise of €5.5m, led by Five Seasons Ventures. Freya Pratty reports.

Sifted Suggests

🇩🇪 Germany is a powerhouse. So far this year, German startups have raised a record €8.1bn from VC funds, more than the €6bn raised in all of 2020. From the discreet to the distinguished, which are G ermany’s most exciting startups and scaleups?

🇫🇷 The hottest startups to watch in France. From ManoMano to Meero, French startups have raised €5.6bn in VC funding so far in 2021, up nearly threefold since 2015. Here we list the startups leading the way.

♀️ Where are the women in deeptech? The European Commission has launched Women TechEU, a scheme which will offer grants and mentoring programmes to women-led startups to create a more equal deeptech industry.

Michael Stothard
Editor

Get in touch with him at michael@sifted.eu
Or find him tweeting @MStothard

Riddhi Kanetkar
Editorial Intern

Get in touch with her at riddhi@sifted.eu
Or find her tweeting @r1ddhi

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Sifted - Hottest startups in France 🇫🇷

\Brunch with Sifted

Interview: Daniel Dines, cofounder of UiPath

\Reports Flipdish

What’s next for digital restaurants?

\Healthtech

Europe's cannabis capitals, ranked

\For Members Venture Capital

21 startups to watch in central Europe, according to VCs

\Fintech

Analysing Revolut’s rise to the top

\Sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank

So you want to exit — now what?

News that Matters

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