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Sifted - Don't hire with your gut 🙄

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Hi Sifted Reader,

We're kicking the week off with an update on one of Europe's spiciest sectors right now — 10-minute grocery delivery. Get up to speed on that further below, and:
  • The hottest fintech seed deals in 2021 so far
  • The top 10 unicorn universities in Europe
  • Why founders should stop trusting their gut

\Food

10-minute grocery delivery: the latest updates


Blink, and you'll miss it. The European 10-minute grocery delivery market is constantly changing; with new companies launching, more VC money being thrown at it, new market expansions and the odd acquisition.

With so much going on, we've made a handy cheat sheet which we'll refresh with the latest on-demand grocery updates as they happen. It includes a map detailing which companies are operating where.

Get the 10-minute grocery rundown here.

\A message from our sponsor Checkout.com

Boost sales by making payments easier 


Online sales reached $393bn in 2020, yet 60% of customers say they’ll abandon their cart if their preferred payment method isn’t available. Find out how to increase your bottom line in Checkout.com's retail report.

Read it here.

\For Members Fintech

The hottest fintech seed deals in 2021 so far, according to investors


In 2021 so far, 200 early-stage fintechs have raised pre-seed or seed funding — totalling $234m. But which of these startups have that extra flair? We asked a dozen active fintech VCs — and dived into Dealroom data — to find out.

Take a peek here.

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

\Opinion

Founders, stop trusting your gut


When it comes to some of the most crucial elements of building a startup — leadership, hiring, promotion, culture — trusting your gut is a one-way ticket to making your company less diverse, thinks Khyati Sundaram, CEO of hiring tech startup Applied.

So how do you stop putting faith in your own instincts and assess for bias properly?

Find out here.

\Unicorns

The top 10 unicorn universities in Europe


Unicorn founders are springing up at a quicker rate than ever in Europe — but where are they all coming from?

We've dug into data from Dealroom to find out which universities across Europe count the most European unicorn founders among their alumni. We've also scouted out the ex-students poised to grow future unicorns.

Find out which universities came out on top here.

\Sponsored by Tech Nation

Four ways to overcome scaling challenges


According to Tech Nation, 23% of scaleups fail because they don’t have the right team or lack experienced leadership. So what can scaling leaders do to prepare?

Sifted spoke to senior chiefs, managers, directors and heads from various startups about overcoming common scaling and leadership challenges.

Hear their words of wisdom here.

Sifted Suggests

👌 How to nail your referral programme. Tom Wallis, the CMO at Gousto, shares how the company made its referral scheme go from so-so to smash hit. This Q&A first appeared in our weekly Startup Life newsletter. For more insights like this, sign up here.

💁‍♀️ 80+ female angel investors in Europe to follow on Twitter. A Twitter list.

🛴 What Wind did next. Eric Wang, cofounder and CEO of German micromobility startup Wind, talks about facing challenges during the pandemic and why the scooter startup decided to focus on the Italian market.

🧬 The UK biotech boom. UK biotech companies are having a smashing year so far. Investors poured £830m into them in the first two months of 2021 — and several have listed. What's going on? Maddyness reports.

🤔 Changing the status quo of European tech. Policy experts Ulrike Franke and Jose Ignacio Torreblance think that Europe needs a new approach to technology — less about economics and more about power — if it wants to gain an advantage over the US and China.

Events [digital only]

IPO or sale: How will I know when to exit? | Online | Aug 4
What's the best way to judge the market and make a timely exit for your startup? Listen in to our next Sifted Talks to find out from panellists including Felix Leuschner, who recently sold his startup Drover to Cazoo. 

Experience the FTWeekend come to life | Join us in person or online | Sept 4
Join leading authors, scientists, politicians, FT writers and editors and more at Kenwood House — or watch from the comfort of your own home.

Sifted Opinion
Parental leave: The ultimate L&D exercise?
A VC obsession with cultured meat and groceries is killing our planet
Why we pay for employee mentors
Revolut: required study for any student of disruption
Public organisations are next to adopt open innovation
Amy Lewin
Deputy Editor

Get in touch with her at amy@sifted.eu
Or tweeting @amyrlewin
Connor Bilboe
Editorial Assistant 

Get in touch with him at connor@sifted.eu
He likes sustainability stories.
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