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Hi Sifted Reader,

Today we're taking our first steps into community journalism, sharing our readers' stories of working in toxic startup environments. Plus:

Which are Europe's top unicorns on Glassdoor?
How to build your personal brand
How food sharing app Olio plans to actually make money
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan ups its Europe presence

\Startup Life

Harassment, 'blame culture', breakdowns: Sifted readers share their experiences of toxic workplaces

Following our investigation into the culture at speedy grocery startup Gorillas, we put the call out to our readers to find out about their experiences of challenging work environments.

282 readers replied: here's what we found.

\A message from our sponsor McKinsey & Company

McKinsey’s insights for scaling your startup

The McKinsey on Start-ups podcast breaks down what startups and investors really need to grow, featuring founders, investors and experts from around the world.

Listen to the podcast here.

We're hiring a Head of Design, an Events and Commercial Marketing Manager and 10+ other roles 🚀

We're expanding our scope beyond journalism to become the leading insights platform for the European technology industry — and we're looking for brilliant people to help us achieve that.

Find all our open roles here.

\Startup Life

Which are Europe’s top unicorns on Glassdoor?

Following a bumper year of VC investment into European startups, the continent’s unicorn herd has grown to record levels — with 72 new unicorns made in 2021 alone.

But what do employees of these companies think of their workplace? We've worked with Glassdoor to find out.

Which startup came out top?

\Opinion

How to build a personal brand as a nobody in a startup ecosystem

Kim Oguilve was an outsider in the Finnish tech ecosystem who knew nothing about startups. She shares her tips to help you shape a solid personal brand inside a startup ecosystem.

Here's what she recommends.

\Sustainability

Food sharing app Olio raises $43m as neighbours scramble for free groceries

Sharing app Olio, which connects individuals who are looking to offload uneaten food and other household items to nearby neighbours, has raised a $43m Series B round led by DX Ventures, the VC arm of food delivery business Delivery Hero.

And it's figured out a way to make money.

How? Sarah Drumm finds out more.

\Sponsored by Lightspace

A&E and AR: How augmented reality is transforming surgery

From MRI scans to ultrasounds, imagery and technology have revolutionised medicine. But inside the operating room, surgeons still have a problem.

One solution could be using AR headsets to visualise medical data superimposed onto a patient's body, potentially cutting surgery time by 20%.

So why aren’t they in the operating room yet?

News that Matters

👨‍🏫 Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan ups its Europe presence. The VC, one of Canada's largest public-pension investors, said Monday that it's appointed Avid Larizadeh Duggan as a managing director in Europe, putting more focus on the region.

🇪🇸 Factorial, a Spanish HR software company has closed an $80m Series B funding round led by Tiger Global Management.

💸 Mooncard, a Paris-based fintech, has raised €20m for its platform automating employee expense accounts. The company says it'll use the money to expand to five European countries across the next year.

🚛 German startup arive has raised €6m for its platform that delivers a series of brands to customers' doors within 30 minutes.

🇸🇪 Stravito, a Swedish startup that wants to become the 'Netflix for enterprise market research' has raised $14.6m in a Series A round led by Endeit Capital.

Sifted Suggests

💰 Raising early stage VC? Check out this deck by Jyri Engeström from YesVC, full of tips to help you raise early rounds.

👨‍⚕️ How to build a successful healthtech. This podcast episode hears from Dr Harpreet Sood, an NHS doctor and global health advisor. He chats through how to define success as a healthtech.

Events

The end of traditional finance? | Online | September 8
Find out from fintech experts how embedded finance is changing the payments game in our next Sifted Talks.

How embedded finance could revolutionise your startup | Online | September 30
Embedded finance could be the key to diversifying your revenue and increasing your customer lifetime. We unpack how startups can get in on the action in this Sifted Talks, with experts from the likes of OpenPayd and Spryker.

Sifted Opinion

Why I became a boomerang employee

Investors shouldn’t be afraid to back married cofounders

Post-Brexit immigration: mission accomplished?

It’s not too late for Europe to lead the post-quantum cryptography race

Amy Lewin
Deputy Editor

Get in touch with her at amy@sifted.eu
She loves a bit of reader feedback.

Freya Pratty
News Reporter

Send her your news at freya@sifted.eu
Or find her (occasionally) tweeting @FPratty

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\Startup Life

Harassment, 'blame culture', breakdowns: Sifted readers share their experiences of toxic workplaces

\A message from our sponsor McKinsey & Company

McKinsey’s insights for scaling your startup

We're hiring a Head of Design, an Events and Commercial Marketing Manager and 10+ other roles 🚀

\Startup Life

Which are Europe’s top unicorns on Glassdoor?

\Opinion

How to build a personal brand as a nobody in a startup ecosystem

\Sustainability

Food sharing app Olio raises $43m as neighbours scramble for free groceries

\Sponsored by Lightspace

A&E and AR: How augmented reality is transforming surgery

News that Matters

Sifted Suggests

Events

Sifted Opinion

Older messages

Getting back with an ex (employer) 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

VanMoof's wheel of fortune 🚴‍♀️

Product roadmap pro tips 💡

15 Finnish startups to watch 🇫🇮

Berlin's hottest startups 🇩🇪

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