Sifted - Revolut vs ex-employees 🥊

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Hi Sifted Reader,

Uh oh, Revolut's in trouble with its earliest ex-employees; they've been told they'll be charged to sell their shares in an upcoming secondary sale, while current employees won't have to pay a penny. More on that situation below, and:
  • Beams, the new hot social audio app
  • Why great technological change comes with great responsibility
  • Amazon aggregators; risky business?

\Fintech

SCOOP: Revolut faces backlash from ex-employees after charging “extortionate” fee to cash in shares


The $33bn fintech is in a spat with some of its earliest employees over how they convert their equity into cash.

Revolut alumni have been informed they'll face a 2.75% charge on an upcoming sale of their shares, while Revolut's current employees will be able to sell their shares for free.

Ex-employees tell Sifted they feel short-changed, and are demanding transparency about where that fee will go.

Isabel Woodford has the juicy details.

\Our latest report

Who’s leading the ecommerce boom?

Consumer habits aren’t changing. They have changed — and during the pandemic, they decisively skewed towards online shopping. But which startups are well placed to take advantage of that?

Find out here.

\Opinion

Founders, you're about to change the world. Don't mess it up.


Computing, biology, new energy technologies and novel manufacturing techniques are improving at exponential rates — and will soon transform sectors of our economy.

That, thinks writer and podcaster Azeem Azhar, could get pretty messy. 

Here's why.

\For Members Consumer 

Meet Beams: the latest hot social audio app 


Forget Clubhouse, it's all about Beams now.

The app, which lets users record themselves speaking on a particular theme and then invite others to weigh in on the discussion — asynchronously — has seen impressive growth. It's stacked up 10k monthly users and landed $3m in funding. 

Is this the next big thing in the creator economy? Miriam Partington finds out.

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

\Sponsored by Accenture Fintech Innovation Lab

How to connect with leading financial institutions and mentors


Accenture’s Fintech Innovation Lab provides top fintechs with insights and industry contacts they need to scale — helping them achieve 12 months of business development in just 12 weeks.

Learn more and apply here.

Sifted Suggests

🤔 Amazon aggregators; risky business? A troop of companies that acquire small businesses selling on Amazon have seen huge investor interest in Europe recently ($1.1bn worth of funding went into Europe’s aggregators in a single day earlier this month.) There is, however, a riskier side to this game, writes the FT’s John Thornhill.

🕵️ Employee surveillance. 18 months since the beginning of the pandemic, working from home lives on. As a result, surveillance software companies — which keep tabs on home office employees — have seen increased demand. Will work from home monitoring become commonplace in the long run? The Guardian reports.

🤑 Megadeals, what’s happening? Megadeals — deals valued at £50m or more — have become increasingly frequent in the UK. In 2011, just five deals were above that threshold. Fast forward to 2021, and we’ve already seen 51 in the first six months of the year. Where are investors splashing their cash? This new Beauhurst report digs in.

\Survey

How's your impact startup doing?


Sifted, in partnership with the BMW Foundation, wants to hear how impact startups — by which we mean companies committed to making a positive social and environmental impact alongside financial returns — are faring in Europe.

If you're a founder or investor, please take our five-minute survey here. Thanks!

Events [digital only]

The golden embedded finance opportunity | Online | September 30
Embedded finance is predicted to hit $3.6tn by 2030 — so how can your startup get in on the action? In our next Sifted Talks, we’ll ask experts from the likes of OpenPayd and Spryker.

Changing the players, not the game: How emerging investors use their money | September 16
If you're heading to TechBBQ in Copenhagen this week, catch our deputy editor Amy onstage at 1.55pm on Thursday. She'll be talking to Nora Bavey and Thea Messel from Unconventional Ventures, along with Gulnaz Khusainova from Atomico's Angel Programme, about how a new generation of VCs are raising and investing their money differently from the old guard.

Sifted Opinion

Founders, your Medium posts are rubbish. You can do better.
Why every healthtech should hire a doctor
How to build a personal brand as a nobody in a startup ecosystem
Why I became a boomerang employee
Post-Brexit immigration: mission accomplished?
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.
What would you like to read about in the next email?
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