Sifted - Y Combinator: Is it worth it? 🤔

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Hi Sifted Reader,

Spain's digital nomad visa could help you swap the office for a warm beach on the Med. Sounds good right? But before you pack your bags, we chat to people who've done it about how the scheme fares in reality. That's in today's newsletter, plus...
  • The data on Entrepreneur First's startups
  • Do carbon accounting startups work?
  • Taking part in Y Combinator from Europe

\Venture Capital 

In data: The Entrepreneur First portfolio

36 hopeful startups graduated from the Entrepreneur First programme yesterday. It's now created over 500 startups with a combined valuation of more than $4bn. 

But how do the companies fare? Which VCs have cashed in? And how diverse are the programme’s graduates?

Here's how they perform in the real world.

\Our Latest Report 

Meet Amazon’s challengers


Some European startups see the rise of Amazon as an opportunity rather than a threat. Read all about it in our latest intelligence report on the new consumer economy.

Download it here.

\Startup Life

Spain’s new “digital nomad visa” is trash, but there are other options in Europe


Digital nomads have been left disappointed by Spain’s new visa — it looks good at first glance, but actually involves a high level of taxation.

But never fear, it’s not the only European country competing to attract the new generation of remote workers.

So where's best to jet off to?

\For Members Sustainability 

Carbon accounting startups are here to help your business get to net zero. Are they any good?

Net zero: it's the holy grail sustainability status. To get there, companies spend a fair bit of cash measuring their carbon footprint, and there's no shortage of startups lined up to help — promising to measure, reduce and offset carbon emissions.

But are they really making any difference?

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

\Opinion 

Taking part in Y Combinator from Europe: is it worth it?


Precious days spent working on your application, labouring over every word, filming your one-minute video over and over, giving up 7% of your company. These are some of the things it takes to make it to Y Combinator.

Should you do it?

\Sifted Talks

How can your startup tap into the golden embedded finance opportunity?


Embedded finance is predicted to hit $3.6tn by 2030 — so how can your startup get in on the action? In our Sifted Talks on September 30, we’ll ask the experts, including OpenPayd chief executive Iana Dimitrova, Spryker cofounder Alex Graf and Mirakl chief product officer Isabelle Bénard.

Sign up here.

News that Matters

📞Caller identification service Truecaller is set to list in Stockholm. It'll make a respectable payday for VCs such as Sequoia, Atomico and Perkins.

🧬Touchlight, a British company working on synthetic DNA to help the coronavirus vaccine race, has raised $125m led by Bridford Investments Limited and Novator Partners.

👩 Evegenia Plotnikova has been promoted to General Partner at Dawn Capital. She's been at the firm for three-and-a-half years and has led investments into Harbr, Bryter and Dataiku, amongst others.

🇫🇷 Paris-based SaaS startup folk has raised €2.8m. It's an extended relationships manager for organising and centralising contacts. The round was led by Accel and 35 angels.

📦 Sendcloud, a Dutch startup that has a built in service to help retails with ecommerce, has raised $177m in new funding, led by Softbank.

🩺 British healthcare platform accuRx has raised a £27.5m Series B round led by Lakestar. The company wants to help bring patients and GP practices together through remote consultations.

🤑 The Manchester investment boom. Sourceful, based in Manchester in the North of England, has raised $12.2m, led by Index. That follows another company based in the city, Peak, which raised $75m two weeks ago.

Sifted Suggests

💸 Salaries are soaring for European startup employees. According to data complied by Index, the war for talent has pushed pay up by nearly 60% over the past three years.

💰 Bootstrapping vs VC: Founders often act like they are the only funding choices available, but the reality is much more complicated. 
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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