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Hi Sifted Reader,

It's the last day of Cop26 today. Our news reporter Freya has been there all week, and today shares her reflections on what the conference means for startups. Plus...

Inside the textiles factory where trees are turned into fabric
The Sifted guide to the metaverse
The next big thing in groceries: ethnic food delivery

\Sustainability

Startups 'not invited to the table' at Cop26

The Blue Zone at Cop26 is essentially the climate conference’s VIP section. It’s where politicians, scientists, NGOs and activists meet to hash out the planet’s future.

But there’s one group of people notably absent: startups. Given how often we hear how Europe's green tech sector is booming, it feels like a bit of a disconnect.

Why is that the case, and why does it matter?

\Report

Millennials are investing differently — here’s how

Armed with robo-advisers, personalised apps and cryptocurrencies, 23% of millennials are investing more than before the pandemic. These young investors have more of a focus on the social impact of their investments, with a third often or exclusively investing in companies that value ESG principles.

Read Sifted’s new report on wealthtech to find out how the finance sector is keeping up.

Download the report here.

\Sustainability

Inside Spinnova’s future textiles factory, where trees are turned into clothing

At a spotless textiles lab in Jyväskylä, central Finland, a machine quietly whirrs away, spinning wood pulp into cotton-like fibres.

Spinnova is making fibre that can replace cotton at a fraction of the carbon emissions and using no chemicals.

But will it catch on?

\Deeptech

A beginner's guide to the metaverse (and making money in it)

The term "metaverse" was coined by a science fiction writer back in 1992. Fast forward to 2021 and tech companies like Facebook are going big guns on creating it.

But how did it become such a hot buzzword? Is it completely overhyped? And what even is it, really?

We answer your questions.

\Foodtech

The next hot thing in grocery delivery

Grocery startup Oja, which launched in London this week, isn't focused on cutting delivery times down to 10 or 15 minutes — unlike many others in this sector.

Instead, it wants to widen what's on offer, initially focusing on products from Nigeria, Ghana and Jamaica. And it's just raised a $3.3m seed round, from LocalGlobe and an impressive list of angels.

We sat down with founder Mariam Jimoh to find out more.

\Sponsored by Chargebee

How subscriptions could help your business scale, from three founders who did it

Whether it’s Spotify, Netflix or a weekly meal kit, it’s likely you already pay for a few subscriptions. And it's not just you. Europe's subscription market is growing fast, with people now dishing out 5% of their spending on them.

How can startups get in on the action? We asked the experts.

News That Matters

💰 Who got rich from the Wolt acquisition? The Finnish food delivery scaleup has been acquired by US competitor DoorDash for a whopping €7bn. That should mean a big pay day for investors including EQT Ventures, which has seen a 200x uplift on its investment.

💸 London-based fintech Zilch has secured unicorn status after raising a $110m Series C. The cofounders still own 50% of the business.

🏫 Framework, an "on-demand business school" aimed at startups and spun out of Founders Academy, has raised a $2m seed round led by LearnStart.

🤑 Female Invest, a financial education platform for women, has raised a £3.3m seed round from investors including Y Combinator.

🛴 Escooter operator Tier is set to launch ebikes in London. It’ll start with 500 of them in Islington.

🎧 Beams, an audio-based social media platform from Berlin, has raised €2.5m in new funding from US-based TheVentureCity. The company says it wants to become the "Reddit of audio".

Sifted Suggests

🧍Want to be a non-executive director at a tech company? Sarah Drinkwater, former head of Google Campus in London, talks us through how she got the job.

🇸🇪 In the Nordics 92% of investment goes to all-male teams. A new report from Unconventional VC looks at the situation and we dig through the numbers here.

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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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Sifted - Sifted's guide to the metaverse 🦾

\Sustainability

Startups 'not invited to the table' at Cop26

\Report

Millennials are investing differently — here’s how

\Sustainability

Inside Spinnova’s future textiles factory, where trees are turned into clothing

\Deeptech

A beginner's guide to the metaverse (and making money in it)

\Foodtech

The next hot thing in grocery delivery

\Sponsored by Chargebee

How subscriptions could help your business scale, from three founders who did it

News That Matters

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