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Hi Sifted Reader,

2021 has been a big year for space, with Bezos, Branson and Musk working to propel their ventures into the stratosphere.

There are over 450 spacetech companies in Europe, so we decided to ask investors which ones they're betting on. If you're new to the industry, we've also got a beginner's guide to investing in space. Plus...

The UK's first female founder-focused fund
Period tracking app Clue raises €16m
A new tech bootcamp wants to solve the talent problem

\Venture Capital

Meet the UK’s first fund dedicated to female founders

If you’re a female founder your odds of getting funding are… not ideal.

But Pink Salt Ventures wants to move the needle, as the UK’s first fund focused on female entrepreneurs. It plans to write cheques of £350k for a 5-15% stake in each business.

Isabel Woodford meets the team.

\A message from our sponsor Stripe

Are you losing customers at checkout?

While online shopping has more than doubled for almost 40% of European customers, Stripe’s new report found ecommerce businesses are still making the same basic checkout errors again and again.

Learn more here.

\Healthtech

Period-tracking app Clue raises €16m to roll out digital contraceptive

Earlier this year, Berlin-based femtech Clue achieved something pretty bloody hard: its digital contraceptive software got regulatory clearance and is now being rolled out in the US.

Now it's raised €16m, and brought onboard two new co-CEOs to take over from founder (and coiner of the word “femtech”) Ida Tin.

Miriam Partington finds out what happens next.

\For Members Deeptech

17 European spacetech startups to watch, according to investors

2021 will go down as the year that space tourism became a reality. The spacetech sector is taking off as new companies build businesses around tiny satellites, cheaper launches and ubiquitous Earth observation data.

But which of these are likely to be big winners? Sifted asked five spacetech investors to share the companies they’re keeping an eye on.

Here are the startups they're betting on.

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

\Startup Life

Is this the tech talent training scheme all startups need?

It isn't easy to hire tech talent — and it's getting harder.

But Ashley Ramrachia, former chief people officer of ecommerce giant The Hut Group, thinks he has a solution: a new (free!) tech talent bootcamp called Academy.

It's raised a $4m seed round led by LocalGlobe, and more than 50% of its trainees are women.

Amy Lewin finds out if this is what the tech world's after...

\Sponsored by Purina Accelerator Lab

Unleashed accelerator: How the class of 2021 are thriving

Pet tech is booming. Since lockdown more than three million British households have bought pets, and the market is due to almost triple to $275m in the States by 2030.

Supported by Purina’s Unleashed accelerator, a number of European startups are hoping to make their mark on the sector.

From fresh pet food startups to digital vets, here's how the 2021 cohort is doing.

Want to receive our monthly Unleashed pet tech newsletter? Sign up here.

News That Matters

🌺 Vertical farming sniffs a profit in perfume. Climate change is affecting the industry — but now the world's largest private fragrance house, Firmenich, has teamed up with French vertical farm Jungle to try and solve the problem.

💰 Ramp, a Polish cryptocurrency payments startup, has raised a $52.7m Series A round just months after its seed round. It comes after a 30x growth in transactions for the company over the last year.

🎾 Madrid-based Playtomic, a racquet sports booking platform, has raised €56m in fresh funding. It'll be used to continue its expansion, which has already seen it move into 34 countries. The startup is riding high off the popularity of pickleball and padel.

💸 VC firm Sapphire Ventures has announced it'll significantly expand its European investment activities across the next year. The firm is also promoting London-based Annalise Dragic, making her one of Europe's youngest female VC partners.

🌿 Infarm, an Amsterdam-based vertical farming startup, has raised $200m in new funding, giving it a valuation over $1bn — and making it Europe's first vertical farming unicorn.

🤑 Taxdoo, a Hamburg-based startup working on API tools to help ecommerce companies with tax compliance, has raised a $64m Series B round.

Sifted Suggests

💌 The Sifted Podcast is delving into the world of audio erotica this week. There's a new wave of women-led startups with a new twist on adult content that puts women’s pleasure first. Can squeamish investors finally open their eyes (and ears) to its potential? Listen here.

☄️ Interested in spacetech but not sure where to start? Read our beginner's guide to investing in European spacetech, where there's a whole crop of new companies popping up.

Sifted Newsletters

Startup Life: Weekly on Wednesdays, featuring Q&As with top folk from Kry, Gousto and Glovo. Sign up here.

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Sustain: Weekly on Thursdays, covering the news to know on the sustainability sector. Sign up here.

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 - Tech hiring: The solution? ✌

\Venture Capital

Meet the UK’s first fund dedicated to female founders

\A message from our sponsor Stripe

Are you losing customers at checkout?

\Healthtech

Period-tracking app Clue raises €16m to roll out digital contraceptive

\For Members Deeptech

17 European spacetech startups to watch, according to investors

\Startup Life

Is this the tech talent training scheme all startups need?

\Sponsored by Purina Accelerator Lab

Unleashed accelerator: How the class of 2021 are thriving

News That Matters

Sifted Suggests

Sifted Newsletters

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General Catalyst lands in Europe 🗽

Our biggest sale of the year is here 👇

2021's fastest-growing fintechs 🔥

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