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Hi Sifted Reader,

New year, new generation of speedy delivery? While 2021 saw people using on-demand delivery apps to top up their grocery supplies, things are now getting even more bougie, with newer players like German startup Arive delivering high-end consumer goods like iPhones in 30 minutes.

Learn more about that below, plus...

• Seven untapped deeptech ideas investors want now
• Do we need to stop labelling funding rounds?
• How to compensate remote workers fairly

On-demand delivery was the star tech sector of 2021 in Europe, with VCs pumping billions into companies which hit sky-high valuations at breakneck speed, like Gorillas, Getir and Zapp.

Now there's a German startup, Arive, which is delivering high-end consumer goods in 30 minutes and has just raised $20m. But... does anyone really need a €2,000 Mac delivered to them in the time it takes to watch an episode of Friends?

Kai Nicol-Schwarz quizzes the founders to find out.

Managing spending at a startup can be a huge hassle. TripActions™ Liquid makes it easier with virtual and physical smart cards for employees and provides real-time reporting.

Learn more here.

More venture capital than ever went into science-based startups in Europe last year, with over $20bn invested. 

But according to top deeptech VCs, there’s still a lot of untapped potential in the sector. What’s still missing from the region’s deeptech menu?

From mining moon helium to future-predicting AI, here’s what investors want to see.

Unlike a decade ago, it’s not uncommon to see European startups snap up nine-figure funding rounds, a sign of the ecosystem’s maturity.

However, our terminology — seed, Series A and so on — isn't so mature anymore, thinks Annalise Dragic, partner at Sapphire Ventures. 

With deal sizes differing massively, but labels remaining the same in many cases, funding round terminology has become a blurring broth of alphabet soup. So how can founders sift through the cloudy water and identify the investors best positioned to help them?

Get Dragic’s tips here.  

Not yet a subscriber?

Employing people all over the world — and compensating them "fairly" — is tough.

Dee Coakley, cofounder and CEO of Dublin-based Boundless, knows this better than most. She founded Boundless to help companies “employ anyone, anywhere” — complying with local HR standards and managing payroll.

So how can startups make sure they’re treating all their staff fairly, no matter where they're working from?

Coakley shares her words of wisdom here.

We've got some juicy Sifted Talks lined up this month, with some stellar speakers. Take a peek at what's in store below and sign up to avoid missing out.

Is BNPL moving beyond Gen Z and millennials? | Online | January 12

With more than 17m customers in the UK, buy now, pay later has disrupted the credit card industry. But can it expand beyond the younger market? 

How dirty are your purchases? | Online | January 18

You might think you're buying sustainable products, but how green is the supply chain that led them to your shopping basket? We'll discuss how startups can build a supply chain that is better for people — and the planet.

How to connect with consumers in the short and long term | Online | January 26

Ecommerce is booming, but that means tough competition. How can startups thrive as online-only operations? We dig into best practices.

Take a look back through one of European tech's hottest sectors in 2021 — from scandals to sustainability.

🧐 How green is on-demand grocery? Speedy grocery is certainly convenient, but what's its environmental impact? Dive into how it all stacks up, from food waste to the last mile. [Member]

🚴 The speedy grocery focusing on Nigerian, Ghanaian and Jamaican food. London-based startup Oja launched last November on a mission to widen the choice of products for the UK’s immigrant and non-white British communities. Sifted chatted with founder Mariam Jimoh to find out more.

🥊 Food delivery giants fight back with on-demand grocery delivery. Here’s what the old guard of food delivery startups like Glovo, Delivery Hero and Wolt planned when they caught wind of the on-demand grocery boom. [Member]

🦍 Gorillas, the new WeWork? Ah, the elephant (or gorilla) in the room. With multiple allegations of a toxic working environment, arbitrary firings and exploitation of employees, Sifted had to investigate what was really going on at the Berlin-based startup. Here’s what we found.

💊 Speedy medicine delivery. Another grocery delivery pivot. Meet Mayd, a German startup which raised a $15m seed round last October. The team talked us through how their model is slightly different from the grocery play.

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