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Hi Sifted Reader,

Today is a special day — it's the launch of season two of The Sifted Podcast! Editor Amy and deputy editor Eleanor are jumping into the hot seat for this season, and will be diving into the latest news coming out of Europe's tech and startup sector each week. In this first episode, we’ll be discussing the events unfolding in Ukraine and how they're affecting local businesses and the people that work for them. Listen to it on Spotify or Apple, or read on for:

• February's hottest seed rounds
• The climate tech scientists actually rate
• What Gen Z wants from fintech
• An opportunity to share your fundraising horror stories

After a brief lull in January, early-stage startups stepped up their efforts to prise open VC wallets in February.

€445m was snapped up across seed rounds last month — comparable to the figures seen towards the end of 2021 — as healthtech boomed and Spanish startups raised a surprisingly high 34 rounds. 

Here are Europe's most interesting seed rounds from last month.

Get Zendesk free for six months, and access the customer service and sales resources your startup needs to grow.

Read more, and apply, here.

$8bn was pumped into climate techs in Europe last year — seven times the figure in 2016. But is that money being well spent?

Freya Pratty spoke to a number of climate scientists to find out if the solutions and products VCs back in the sector will actually make any difference to the planet.

Here's what they told her.

Neobanks like Monzo and Revolut changed the way many millennials managed their money.

But Gen Z aren't impressed. They want something more from finance.

But what? Amy O'Brien found out. 

Have you ever been ghosted by a VC or had to pitch to a woefully underprepared investor who turned up for the meeting late? 

We're looking into readers' experiences of fundraising for an upcoming article — and we want to know about yours. 

The survey will only take a few minutes, and it's completely anonymous.

Share your stories here.

Covid had a big impact on the global food delivery market. It's now worth over $150bn, according to McKinsey, as dark kitchens — restaurants only available on delivery apps — sprung up across cities in Europe.

Dark stores — the micro-warehouses used by speedy grocery delivery firms — have also risen from the pandemic, as consumer habits have undergone a seismic shift. 

Here's what it all means for consumers, stores and cities.

🧠 A human brain in a computer. UK AI-chip designer Graphcore announced plans yesterday for an ultra-intelligent computer that'll be more powerful than the human brain. Despite the promise of supercomputers, so far none have matched the processing power of that grey matter inside your head.

💥 Blockchain boom. Serbian Web3 startup Tenderly has announced a $40m Series B, just months after raising its Series A. Tenderly makes it easier for developers to build blockchain products, and is one of a number of companies opening VC wallets with Web3 infrastructure solutions. 

🇺🇦 How to support Ukrainian tech workers. HR leader Sergio Caredda shares his advice on how your startup can help, and the pitfalls to avoid. This article first appeared in our Startup Life newsletter — which you can subscribe to here. We've also collected our reporting on the conflict in one place, which we'll keep updated as a one-stop shop for the tech response to the war in Ukraine. 

🍃 WTF is carbon accounting? A Green Glossary from Sifted's Sustain newsletter, where each week we take a sustainability term and briefly explain what it means — and how startups fit into the picture. Find out here.

🏝️ How to be a digital nomad. Veteran nomad, remote work consultant and brains behind the world's first digital nomad village Gonçalo Hall gives us his top tips on living life on the move.

On the hunt for your dream job? It could be just a few clicks away 👇

🔍 Editorial assistant. Essentially an apprenticeship in all aspects of modern journalism, you'll be working closely with our editors to help Sifted run a tight ship — and you'll get to write your own bylines, too. You don't need any formal qualifications to apply, and we're especially keen to hear from people from underrepresented backgrounds. Apply here.

📝 Campaign Coordinator / Administrator. We're looking for a great communicator with a keen eye for detail to join our commercial team and help us keep up with our ever-growing list of client campaigns. You'll need to be business minded and genuinely interested in the startup and tech ecosystem. Sound like a bit of you?

🤝 Client services manager. Another one for our commercial team (they're a growing bunch)! We're on the hunt for someone with a few years of client-facing experience in a similar role in publishing to be our client ambassador, ensuring the seamless delivery of campaigns. This way for more info.

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