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Hi Sifted Reader,

As you may have noticed, we're on a recruitment drive at Sifted. So if you — or any of your pals — fancy joining our really very lovely team, please take a look at our open positions here.

Now onto the main show:

• Backing oddballs

• European recruitment startups

• Why your startup will need a chief impact officer very soon

— Connor, editorial assistant & Amy, editor

Firat Ileri is arguably one of Europe's most successful — and under-the-radar — VCs. His strategy? Back founders who are outright weird.

In our latest Brunch with Sifted, Eleanor Warnock chatted to Ileri about Hummingbird Ventures' outsized returns, (not) managing a work/life balance and his obsession with longevity startups. 

Join us for sigara böreği here.

Take Activate's free assessment to find out — and receive detailed feedback on the key areas you still need to work on to get ready.

Take the assessment here.

The newest animal to emerge from the C-suite jungle, the chief impact officer, will be in place at a startup near you soon, argues Kat Borlongan, chief impact officer at Contentsquare.

Do you need one too?

With remote work opening up the global talent pool and the freelancer economy booming in recent years, it's a good time to be a recruitment tech startup.

We’ve collected data from some of the European players to find out where the recruitment tech market is now and where it’s heading.

Miriam Partington gives you the rundown.

A quarter of the key ingredients for fertiliser that Europe imports come from Russia — and trade sanctions mean they're likely to get more expensive very soon.

But there are, of course, startups coming up with alternatives. They're developing fertilisers from alternative sources like urine, manure and even batteries.

Who are they? Mimi Billing finds out.

Introducing... Sifted Sessions! Our brand new series of events showcasing the very best of Europe’s startup ecosystem. First up is Tallinn, on May 3. Expect a jam-packed day of candid conversations and fresh perspectives from the startup operators and leaders fuelling the Estonian startup scene.

Find out more here.

Meet the people in Europe's startup ecosystem working in the world of hallucinogenic drugs.

🤪 The psychedelic investor. Chaga mushroom coffee was on the menu during this brunch with Sifted, where Michael Stothard chatted with German investor Christian Angermayer — perhaps the biggest financial force behind shifting psychedelic drugs to the mainstream in recent years. How did he get into this line of investment?

💊 Beckley Psytech: psychedelic medicine. We sent our "taboo tech" correspondent Tim Smith to meet Amanda Feilding and Cosmo Feilding-Mellen, the mother and son team at the head of one of the world’s leading experimental psychedelic medicine startups. They chatted about mystic healing, treating depression and bringing psychedelics into mainstream medicine.

🏆 European companies set to dominate psychedelics market. Discover what trends have pushed Europe ahead in the psychedelics space, and the challenges that leading companies like Compass Pathways and Atai Life Sciences face in commercialising psychedelics on a large scale. 

🍄 The Sifted Podcast: Magic mushrooms and startup spiritualism. Catch up on this podcast episode, which features a handy history lesson on psychedelics from Ancient Greece to the 1960s, and where that leaves us today.

✈️ Could a psychedelic trip help your startup? Julius Dreyer, CEO of Barcelona-based startup PlayaMedia, had a great idea. Take all his staff to the Catalan countryside mid-pandemic for a psychedelic Ayahuasca retreat. So how did it go?

Knowing me, knowing you | Online | March 23

Understanding your customer is key to building a brand. Join us in our next Sifted Talks as we discuss how good customer segmentation can get you the competitive advantage you need.

Fundraise the roof | Online | April 7

Want your next pitch to knock the socks off VCs? Join us next month to hear from an impressive lineup of speakers on fundraising best practices, due diligence and much more.

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