Analysis

May 31, 2019

These were the biggest European tech startup news stories this week

From brand new venture capital seed funds to raspberry-picking robots, it was another big week for European startup news. Here's the news you need to know.


It was another busy week in the world of European startups. Here were the biggest stories you need to know about:

Top news

?? The 22-year-old bike courier who was killed while on delivery last Friday in Barcelona was not a registered Glovo worker, the Spanish startup has revealed.

?At last, the Swedish digital veterinary clinic Firstvet is getting a competitor. The digital health provider Doktor.se said it is now offering health care for animals. Is pet care more profitable than human care? (Swedish)

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☘️Stripe has hired Google veteran Matt Henderson to drive product strategy from Dublin. The US fintech is growing its engineering hub in Dublin tenfold after winning an e-banking licence from Ireland’s Central Bank to allow pan-European payments.

?The Swedish scooter company Voi won a tender to rent bikes in Stockholm. Is this what other cities should be doing too? (Swedish)

? Company builder Entrepreneur First teamed up with biotech accelerator RebelBio. The past few cohorts of EF have leaned increasingly towards biotech; this move is confirmation that EF thinks this is a sector well-suited to its super-speedy model of company formation, which relies heavily on the prior experience and research of attendees for its success.

?️ When founders get powerful, they get political: Transferwise’s Taavet Hinrikus spoke out against the new Estonian government.

? One German politician wants the state to be able to decrypt all messages on demand. Do politicians need a good lesson in how the internet works?

? The world’s first raspberry-picking robot did its first shift.

Follow the Money ???

?Good news for London entrepreneurs. MMC Ventures has launched a new £52m seed fund to support early-stage business in London. As well as investing in 170 companies, the fund will seek to secure at least another £103m in private sector investment.

?Future Positive Capital, a new early-stage VC firm co-founded by ex-Index Ventures associate Sofia Hmich, announces €51m fund to invest in deep tech social impact startups.

Funding Hits

??London-based yulife raises €11.3 million in funding to make life insurance a force for good

? iZettle veteran Louise Brandt raised $13.5m for her fintech Open Payments. The B2B company is riding the wave of PSD2 to help businesses tap into the banks’ customer information.

??Paris-based Mindsay raises €9 million to deploy its AI customer relations solution in Europe and North America

??London-based fintech Yapily raises €4.8m for its single API to connect businesses with banks

??Stockholm-based fintech startup Open Payments raises €1.2 million in seed funding for its PSD2 compliant platform

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??Madrid-based proptech startup urbanData Analytics is acquired by Alantra CPA