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And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:🤑 VCs are chasing Hopin upwards of $5-6B valuation📈 Klarna may opt for direct listing as private funding loomsKlarna said to be raising $1bn at $31bn valuation🐚 HelloSPAC: HelloFresh founder Dominik Richter (and friends) file for $300 million US SPAC🚀 Lakestar gains in largest Europe tech-focused blank-check debut🚙 Cazoo acquires Cluno🎨 Graphic design platform Canva acquires two European tech startups: Kaleido AI (Austria) and Smartmockups (Czech Republic)🔄 Transferwise rebrands to Wise⚖️ Uber weighs its future in the UK after court ruling🇪🇺 Protecting people working through platforms: Commission launches a first-stage consultation of the social partners🛡 Interview: Matthieu Boutard, managing director of BodyguardWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

In this episode, we’ve prepared an interview with Dima Shvets, co-founder and CEO of Reface. If you're into memes and faceswap, you certainly know the name of the company — it's been downloaded more than 90 million times and used by people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Justin Bieber. We hope you enjoy this special format — please let us know what you think! Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at podcast@tech.eu or tweet at @tech_eu and @adegeler. 

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:🤝 Event networking app Grip raises $13M, as pandemic forces events to stay virtual📞 Sinch to acquire US voice communications company Inteliquent for $1.14 billion🐚 Tech investor Klaus Hommels launches $332 million SPAC in Europe💰 Emerging as an Eastern powerhouse, Earlybird Digital East Fund launches new $242M fund📈 Deliveroo pencils in 8 March to unveil blockbuster float⚖️ Deliveroo to appeal to Supreme Court after judges say riders are not freelancers💉 He disrupted finance — now TransferWise’s co-founder wants to fight the pandemic🛍 Web browser group Opera commits $100m+ to launch European fintech strategy🎤 Interview: Krystian Kolondra, EVP PC and EEA FinTech at OperaWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:💻 Buoyed by the Covid-19 crisis, Switzerland-based software firm Nexthink raises $180 million at $1.1 billion valuation🛒 Target Global leads $150 million round for Amazon Marketplace consolidator Branded❓ New consumer tech startup Nothing raises $15 million Series A led by GV📱 Klarna launches bank accounts in Germany📂 Napster to make debut on London stock market this month🚀 SPAC led by Rocket Internet co-founder files for IPO in $250 million deal🎙 Interview: Alex Kayyal, partner and head of Salesforce Ventures InternationalWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:🍷 Vivino raises $155 million for wine recommendation and marketplace app🤖 Software maker UiPath raises funds at $35 billion valuation🗃 Box to buy Dutch startup SignRequest for $55 million🏦 BBVA sells Holvi to co-founder🐷 Card retailer Moonpig soars 25% after pricing $1.64 billion London IPO🚘 SoftBank-backed used car marketplace Auto1 rallies 45% in debut💳 Israel’s Payoneer to go public on Nasdaq at $3.3 billion valuation🇬🇧 ‘Buy now pay later’ firms face FCA crackdown after Woolard review🎙 Interview: Aline Muylaert, CitizenLabWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:💰 SAP to acquire business process intelligence company Signavio (and the Bloomberg report)🍕 Finnish food delivery scale-up Wolt secures $530 million in new funding round led by ICONIQ🗞 Twitter buys Dutch-founded newsletter platform Revue🔐 Polish locker company InPost worth €9.5 billion after buoyant Amsterdam debut🎙 Interview: Nalin Patel, EMEA private capital analyst at PitchBook DataWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:🇩🇪 German HR tech company Personio raises $125 million at $1.7 billion valuation🛵 Turkish on-demand delivery leader Getir raises $128 million at a ∼$850 million valuation as it gears up for launch in the UK and Latin America🏫 School startup Ironhack raises $20 million to “disrupt the way we learn about technology”💳 PPRO nabs $180M at a $1B+ valuation to bring together the fragmented world of payments🕹 Opera acquires YoYo Games for $10 million and launches Opera Gaming division🖨 Protolabs buys Dutch online manufacturing platform 3D Hubs for up to $330 million in a mix of cash, stock⚖️ Brussels zeroes in on Google’s adtech business💿 Antitrust: Commission fines Valve and five publishers of PC video games € 7.8 million for “geo-blocking” practices🎙 Interview: Luke Lang, CMO and co-founder of CrowdcubeWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:💰 Israel-born fintech company Rapyd lands $300 million in financing, doubles valuation to $2.5 billion3️⃣ Checkout.com nearly triples value to $15 billion after funding🚚 Berlin-based digital freight forwarder Sennder bags $160 million at a $1 billion+ valuation💳 Curve seals $95 million equity round👩‍💼 French startup iziwork snags $43 million to help temporary workers find jobs and security🍅 Italian e-grocery startup Cortilia raises €34 million to get fresh local food to people’s homes🐽 Online greeting card retailer Moonpig plans London listing🍕 Deliveroo picks banks to serve up blockbuster floatAmazon-backed Deliveroo could be headed to a blockbuster IPO that values it above $13 billion in April🚙 German used car platform AUTO1 plans to list on Frankfurt stock exchange💸 Delivery Hero launches DX Ventures, a new VC fund with €50 million at hand💵 LAUNCHub Ventures seals €44 million first close of its €70 million target fund – here’s why📈 Baltic startup ecosystem will bloom thanks to new stock option policies, says Index Ventures🛰 European Investment Fund announces €300 million of space sector finance with new investments into Orbital Ventures and Primo Space🎙 Interview: Stephane Ouaki, the chair of the investment committee of the EIC Fund European Innovation Council kicks off equity fund with €178 million going to 42 startups ‘It’s going to kill your business’: Startups turn on €2B EU fund  We hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:💻 Hopin buys livestreaming startup StreamYard for $250M as it looks to expand its product line-up🛵 Delivery Hero raises €1.2 billion in new share offering💸 French fintech startup Pennylane snags €15 million in Series A funding🍖 Too Good To Go raises $31 million to fight food waste🏦 Mambu raises $135M at a $2B+ valuation for a SaaS platform that powers banking services🇪🇺 European Innovation Council kicks off equity fund with €178 million going to 42 startups🎙 Interview: Jan Goetz, co-founder of IQM, and Ilkka Kivimaki of Maki.vcWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

In this episode, we’ve prepared an interview with Stan Boland, CEO of the UK-based autonomous driving startup Five. The company has been around since 2015, and I was really curious to learn more about its recent pivot and get a snapshot of what the industry is like these days. We hope you enjoy this special format — please let us know what you think! Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at podcast@tech.eu or tweet at @tech_eu and @adegeler. 

Here are the links to the profiles of our interviewees:🎙Jean Marc Feghali, R&D lead at WeWALK🎙Tushar Agarwal, co-founder and CEO at HubbleHQWe hope you enjoy this special format — please let us know what you think! Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at podcast@tech.eu or tweet at @tech_eu and @adegeler.

In this episode, we’ve prepared an interview with Andrew Bud, founder and CEO of face verification firm iProov and an engineer who's witnessed first-hand a big chunk of the modern computing and communications history. We hope you enjoy this special format — please let us know what you think! Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at podcast@tech.eu or tweet at @tech_eu and @adegeler. 

We've talked to Jade Francine, co-founder and COO at WeMaintain, and Matti Rönkkö, founder and CEO of Cooler Future. Check them out to learn more about sustainable finance, carbon footprint of your savings, and the market of lift maintenance. 

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:🛴 Bolt raises $182M to expand its on-demand transportation network in Europe and Africa0️⃣ UK-based Zilch raises $30 million for its BNPL platform with a twist👀 Croatian startup Microblink leaves bootstrapping behind; collects $60 million first round🏎 EA acquires UK-based game developer Codemasters in $1.2 billion deal🐦 MessageBird acquires Pusher to bring more real-time communication APIs to businesses🚙 Online car retailer Cazoo acquires UK-based car subscription platform Drover👩‍🎓 Brainly raises $80M as its platform for crowdsourced homework help balloons to 350M users🚲 Dott to expand beyond e-scooters with bike-sharing service🇮🇪 Dogpatch confirmed as winner of €17m contract to run NDRC🗞 The Midas List Europe 2020 by Forbes🇪🇺 Europe lays out its plan to reboot digital rules and tame tech giantsWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

Welcome to an interview special episode of our podcast: a format, in which we put together a few pre-recorded conversations with some of the most interesting people of the European startup ecosystem.Before we get to the episode, a quick announcement: you've still got time to leave a voice message for our team, to be featured on Friday in the 200th episode of the show! Head to tech.eu/voicemail — and let us know what you think about European tech!To wrap up the topic of Amazon businesses and FBA aggregators — at least for this year, — this time we talked to Malte Horeyseck, co-founder at SellerX, which has recently raised €100 million in seed funding. We hope you enjoy this special format — please let us know what you think! Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at podcast@tech.eu or tweet at @tech_eu and @adegeler. 

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:💰 Catawiki raises €150 million in Permira-led round for its ‘curated online marketplace’🏎 MTG acquires UK game developer Hutch for $375 million👔 TransferWise to create 750 jobs globally in the next six months📱 Swedish entrepreneur behind OnePlus raises $7 million in all-star round for new venture in London🦄 eToro joins Israeli unicorn club by tripling valuation in two years to reach $2.5 billion💸 Highland Europe launches €700 million fund for growth-stage startups❗️ Exclaimer raises $133 million to help companies manage email signatures📊 Cisco to acquire audience interaction company Slido🇫🇷 France fines Google $120 million and Amazon $42 million for dropping tracking cookies without consent📁 The State of European Tech report by AtomicoWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:🛴 Voi, the European ‘micromobility’ rental company, raises $160 million additional equity and debt fundingBolt unveils its fourth-generation scooter🐼 UK-based HungryPanda raises $70 million to expand its online Asian food delivery business worldwide🏦 Monzo, the UK challenger bank, picks up additional £60 million in funding🔬 UK edtech startup MEL Science snags $14 million Series B Tech.eu Podcast #168: On the future of education (feat. MEL Science, Brainly, and Lingvist)☁️ SoftBank buys 10.1 percent stake in Sinch after its meteoric surge Tech.eu Podcast #178: Apple (and Ireland)’s win against the EU, Privacy Shield invalidated, and we interview Sinch CEO Oscar Werner🎯 This is where Target Global wants to invest its new €300+ million fund⏰ Firstminute Capital launches second $111 million fund, featuring a who’s-who of founders as LPs The European Investment Bank Group debuts new €150 million financing instrument to support European AI tech firms🤖 London AI lab claims breakthrough that could accelerate drug discoveryDeepMind’s protein-folding breakthrough triggers fierce debate among skeptical scientists: ‘Until they share their code, nobody in the field cares’🚙 Interview with Sebastian Peck, managing director of InMotion Ventures, a firm backed by Jaguar Land RoverWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:❗️ Kahoot! has acquired language learning mobile game maker Drops for up to $50 million Tech.eu Podcast — Interview Special: Daniel Farkas (Drops) and Janosch Sadowski (Kolibri)🍽 HelloFresh plans to buy US meal delivery company Factor for up to $277 million🍄 Peter Thiel backs psychedelic drug developer Atai in $125 million raise💵 France demands digital tax payments from US tech groups🇪🇺 Big tech companies are looking for European lobbyists🛒 Interview with Jānis Bošs, founder of Fast BrandsWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.

This time, we talked to Bogdan Iordache, founder of How To Web; Adelina Peltea, VP Growth of Holded; and Robin Geers, founder and CEO at Alliance Europe.We hope you enjoy this special format — please let us know what you think! Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at podcast@tech.eu or tweet at @tech_eu and @adegeler.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:🚌 UK electric vehicle company Arrival set for $5.4bn Nasdaq listingTech.eu Podcast #192: Let’s talk about SPACs…💳 Santander buys Wirecard’s core European business for €100 millionFormer Wirecard boss Braun stonewalls German lawmakers’ inquiry🏗 Spacemaker, AI software for urban development, is acquired by Autodesk for $240 million Tech.eu Podcast — Slush Interview Special: Valentina Milanova (Daye) and Carl Christensen (Spacemaker)🛴 TfL and London Councils look for e-scooter operators to take part in year-long rental trial🎙 Interview with Riku Asikainen, managing partner at Evli Growth PartnersWe hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to podcast@tech.eu or tweet at us @tech_eu.