Happy Friday!
This week, the Tech.eu research team tracked more than 135 tech funding deals worth over €2.9 billion, and over 25 exits, M&A transactions, and rumours, and related news stories across Europe, including Russia and Turkey.
As always, we are putting all of them together for you in a handy list sent in our round-up newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only, and now also comes in the form of a handy downloadable spreadsheet).
We’ve also published our latest podcast – have a listen!
🎧 The future of search with AI technologies — with Suzanne Lauritzen, Raffle AI
Below, please find an overview of the biggest European tech news items for the past couple of days (subscribe to our free newsletter to get this round-up in your inbox every Monday morning). We’re changing the format to make our curated roundup even more digestible and useful, feedback always welcome!
What happened this week in European Tech?
Notable funding rounds
Live-entertainment discovery platform Fever has raised over $227 million in a new funding round. In so much, the startup now holds the top spot in terms of the largest amount of capital raised by a live-entertainment/event-focused company and joins to coveted unicorn club. While the Growth Equity arm of Goldman Sachs led the round, new investors Alignment Growth, Goodwater Capital, and Smash Capital also participated, with Eurazeo and Vitruvian Partners taking a box seat through a secondary investment of an undisclosed amount.
British delivery app Zapp has raised a $200 million funding round to fuel expansion outside its footholds in London and Amsterdam.
Barcelona-based e-commerce delivery startup Paack has secured €200 million in a Series D funding round. Already operational in the U.K., France, Spain, and Portugal, the new funds are slated to be used in the implementation of new technologies, continue rolling out services across continental Europe, and press forward with a sustainability agenda.
IXcellerate, one of the most established data center company in Russia, has raised approximately $190 million. The round — the largest ever in this field in the country — was led by sovereign wealth fund Mubadala (UAE) with participation from its Russian peer RDIF, SberInvest, and iXcellerate’s existing investors.
Deliverect, a Ghent-based software maker that integrates online orders from food delivery channels into restaurants’ POS, has raised $150 million in a Series D found round led by Coatue and Alkeon Capital. The new funding will be invested in new engineering and technology offers, as the company aims to further broaden its offer, now stepping into the convenience and grocery store verticals.
Estonian identity verification provider Veriff has raised a $100 million Series C round co-led by Tiger Global and Alkeon. They were joined by existing investors IVP and Accel, bringing Veriff’s total funding to date to $200 million. The new funding means the company is now valued at $1.5 billion.
Switzerland-based medical device company Distalmotion has raised $90 million in its Series E funding to boost its commercial scaling. The round was led by Austin-based Revival Healthcare Capital with participation from 415 CAPITAL, as well as existing investors.
Brussels-based electric bike designer Cowboy has raised $80 million in a Series C funding round. Through this funding, the drovers are aiming to wrangle core technologies, including manufacturing, in-house, as well as further develop, design, and refine the product lineup.
Oslo-founded hybrid games platform, PortalOne has achieved a new high score via a $60 million oversubscribed Series A funding round.
London-based digital asset technology provider BCB Group has closed a $60-million Series A round. The funding was co-led by Foundation Capital.
Estonian autonomous delivery robots majer Starship Technologies has received €50 million from European Investment Bank (EIB), the lending arm of the European Union (EU) in a quasi-equity facility agreement.
Notable exits
Germany’s ESL, one of the world’s oldest and biggest esports companies, has been bought for $1 billion, and UK-based esports platform FACEIT alongside it for $500 million, by Savvy Gaming, an esports investment company that is backed by the Saudi Arabian Government’s wealthy and controversial Public Investment Fund.
European instant on-demand delivery company Gorillas is buying French delivery pioneer Frichti.
German tech and consulting and just about everything else giant SAP has acquired working capital management solutions provider Taulia.
Zakaz.ua, Ukraine’s popular online service to order from grocery chains, is to become part of Spanish company Glovo.
It wouldn’t be a solid 60 days without Cazoo making a purchase, and true to form, the online car retailer has announced the acquisition of Italian online used car retail and subscription player brumbrum. The €80 million deal is comprised of a mix of cash and Cazoo shares and is expected to finalise in the coming days.
Incubator specialising in the market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), NFT Investments has announced it will acquire Pluto Digital Assets, a crypto venture capital, and technology company, for £96 million.
Interesting moves from investors
Kibo Ventures, a pre-A and series A round fund with offices in Madrid, Barcelona, and Lisbon, has announced the final close of its tertiary Fund, one that was targeted at €100 million, and its Opp Fund, for a combined total of $175 million, or approximately €155 million.
The technology industry in South-Eastern Europe (SEE) has reached new heights, with €2.25 billion raised by regional companies in 210 deals over the last 12 months. Betting big on the potential of the region, Bulgarian venture capital firm Eleven Ventures has announced the final closing of ‘Eleven Fund III’ at €60 million.
Sova VC has launched a new $50 million liquidity fund aimed at providing shareholders with early returns via the secondary market. In so much, this facilitation gives Sova an opportunity to broaden its portfolio through minority stake investments during the ebb and flow of the fundraising cycle.
In other news
Nvidia is reportedly preparing to give up on its $40 billion purchase of chip designer Arm, according to Bloomberg News.
Intel wants to massively expand its production facilities in Europe to the tune of €80 billion, focusing on next-generation microchips measuring two nanometres and smaller, thus competing with Asian manufacturers who currently produce them at three nanometres. The company on Wednesday also won its fight against a $1.2 billion EU antitrust fine that the US chipmaker was handed 12 years ago for stifling a rival, in a major setback for EU antitrust regulators.
Between the pandemic and a disappointing IoT revolution, French tech darling Sigfox faced a major financial crunch in 2021 when auditors warned it must raise more money to survive. On Wednesday, the former unicorn filed for bankruptcy protection.
Italian digital residential platform that is redesigning the experience of selling and buying homes in Europe, Casavo has now set foot in Portugal. It will invest over €100 million to acquire houses in Portugal in the short run. With its team and office in Lisbon, the prop tech company plans to hire over 20 people over the next couple of months to reinforce its growth plan in the country.
Following the referral by the government in September, the Competition & Markets Authority has formally launched its investigation into the UK music streaming market.
Facebook unit WhatsApp has been given until the end of February to explain changes to its privacy policy and whether this complies with EU consumer protection laws after complaints from consumer groups, the European Commission said on Thursday.
India’s leading manufacturer of EVs, Ola Electric, has announced Ola Futurefoundry, its new UK-based global centre for advanced engineering and vehicle design. Ola will invest £100 million over the next five years.
Great reads
Microsoft could soon be thrown back into the harsh glare of EU antitrust scrutiny, something the company has largely escaped over the past decade despite an intense regulatory focus on Big Tech giants.
Spain is months away from having a startup law. The country’s government says it wants the ‘radical’ ecosystem support package to level up the whole region.
The workers of Deliveroo, Uber and of the other prominent platform companies in Europe would qualify as employees under the EU’s new platform worker proposal, according to the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
For My Next Presentation: The Entrepreneur Who Quit Microsoft To Develop A Powerpoint Rival.
Clampdown on crypto ads: A one-off or a new phase of global regulation?
The unicorn effect: how Croatian tech giant Infobip gives back to the tech community.
Podcast: Following the success of the General Data Protection Regulation, the European Parliament is working on three new policy proposals to further rein in big tech.
