This Week in European Tech: Atomico expands across Europe, Infogrid lands $90 million, Zoom buys Workvivo, and regulators across Europe target ChatGPT
This week, our research team tracked more than 70 tech funding deals worth over €657 million, and around 10 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe.
As always, we are putting all weekly deals together for you in a list sent in our round-up newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only, and also comes in the form of a handy downloadable spreadsheet).
And don’t forget: we’re busy prepping for the next Tech.eu Summit, it’s gonna be epic!
You can only get early-bird tickets until tomorrow (15 April)!
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And the 10 latest additions fyi.
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With that said, let’s get down to business with 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).
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>> Notable and big funding rounds
London-based Infogrid has raised $90 million in a Series B round. The new timber is expected to help the company expand, particularly in the areas of its dataset as well as upping the functionality of its building intelligence platform.
The Lithuanian fintech SME Finance’s pot got a bit bigger as it secured an extra credit of €100 million from London-based Fasanara Capital.
London-based residential energy efficiency platform Hometree has raised a $46 million Series B funding round and has acquired green home improvement financing platform BeWarm.
The UK company behind the Raspberry Pi line of computers has raised fresh investment from Sony’s semiconductor unit, in a deal aimed at advancing its efforts in artificial intelligence.
UK-based myenergi has raised £30 million in a debt funding round provided by HSBC UK, to drive development and production of smart home energy products.
Parisian proptech firm Citron has raised €20 million in an equity financing round that will see the company recruit some 200 individuals as it continues developing any and all solutions related to the digital management and optimisation of buildings resources.
Denmark-based learning management system LMS365, has raised $20 million in funding to further fuel its global expansion.
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>> Noteworthy acquisitions, mergers, IPOs and SPAC deals
Video conferencing platform Zoom is to acquire Workvivo for an undisclosed amount. The move will ‘bolster the Zoom platform’s employee experience offering and give customers new ways to keep employees informed, engaged and connected’.
Airbnb did not buy Scottish property portal Letting Cloud.
Irish mobility company Zeus Scooters has acquired Zipp Mobility, an Irish shared e-scooter and e-bike service provider, for an undisclosed sum.
Instacar, the first fully digital vehicle rental service in Greece, has announced the acquisition of Kineo, the leading subscription rental service for electric bikes and scooters in the country.
Amsterdam-based Re:Invent, a company that aims to change the way we work and how we use buildings, workplaces and offices, has acquired Rotterdam’s workplace app Choosewise.
Euvic Group, a major Polish group of IT service companies, is in the process of acquiring Lviv-based software development provider Exoft.
Taxually, a Budapest, Hungary-based cloud-native VAT software provider, acquired Califonia-based sales and use tax (SUT) automation company LumaTax.
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>> Interesting moves from investors
Alexandre Mars, founder of VC firm Blisce, has closed on €225 million for its second fund.
Educapital closed on €150 million for its second edtech-focused fund.
A year and four months after publicly disclosing their intent to raise £80 million, Albion Capital confirms: Mission Accomplished.
The Hague-based VC firm 4impact has announced the first close of their second fund which is targeted at €100 million.
London-based VC Atomico is opening new offices in Europe with new local hubs in Berlin and Stockholm and an expansion to its Paris office.
Prague-based AI Startup Incubator (AISI) has opened a new investment fund exclusively for AI start-ups called Look AI Ventures. It aims to raise €20 million which will be invested in early stage AI-driven companies.
Stockholm-based environmental impact platform, Milkywire, says that nine Nordic tech companies, including Spotify, Klarna, Avanza, Northzone, Mentimeter and BioGaia have committed to donate to its Climate Transformation Fund.
500 Global is spreading its wings across the Caucasus and Eastern Europe, via Tbilisi.
Germany-based Blockchain Founders Capital has announced the first closing of its €15 million micro venture capital fund. The fund will focus on early-stage investments in the web3 space.
CampX by Volvo Group says it has recently expanded its innovation focus areas to include financial technology, or fintech.
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>> In other (important) news
European data protection authorities this week set up a task force to cooperate and exchange information on enforcing EU laws on ChatGPT maker OpenAI.
Meanwhile, Italy’s data protection watchdog has laid out what OpenAI needs to do for it to lift an order against ChatGPT issued at the end of last month.
Something is amiss over at Valencia- based Jeff, with some employees apparently not having been paid since August last year.
BeReal, a French photo-sharing app founded in 2020 that took off on college campuses, is losing steam.
The Bank of England has opened recruitment for staff to oversee the development of its proposed central bank digital currency.
After a number of iterations, a founders’ exodus, an acquisition, and months of contributors not being paid, EyeEm would appear to be EyeGone.
Navya, a French company specialised in the design and construction of autonomous and electric vehicles, is on the way down.
Twitter will let its users access stocks, cryptocurrencies and other financial assets through a partnership with London-based eToro, a social trading company.
The founder of French cloud provider OVH is seeking to buy the Qwant search engine, in a bid to revive the quest for a European rival to Google and Bing that “respects privacy.”
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>> Recommended reads and listens
A new report on the state of Europe’s venture capital (VC) market has revealed shortcomings, despite rising optimism in Brussels. According to a group of leading business schools, 45% of European venture capital investments fail or do not secure returns that are double the investment.
Beyond the grave: How deathtech startups are transforming what happens when we die
🎙️ The Drive at Five – All the European tech news fit to talk about.
Over £80 billion went to Agritech in Europe in the last 20 years – will there be enough high-quality food for all?
Musk’s Twitter on collision course with Europe, with exit possible
Digital-first will making lets you control your legacy after you die
ChatGPT is entering a world of regulatory pain in Europe
How massive layoffs affect the CEE big tech and startup ecosystem
‘No more excuses’ as the latest EU initiative gives lagging regions a tool to turn things around
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>> European tech startups to watch
Helping children reduce anxiety when it comes to surgery, Little Journey raises $3.1 million.
Xilva raises $1.8 million and is fighting fake carbon credits by building the first marketplace for forest investments.
Ledgy dives into collaboration with SeaO₂ to help bring its pioneering oceanic carbon capture technology to life.
Making cycling smarter, Madrid’s UNIT 1 pedals in $3.5 million.
Enschede-based New Origin, a spin out from University of Twente’s MESA+ NanoLab, has secured €6 million in funding to fuel its build of an independent photonic chips facility.
London-based Web3 payments platform Helio has raised a $3.3 million Seed funding round to grow its sales and marketing teams and develop more partnerships with platforms and marketplaces.
Bringing music personalisation to gaming, Stockholm’s Reactional Music raised $2 million.
