What do Lidl, Auchan, Sephora and Flink have in common? They’re all customers of RELEX Solutions, one of Finland’s four private tech companies.RELEX makes supply-chain and retail-planning software — which might sound boring, but it's extremely important when you consider how much inventory, especially food, is wasted due to poor planning.Sifted sat down with cofounder Johanna Småros to talk about the company’s decades-long journey from academia to commercialisation, just how many millions of kilos of waste annually the company is helping to avoid and why RELEX’s engineers are tired of hearing about AI. 

This week we discuss:01:51 Hyme raises €8m for technology that could halve cost of storing energy05:12 Xlinks raises $25m from TotalEnergies for 3,800km cable from the Sahara to the UK07:46 Thought Web3 was over? This VC just raised €15m to back startups in the sector19:27 Why Stability AI is launching a subscription fee 

This week we discuss:01:05 Micromobility giant Tier lays off 22% of its workforce in push for profitability, Unicorn edtech Multiverse to lay off nearly a third of US employees05:34 GenAI biotech Cradle raises $24m Series A led by Index Ventures08:55 The top takeaways from Atomico’s State of European Tech report20:13 Why hasn't EIF announced a single investment from its €3.75bn fund of funds yet?

Sonya Iovieno knows European tech’s secrets. As head of venture and growth at HSBC Innovation Banking, where she works with thousands of VCs, startups and scaleups in the UK and Nordics, she has a view on who’s done an undisclosed down round, who’s been trimming headcount and who’s set up a “hunting line” for future acquisitions.And she also knows what it’s like to go through a merger, after her organisation, formerly Silicon Valley Bank UK, was acquired by HSBC for a mere £1 after the dramatic collapse of its US parent company in March.Iovieno joined us this week for a long-form interview on Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast to share her predictions for 2024 and her experience of the tumultuous weeks of this spring.

This week we discuss:Nordic merger between online grocers Oda and MathemIt ain’t Easee: How Norway’s EV rising star fell foul of regulatorsHow Sequoia-backed e-bike refurbisher Upway raised $30m in a micromobility slowdownGrocery delivery is back as Crisp raises €35m to scale next-day delivery$400k graduate salaries and gun-for-hire ‘SWAT teams’ — inside the wild AI talent market of 2023Why top AI talent is leaving Google’s DeepMind

This week we discuss:00:53 Aleph Alpha raises $500m Series B in one of Europe’s largest AI rounds ever03:56 What the pitch deck from Adaptive, a new AI startup raising at a $100m valuation, tells us07:15 French startup Quandela raises €50m to manufacture commercial quantum computers11:03 Swedish startup wants to ‘stream energy like music’ on electric roads to charge cars as they drive18:21 10x more money goes to VC funds owned by all-male vs all-female teamsBuzzcastKeep up to date on the latest podcasting tech & news with the folks at Buzzsprout!Listen on: Apple Podcasts  

This week we discuss:02:26 Web Summit announces former Wikimedia boss as new CEO04:16 More unions sign up to Klarna strike on Nov 706:36 Benetton scion moves into tech investing with new €30m fund09:40 How a “miracle” weight-loss drug created Europe’s most valuable company, and a startup investment machine17:23 UK gears up to major AI summit under the shadow of its own lack of regulation

This week we discuss:02:05 French early-stage startups get a €500m funding boost in 2024 budget04:33 Northvolt’s $20bn listing in Stockholm — a win for European stock exchanges07:20 Solar energy storage breakthrough could make European households self-sufficient12:30 Quantum computing is not a threat to national security. So why can't Europe work together?20:35 Founder to reality TV star — a shortcut to startup success?This podcast is brought to you by Harper James, a national full-service law firm designed to support ambitious businesses. Having supported over 3,500 businesses, Harper James isn’t a run-of-the-mill law firm. It has transformed the traditional law firm model through unique price plans, smart technology and teams of almost exclusively senior lawyers — giving you affordable, commercial and high quality legal advice.If this sounds too good to be true, then head over to harperjames.co.uk and see for yourself. While you’re there, you’ll find 100s of resources to help your journey from startup to scaleup and beyond.

This week we discuss:00:59 Germany is about to legalise cannabis. What does it mean for startups?03:49 Payments fintech Modulr agrees with regulator to stop onboarding new customers 05:32 German fund La Famiglia merges with General Catalyst09:29 Northvolt founder’s heat pump startup secures €87m17:24 The rise — and fall — of BabylonLink to subscribe to the Sifted Fintech newsletter: https://sifted.eu/newslettersThis podcast is brought to you by Harper James, a national full-service law firm designed to support ambitious businesses. Having supported over 3,500 businesses, Harper James isn’t a run-of-the-mill law firm. It has transformed the traditional law firm model through unique price plans, smart technology and teams of almost exclusively senior lawyers — giving you affordable, commercial and high quality legal advice.If this sounds too good to be true, then head over to harperjames.co.uk and see for yourself. While you’re there, you’ll find 100s of resources to help your journey from startup to scaleup and beyond.

This week on the podcast we’re joined by Alex Kendall, CEO of self-driving car company Wayve, for a long-form interview on the challenges of getting autonomous vehicles onto our roads. Alex discusses how to win public trust for this technology, how he sees a future world filled with “embodied AI” and about how Elon Musk followed Wayve’s approach to self-driving tech.

This week we are live from the Sifted Summit — our annual event bringing together the best of European tech and startups.Today on the pod you’ll hear from Stripe cofounder John Collison, AI startup sensation Mistral cofounder Arthur Mensch and digital bank Monzo COO Sujata Bhatia.*And, if you want to learn how to live into your 100s, here's a write up of the top tips from longevity investor Christian Angermayer.This podcast is brought to you by Harper James, a national full-service law firm designed to support ambitious businesses. Having supported over 3,500 businesses, Harper James isn’t a run-of-the-mill law firm. It has transformed the traditional law firm model through unique price plans, smart technology and teams of almost exclusively senior lawyers — giving you affordable, commercial and high quality legal advice.If this sounds too good to be true, then head over to harperjames.co.uk and see for yourself. While you’re there, you’ll find 100s of resources to help your journey from startup to scaleup and beyond.

This week we discuss:02:07 — Improbable’s refocus on the metaverse sees big reduction in losses04:46 — ‘The economics of trading equity for compute are not great’ — Mistral releases its first model07:15 — Dutch arm of vertical farming startup Infarm declared bankrupt11:22 — US eyes British startups in chip sovereignty bid13:50 — UK-France AI rivalry heats up with dual summits14:48 — Why is applying for EU funding such a nightmare?Get yourself a ticket to the Sifted Summit here.

This week it’s a long form interview with Reshma Sohoni. In 2007 she cofounded the London-based venture fund Seedcamp, which has backed leading European tech companies like UIPath, Wise and Revolut. Reshma sat down remotely with Sifted’s Amy Lewin to share her thoughts on what she’s seeing in the market today, and lessons learnt from more than a decade and a half of investing in startups.

This week we discuss:01:24 Getir valuation reduced 4x in new $500m funding round02:14 The big French fire sale: record numbers of startups are selling at big discounts05:51 German HR tech Personio opens New York office, plans to double US workforce07:33  Smart chatbot maker DRUID raises $30m to double down on US business14:48 Want to capitalise off America’s $369bn climate bill? Here’s howGet yourself a ticket to the Sifted Summit here.

This week, Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast is joined by Sachin Duggal, founder and CEO of Builder.AI, a company that uses AI to help customers build software applications more easily. He sat down with Eleanor in the studio to talk about competition for talent, building culture and the future of software development.

This week we discuss:02:55 US AI startup Poolside raises $126m seed round and relocates to France05:50 Klarna cuts losses and sees “huge opportunity” in generative AI08:10 N26 CPO Gilles BianRosa steps down, becomes supervisory board member08:42 Babylon finds buyer for its UK business (and GP at Hand service)10:02 Dutch VC PhotonVentures bets all on photonic chips with new €100m fund16:23 Hackers are watching your startup. Not many are prepared for the attack

This week we discuss:02:25  Weight-loss drug mania reaches Europe: Denmark’s Embla raises €10m06:47 Getir cuts 10% of staff in latest sign of speedy grocery industry's struggles08:30 Northvolt raises $1.2bn convertible note from BlackRock10:33 Scottish startup ENOUGH raises €40m for its alternative meat 13:12 NatureMetrics raises £10m as biodiversity moves up the ESG agenda23:13 How is the global run on AI hardware affecting startups?

This week we're talking about a single story that Sifted reported this week: serious allegations of workplace misconduct at one of Europe’s leading VC firms. Seven people who worked at DN Capital — an investor in Shazam, Remitly and Auto1 — allege that its founder Nenad Marovac sexually harassed and bullied colleagues, creating a culture of misogyny at the fund.Marovac has denied all the allegations. DN Capital has opened an independent investigation into the allegations, which it said do not reflect its culture.Read the story here.

This week we discuss:01:10 How much RingCentral paid for those Hopin assets              Was Hopin really such a failure?03:41 Dutch startup Meatable raises $35m to scale cultivated pork products07:58 Build-a-bot workshop: deepset.ai raises $30m for personalised AI models10:58 Who's going to buy Babylon?19:20 The machines have eyes: How GenAI is giving warehouse robots vision

This week we discuss:01:07 Johnny Boufarhat steps down as CEO of Hopin04:55 Prima Materia makes third startup investment — into longevity08:31 European VCs see exodus of women investors11:58 The ‘crazy’ £20bn subsea cable to bring Moroccan solar power to the UK22:38 Can French startups overcome their elitist image?

This week we discuss:Getir calls on staff to go door-to-door with goodie bags as cashflow problems persist (1:36)Eurazeo's growth team quits to start new fund (5:31)VanMoof: What happened to VCs' favourite bike? (8:42)Are Oura rings and executive coaches the answer to founder burnout? (12:46)

We're back with another longer form interview and this week we're joined by Eileen Burbidge, cofounder of London-based, early-stage VC firm Passion Capital and director at reproductive healthcare company Fertifa. She came into the studio to reflect on the differences between Silicon Valley and London, her time at Monzo and how she wants to fix reproductive healthcare in Europe.

This week we discuss:02:00 UK government unveils plan to direct £75bn from pension funds to startups05:30  5 key questions that the Mansion House Compact doesn’t answer07:34 The startup creating AI jobs for humans: Prolific raises £25m 10:39 Causaly raises $60m Series B to give scientists instant access to 'all of biology' 13:15 Aphea.Bio raises €70m Series C 24:00 Paris is burning (VC investor cash on AI startups) — Link coming soon

Our competition to win a ticket for the Sifted Summit has now closed, thanks for entering if you took part! We're still keen to learn more about who listens to the podcast,  please take this five-question survey if you have a minute to spare: https://ftx.typeform.com/to/L2ai27FuThis week we discuss:02:14 Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s Neko Health raises €60m Series A amid European expansion plans 06:38 'An inkjet printer for the periodic table' — VSParticle raises €14.5m09:14 Arrival loses key finance lifelines as troubles mount13:47 Britishvolt cofounder pins new hope on Italian gigafactory20:11 I am a successful founder — and it’s the worst job I’ve ever had

Our competition to win a ticket for the Sifted Summit has now closed, thanks for entering if you took part! We're still keen to learn more about who listens to the podcast,  please take this five-question survey if you have a minute to spare: https://ftx.typeform.com/to/L2ai27FuThis week we discuss:01:51 Data roaming outside the EU still sucks — but the AUTO1 founder’s new startup wants to fix it06:31 The German spacetech planning to fire stem cell 'organoids' into orbit10:31 Babylon shareholders wiped out as healthtech agrees to delist12:55 Startup boards are still a boys' club — 45% have no female representation17:58 'The G-spot of Europe': how Vilnius is trying to attract international tech talent

Our competition to win a ticket for the Sifted Summit has now closed, thanks for entering if you took part! We're still keen to learn more about who listens to the podcast,  please take this five-question survey if you have a minute to spare: https://ftx.typeform.com/to/L2ai27FuThis week we discuss: See the pitch memo that raised €105m for four-week-old startup MistralA Human Genome Project for the nervous system? BIOS Health raises fresh fundingNato launches tech accelerator to bring Silicon Valley ethos to Europe’s armiesWhere to find Europe’s best AI engineersTony Blair thinks AI will save Britain, he’s just not quite sure how it should work

This week we sat down with Chloe Smith, the UK's acting secretary of state for Science, Innovation & Technology — the government minister tasked with supporting the growth of the country’s tech and startup sector.She told us about what the UK is doing to attract talent to its shores, and about how the country plans to unlock pension funds to invest in high-growth tech companies.

This week we discuss:Infarm quits Europe as vertical farming withers on the vineCheckout.com cuts internal valuation by another 15%EIF to set up a €200m fund for European defence techCan e-fuel make flying green? Startups are tryingAn unknown Swedish startup’s €3bn bid to build a green rival to AWS

This week we discuss:01:06 Monzo narrows losses slightly as lending book triples04:06 Inside GetYourGuide: Germany’s $2bn travel experiences platform07:41 US giant NEA backs Stockholm AI company Sana Labs09:45 Did US hustle mentality ruin Typeform?14:36 SaaS won’t save the planet, but a hardware-software duo just might20:16 An OpenAI alum is building a robot butler for your home

This week it’s another longer form interview. We’re joined by Ophelia Brown, managing partner of Blossom Capital, a VC fund that’s backed the likes of payments company Checkout.com, crypto exchange Moonpay and HR platform Localize. She sat down with Sifted’s Amy Lewin to make her case for a crypto comeback, as well as giving some harsh words on the political mismanagement of the UK tech sector.

This week we discuss:02:55 Mobility giant Bolt likely to acquire rival Tier in weeks05:00 Northvolt to build German and US factories10:13 ETH spinout ANYbotics raises $50m for AI-led robo workforce 13:54 Startup valuations continue to plummet in 202317:52 It’s not just the CFO who’s quit: Meet the people left with power at Revolut23:26 A taster of the foods of the futureListen to Sifted's new podcast series sponsored by EQT Ventures: "Downturn Survival Guide."

This week we discuss:01:30 German startup Blinkist acquired by Australian content company Go105:39 Proposed EU net neutrality 'paywall' for internet access spooks founders09:55 Micro-ticket investment platform Odin raises $3m following public launch13:45 Outperforming doctors and dealing with hallucinations — how GenAI will transform healthtech18:37 What the 'Father of Alexa' did nextListen to Sifted's new podcast series sponsored by EQT Ventures: "Downturn Survival Guide"

This week we discuss:01:20 Investors say new UK listing rules might not be enough to entice tech companies05:24 German startup Prematch raises €2.4m to build 'Fifa for amateur football' 09:22 Mental health therapeutics startup HelloBetter raises €7m for further US expansion14:17 Can France save the metaverse?

This week we discuss:01:27 Northvolt to confirm US expansion plans within weeks, cofounder says04:07 Leaked deck raises questions over Stability AI's Series A pitch to investors08:16 The call for a CERN-like AI supercomputer11:16 This startup has raised $31m to turn wood into glass14:10 IV infusions and blood purification: Inside one of Europe’s first longevity clinics20:30  Meet the startup sending scientists around the world to build a database of all lifeListen to Sifted's new podcast series sponsored by EQT Ventures: "Downturn Survival Guide"

This week we discuss:Shareholder upheaval and a $630m debt burden: end of the road for Cazoo?How a corruption scandal has left dozens of Polish startups facing bankruptcyThe Family Files: Inside France’s ugliest startup fightToxic bosses and unhealthy cultures: Why Europe’s VCs are tired and burnt out

This week we discuss:01:18 Checkout.com faces exec team exodus and makes layoffs ‘by stealth’05:30 ‘Mini-revolt’ as TravelPerk U-turns on remote work08:26 Founders had to wait ‘far too long’ for EIC Fund cash, admits chair11:09 YC alum SolarMente raises for subscription solar panel service17:57 Coworking retreats and hiking holidays: Inside the biggest startup community you’ve never heard of

This week it’s another long form interview and we’re joined in the studio with Johannes Schildt from Stockholm-based digital healthcare provider Kry. After a tough 2022, the founder reflects on dealing with layoffs at the company, pausing operations in Germany and the challenges of working with disjointed healthcare systems. He also looks ahead to how exciting technologies like large language models (which power the likes of GPT-4) could supercharge healthcare in the future, and tells us what he’s like as a boss. 

This week we discuss:03:54: Starting to take off: German rocket maker Isar Aerospace raises $165m06:43: Europe’s spacetech report06:59: Climate tech Agreena raises €46m Series B to fight climate change with carbon sinks09:52 Channel 4-backed fintech shuts down, searches for buyer12:39: ‘We are super, super fucked’: Meet the man trying to stop an AI apocalypse19:11: Gloria Bäuerlein closes one of Europe’s first female solo GP funds

This week it's a longer form interview with Matt Clifford, founder of early stage investor and startup builder Entrepreneur First. He's also recently been appointed as an AI advisor to the UK government, so we brought him into the Sifted studio to ask him how the UK and Europe can have an AI strategy that moves the needle, as companies like Microsoft and Google increasingly dominate the space.

This week we're doing a special episode looking at the Silicon Valley Bank crash, why it happened, why the tech sector was so exposed and how the government stepped in to help save the UK subsidiary of the business.We’re joined by special guests Dom Hallas, from UK tech lobby group Coadec, and Benedikt von Thüngen, cofounder of diagnostics startup Sanome which had 85% of its cash in SVB.We also analyse what the UK budget means for startups, including big spending on quantum research and more support for AI innovation, plus cut to R&D tax credits.The articles we discuss this week:- UK Spring budget: R&D cuts but huge quantum spend- SVB UK: the latest on the startup bank’s collapse — and sale to HSBC- SVB UK still funding loans after HSBC buyout, say sources- SVB: Why did so many UK startups only have one bank account?- ‘It was terrifying’: 48 nightmare hours for European tech founders as SVB collapsed- VCs are ‘absolutely to blame’ for SVB chaos, says Seedcamp’s Reshma Sohoni- Opinion: UK government should not bailout SVB UK

This week we’ve got a special episode focusing on Swedish tech. Sifted has been visiting the Nordic Nation for our Stockholm Sessions event, where we caught up with founders working in everything from electric-powered boats to a plan to build a metaverse-powered aquarium at the bottom of a real-life fjord.We were also joined by Klarna’s Sebastian Siemiatkowski, who gave an interview on what the media gets wrong about his company, and why it’s sometimes ok to lose $100m a month.

This week we discuss:02:18 Revolut reports its first-ever year of profit05:29 Klarna posts $1bn annual loss, its largest ever09:55 Want to drive using mind control?13:14 GitLab and Remote backer Inkef loses its sole LP17:16 Wise and Monzo founders back legal generative AI startup’s $10.5m Series A23:16 I’m not a billionaire — will I ever go to space? 

This week it's a long form interview with founder-turned-investor Taavet Hinrikus. He's half a year into his journey as a VC and says that his new fund Plural is going to do things differently. He came into the Sifted studio to tell us about why investor committees are useless, how you can't build a business on a four-day week and the biggest lessons he learnt from building Wise.

This week we discuss:01:13 Lumai lands £1.1m grant to achieve ‘world’s fastest computation’ and power the AI revolution04:16 German edtech Knowunity, a TikTok for kk, raises €9m Series A extension07:15 New €3.75bn European Investment Fund pot to back late-stage VCs08:40 Which investor has backed the most European unicorns?10:25 Inside Daniel Ek's new boday scanning startup15:10 Heart Aerospace hopes to build a plane even Greta Thunberg would fly on18:52 Counteract closes £15m fund for carbon removal solutions

In this special episode of Startup Europe, Sifted’s central and eastern Europe correspondent Zosia Wanat looks under the surface of some of the continent’s most resilient startups.Based on extensive interviews with Ukrainian founders, the episode reveals how people working in the tech sector — which is so vital to the country’s economy — have battled to keep their businesses alive.The podcast tells the stories of Ukrainian entrepreneurs in their own words, from colleagues trapped in basements with Russian troops on the streets, to investors pulling funding and big business pivots to stay afloat.

This week we discuss:01:59: Germany launches €1bn fund for climate and deeptech scaleups05:33: ‘Good news for startups’ — UK government launches new Science, Innovation and Technology department07:41: The French spacetech working with Elon Musk’s SpaceX09:22: Sifted's in-depth spacetech report10:17: Farming platform Wikifarmer raises €5m14:12: Three quarters of LGBTQ+ founders hide their identity from investors18:34: Aleph Alpha believes Europe can compete with OpenAI if it ‘picks its battles’27:22: Does size really matter? $80bn sextech market still too taboo for VCs

This week we discuss:02:33: PASQAL lands €100m after ‘world-first’ real-life quantum computer use05:17: Renaissance Fusion raises €15m to develop clean nuclear energy technology07:27: Monzo revenues surge more than twofold, putting it on track for 2023 profitability10:42: Tech Nation shutting down as UK government controversially pulls key funding14:55: France plans to use the startup downturn to come out on top in Europe22:02: How to raise a $33m Series A during an economic downturn

This week we're back with a longer form interview, digging into one of the most hyped tech sectors in recent times: speedy grocery delivery. After startups in the space raised millions in 2021 — shooting to massive valuations in a matter of months — the bubble has now somewhat burst, as the former superstar Gorillas was sold at a big loss to rival Getir at the end of 2022. Today we're asking whether these services can ever turn a profit, in spite of the big costs associated with getting groceries delivered to people within a 10-minute window.Our guest to discuss this juicy topic is Delivery Hero’s VP of quick commerce, Milena Lazarevska. Delivery Hero was founded in 2011 and in 2017 the food delivery company floated on the German stock exchange. Today it offers delivery services in more than 70 countries across four continents, and owns brands including Glovo, Foodpanda and Pedidos Ya in Latin America.

This week we discuss:Britishvolt goes into administrationCazoo's CEO steps downNew technology to store vaccines at room temperatureThe startup cleaning up Elon Musk's space junkDragon's Den star Steven Bartlett has a new startupStabilityAI's Emad Mostaque on OpenAI and lawsuitsDigging into FTX's European investments

This week we discuss:01:08: OXcan raises $3.7m to scale its cancer detection tech04:35  Autonomous vehicles everywhere: Oxbotica raises $140m07:54 Checkout.com's latest financial results10:47 Employee healthcare benefits platform Peppy raises $45m for US expansion17:28 ‘We can predict behaviour’: The former spook vetting founders on behalf of VCsThis podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted

This week we discuss:01:45 What are the new EU policies startups should watch out for in 2023?08:26 Nuclear fusion: The bet that Europe should have won18:21 Why are VCs getting so excited about generative AI?This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted

This week we're bringing you a longer form interview with Meri Williams, CTO at Pleo and formerly CTO at Monzo and Healx. Meri's got a reputation for being one of the best in the business at growing and sustaining technical teams at startups and scaleups, and in this episode she gave her opinion on Elon Musk firing half his tech team, how to get engineers to learn soft skills and how to hire developers from around the world.---This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we discuss:01:13 How are startup valuations worked out?05:54 Basecamp raises $20m to scale its biodiversity tech09:15 Getir finally acquires Gorillas12:04 Are all-in-one airport scanners the future of diagnosing illness?21:46 What challenges are disabled founders facing?This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we discuss:01:17 Gorillas investors to pay $100m to secure Getir all-stock buyout, sources say04:40 Online grocer Oda raises €150m but loses its unicorn valuation08:10 As the speedy grocery giants falter, this startup is backing a sustainable alternative11:09 The state of European tech 2022: 19 things you need to know17:06 Autonomous freight startup Einride raises $500m in debt and equity Series C21:52 ‘It’s like networking on steroids’: Sifted readers share their experiences of startup acceleratorsThis podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we discuss:01:45 Klarna posts big losses in latest financial results06:19 Scammers increasingly targeting UK neobank customers10:14 Idris and Sabrina Elba invest in Huel13:50 The startups fighting the loss of global biodiversity19:33 The strange world of "alternative business coaches"This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we've got a bonus episode for you, recorded while Amy was off at the Slush startup conference in Helsinki. It's a conversation with veteran tech investor and Index Ventures partner Danny Rimer, who's sat on the boards of household name companies like Dropbox, Etsy, Farfetch and Discord. He also led Index's early investment into design software product Figma, which got acquired by Adobe this year for a cool $20bn.In this episode Danny and Amy discuss layoffs, pay rises, crypto and that Figma deal, plus much more. This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we discuss:(04:24) Starling Bank blocks crypto payments in wake of FTX collapse(06:01) Are we about to see another dot com crash?(12:27) Tech event Slush revokes award for Russian founder after backlash(20:47) How has Theranos affected biotech startups?This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we're bringing you the second in our new series of extended interviews with the big names and rising stars of Europe's tech and startup scene.This episode features a conversation with Timmu Tõke, founder of Ready Player Me — an Estonian company that recently won investment from legendary VC firm Andreessen Horowitz to develop its metaverse-ready avatar technology.Recorded in the midst of a turbulent time for the metaverse and all things Web3, in this interview Timmu shares his thoughts on what the metaverse might look like, who should govern it and why he thinks Mark Zuckerberg might be barking up the wrong tree.---This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we discuss:03:35 Anything World raises $7.5m06:16 Crypto payment startup Ramp raises $70m08:15 Solar startup Alight wins $150m in buyout to scale up its ambitions10:04 Spotify's Daniel Ek has a new startup in the works16:53 What's gone wrong for UK battery startup Britishvolt?

This week we discuss:01:58 Will Rishi Sunak, the UK’s new prime minister, be good for startups?05:56 Damning stats reveal gender pay gap at European startups09:18 Daye raises £10 for vaginal microbiome testing12:20 H2 Green Steel secures €3.5bn in debt to build hydrogen steel plant14:47 Alt meat startup Heura raises €20m16:52 Paebbl raises €8m to turn captured carbon into cement18:42 Can private jets really be good for the environment?19:50 A lack of lab space is threatening UK biotech

This week, we're treating you to something a little bit different. Eleanor's joined by EQT Growth partner Carolina Brochado, who recently launched a new €2.4bn fund to back later-stage European startups. That's not her only heavyweight credential: before joining EQT, Carolina was a partner at both the SoftBank Vision Fund and Atomico.They talk about how she’s works with her portfolio companies, how far European tech has come and how she tried (and failed), somewhat creatively, to win a spot on Deliveroo’s cap table back in the day.

This week we discuss:02:01 Who would lose most in a Gorillas sale?04:41 N26 reports widening losses06:57 Amazon aggregators get sued09:55 AI investment is down13:02 Tech to make us age slower19:30 Spain gets its 10th unicorn

This week we discuss:03:19 Metaverse platform Improbable has raised $100m10:15 Faux foie gras startup Gourmey raises €48m13:15 New Paris-based VC fund Sista Fund launches26:55 How can all startups help the green transition?The carbon-light website agency mentioned by Tessa Clarke: Wholegrain

This week we discuss:02:34 Italy gets its second unicorn in Satispay04:56 Sequoia gets its fifth partner in Europe 06:40 Phagos raised €2.4m to fight antibiotic resistance08:43 Wayve announces big breakthrough for self-driving cars

This week we discuss:01:00 Secondhand car marketplace Cazoo to lay off 1,500 people in 202203:15 Presentation software startup Pitch laying off 30% of team05:55 Vertical farming startup Infarm cuts 50 jobs07:35 Northzone raises €1bn fund 10:00 EQT raises €2.4bn growth fund12:24 SunRoof raised €15m to build solar roofs20:17 Inside Europe’s largest cannabis manufacturing facility

This week we discuss:02:00 Klarna losses triple in first half of 202204:14 Topi raises $45m to rent hardware and cut down on e-waste07:30 Neurofenix raises $7m to help stroke patients recover09:57 The mystery VC fund that never deliveredPlease take our listener survey! You get a month's Sifted membership for free, and we'd love to learn more about our listeners:bit.ly/siftedpodcast

This week we discuss:2:26: Poland’s Inovo raising €100m third fund for CEE startups5:49 Dragon’s Den star Steven Bartlett’s Web3 startup bags $24m8:35 The startup that could slash the cost of EV batteries10:23 Is Babylon Health going to get kicked off the NYSE?15:30 The world’s most advanced consumer-ready AI assistant?Please take our listener survey! You get a month's Sifted membership for free, and we'd love to learn more about our listeners:bit.ly/siftedpodcast

This week we discuss:(03:09) Crypto app Ziglu’s valuation slashed in Robinhood buyout(06:06) Microverse doubles valuation as demand for remote coding course soars(09:30) Ukraine tech companies in urgent need of financial support(12:31) Why startups need to lobby more(19:45) Mental health for startup employees — what's going wrong?Please take our listener survey! You get a month's Sifted membership for free, and we'd love to learn more about our listeners:bit.ly/siftedpodcast

This week we discuss:(01:34) After months of missed payroll and unpaid refunds, events company Pollen enters administration(03:41) German digital bank Nuri files for insolvency(05:10) Klarna’s valuation has plummeted — but people are still investing <link coming soon!>(07:44) Elon Musk has $80m to fund a carbon removal startup(12:35) What happens when you let 100 scientists run wild in a Belgian castle? Bootleg vodka and time travelPlease take our listener survey! You get a month's Sifted membership for free, and we'd love to learn more about our listeners:bit.ly/siftedpodcast

Please take our listener survey! You get a month's Sifted membership for free, and we'd love to learn more about our listeners:bit.ly/siftedpodcastThis week we discuss:(03:20) Gorillas is set to raise $250m in funding from existing investors at a reduced valuation(06:13) Cornerstone VC has just raised a £20m fund to back diverse early-stage UK founders(09:37) Cera raises £260m, Europe’s biggest round ever in the elderly care sector(12:12) A new wave of European fintechs are taking on the fractional ownership real estate model(17:13)  What’s it like working as a food delivery rider in extreme heat?

On this week's show:02:20 — Idoven raises $19.8m to scale it's AI heart disease detection tech05:00 — Kranus Health raises $6.5m to build the “viagra of digital therapy”09:45 — Europe's top "digital nomad villages"17:26 — How did travel booking site Omio rise from the ashes, after nearly being snuffed out by the pandemic

Public markets are down and tech company stocks are no exception. How will the slump affect VC behaviour, and how should startups prepare for what's coming? We also ask whether NFT sports card platform Sorare is really worth $4.3bn and Amy, recording from the basement of Switzerland's FoodHack conference, gets her hands on some man made honey and fungal bratwurst.