This Week in European Tech: SumUp lands €750 million, European Innovation Council kicks off, eToro’s mega SPAC listing, and more
Happy Friday!
This week, our team tracked more than 90 tech funding deals worth more than €2 billion, and about 20 exits, M&A transactions, and rumours, and related news stories across Europe, including Russia, Israel, 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).
Recently, we also started publishing ‘Today in European Tech’, a daily round-up of deals and news stories that caught our attention. Keeping you updated on all things EU tech is our priority!
Today, instead of a daily round-up we give you an overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for the past week (subscribe to our free newsletter to get this round-up in your inbox every Monday morning).
1) eToro’s $10 billion+ SPAC listing is happening
Israeli-British investment platform eToro is set to merge with a SPAC after years of speculation about the fintech firm going public.
The company is merging with Betsy Z. Cohen-led SPAC FinTech Acquisition Corp. V, and the listing will give eToro a valuation of around $10.4 billion.
Three months ago eToro wanted to IPO at a $5bn valuation. Today they go public via SPAC at 2x that valuation https://t.co/ivbcnxAaDh
— hussein kanji (@hkanji) March 17, 2021
2) SumUp secures €750 million in financing to scale up
Fresh off a number of recent acquisitions, London-based payments provider SumUp has raised €750 million. The round saw participation from existing backers Goldman Sachs, and Bain Capital Credit.
Incredibly exciting news for @SumUp today closing another funding round to continue building towards our vision – we’re so thrilled
#Fintech #FintechNews #InsideSumUp pic.twitter.com/g1rCSHc2Gj
— SumUp Engineering (@SumUpEng) March 16, 2021
3) European Innovation Council exits the pilot phase
The European Commission launched the European Innovation Council (EIC) with a budget of over €10 billion for 2021-2027 to develop and expand breakthrough innovations.
Europe is a powerhouse in science.
The new European Innovation Council pilot projects will invest over €1⃣0⃣ billion in breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations.#EUeic pic.twitter.com/Fv7jFtzmq1
— European Commission
(@EU_Commission) March 18, 2021
4) IronSource is next on track for a SPAC
Israeli app monetization company IronSource is on track to becoming a listed company on Wall Street. SPAC Thoma Bravo Advantage will reportedly attempt to raise $1 billion and potentially give IronSource a valuation of $10 billion.
Report: IronSource in talks to merge with SPAC at $10 billion valuation https://t.co/C0bdWjWDU6
— Gil Dibner (@gdibner) March 16, 2021
5) Italian proptech firm Casavo lands €200 million in financing
Milan-based proptech firm Casavo has secured €200 million in financing in an effort to revolutionise the way individuals buy and sell homes in Europe.
Casavo disrupts the traditional #realestate market. As an #ibuyer, the company buys, renovates and resells homes. Casavo wants to digitize all aspects of real estate transactions https://t.co/8N2F3IwkE2
— Project A (@ProjectAcom) March 17, 2021
6) Austria’s first unicorn as Bitpanda raises $170 million round
Vienna, Austria-based fintech scale-up Bitpanda, which provides a brokering/exchange platform for trading digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and precious metals, has closed a Series B round of $170 million, giving it a ‘unicorn’ valuation of $1.2 billion.
The first unicorn sighting in Austria, as cryptocurrency and digital asset trading platform @Bitpanda raises $170 million Series D funding at a $1.2 billion valuation.
The round was led by Peter Thiel-founded @valarventures and joined by DST Global.
https://t.co/DdTfbeo1ig pic.twitter.com/jE8JXkXEBs
— Tech.eu (@tech_eu) March 16, 2021
7) Fireblocks on fire with $133 million in fresh funding
Tel-Aviv-based crypto custodian Fireblocks has raised $133 million in a Series-C round. To date, the firm has raised $179 million.
Today, we are thrilled to announce that Fireblocks has raised $133 million in Series C funding AND @BNY has committed to working with Fireblocks to shape the future of digital assets. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/eY7WupjFWy
— Fireblocks (@FireblocksHQ) March 18, 2021
8) Bonjour, EU Start-up Nations Standard
Today at the ‘EU Digital Day’, a total 24 EU member states, plus Iceland, have signed the declaration on “Startups Nations Standard of Excellence”, to support startups across Europe in each stage of their development.
+
signed a declaration to ensure all startups & scaleups in #EU benefit from successful startup ecosystems
https://t.co/ciYvHlQxxT
#DigitalDay2021 pic.twitter.com/IkDPkkplWn— Digital EU
9) Uber to treat its UK drivers as workers (somewhat)
Weeks after a top court ruling that could shake up Britain’s wider ‘gig economy’, Uber this week said it is granting its UK drivers worker status, with benefits including a minimum wage – a world first for the US ride-hailing giant.
After years of worker/union-led litigation, #Uber will classify their drivers (NOT riders) in the UK as ‘workers’ (min wage, holiday pay, union rights & more). Turning point for the #gigeconomy. Battle on definition of ‘working time’ ahead. Still, wow. https://t.co/EW3OizCVuI
— Ruwan Subasinghe (@RuwanSubasinghe) March 16, 2021
10) French HR tech startup PayFit scores €90 million in funding
Paris-based HR tech firm PayFit saw a 40% growth over the course of 2020, and has closed a €90 million Series D funding round.
We’re delighted to announce that we’ve raised a €90 million (£77 million approx.) series D funding round to continue our ambition to simplify payroll and human resource management for all European SMEs.
https://t.co/3QvdN07oAh#Payroll #PayrollSoftware #HR #HumanResources
— PayFitUK (@PayFitUK) March 17, 2021
Podcast:
Tech.eu Podcast #211: Nicolas Julia of Sorare, e-scooters, gigafactories, privacy issues of Clubhouse, and more
Bonus link(s):
– The European Council this week adopted its first reading position on Horizon Europe, the EU’s multi-annual framework programme for research and innovation for the years 2021 to 2027, approving its €95.5 billion total budget.
– UK tech startups raised a record $15 billion from venture capitalists in 2020, widening its gap with Germany and France, according to a report from government-funded lobby group Tech Nation.
– European startup CEOs and founders in a letter have urged member states to adopt the EU’s proposed Startup Nations Standard.
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