Tech.eu

Here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:

🏘️ Massive deal in Madrid: EQT buys online real estate classifieds platform idealista for €1.3 billion

• EQT agrees €1.3bn deal for Spanish property site Idealista

💳 Dutch payments startup Mollie raises $106M at $1B+ valuation

💶 Klarna talks to investors on raising funds at over $10 billion valuation

⚖️ Facebook to be forced to stop sending EU data to the US

• Facebook seeks fresh legal delay to block order to suspend its transatlantic data transfers

🎙️ Interview with Pär-Jörgen Pärson, general partner at Northzone and a VC with some 20 years of experience

We hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to [email protected] or tweet at us @tech_eu.

Here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:

🚀 Rocket Internet to delist from stock market and focus on long-term strategy

• The humbling of Europe’s most-hyped startup incubator: Rocket Internet
• Rocket Internet has made a $3.1 billion damp squib
• As it delists, Rocket Internet’s ill-fated experiment with public markets is over
• Jumia: The e-commerce start-up that fell from grace

💰 German credit marketplace auxmoney raises €150 million

🇫🇷 France to spend $8.4 billion on digital as part of stimulus plan

🇩🇪 Germany promises Elon Musk full support to get Tesla's Berlin plant ready

🎤 An interview with the founder and CEO of TheVentureCity fund Laura González-Estéfani

We hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to [email protected] or tweet at us @tech_eu.

Here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:

📱 Fairphone’s new flagship, the 3+, costs just €70 as a modular upgrade

🗠 The Hut Group set for biggest British IPO in years

💸 SoftBank-backed car website Auto1 is said to invite IPO pitches

🛒 Delivery Hero buys InstaShop, valued at $360 million, to expand through the Middle East

📂 UK immersive music startup MelodyVR buys Napster for $70 million in a reverse takeover

💀 Big Revolution — The brand that refused to die

🎙️ An interview with Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, and Sherry Coutu, serial entrepreneur and the head of Digital Boost

We hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to [email protected] or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:

🚂 Omio takes $100 million to shuttle through the coronavirus crisis

🤬 German travel startups aren't happy with Google

• Inside Google’s feud with the battered online travel industry
• Travel startups cry foul over what Google’s doing with their data

🎮 Tencent takes minority stake in French casual games maker Voodoo

💳 Wirecard UK [may] be bought by Railsbank after downfall of parent company

🎙️ Elizabeth Varley talks to Robin Wauters about the history of TechHub in London and the reasons why it eventually went under

We hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to [email protected] or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:

📱 Google, Nokia, Qualcomm are investors in $230 million Series A2 for Finnish phone maker, HMD Global

🍎 Facebook, Microsoft gripes with Apple’s App Store on EU’s antitrust radar

🇫🇷 TikTok faces French data probe, adding to EU-wide scrutiny

💳 Revolut racks up losses as hiring spree offsets revenue

🇬🇧 Holvi is leaving the UK – when and why?

☠️ N26 employees are planning works council elections

• N26 founders oppose the establishment of a works council — elections have to be postponed
• N26 works council meeting takes place — management schedules meeting at the same time

🎙 Interview with Kristine Kornilova of Printful (formerly of TechChill)

We hope you enjoy(ed) the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions to [email protected] or tweet at us @tech_eu.

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:

Zynga buys another Turkish gaming company

• Zynga Enters Into Agreement to Acquire Istanbul-based Rollic, One of the Fastest Growing Hyper-Casual Mobile Game Companies (PR)
• Zynga acquires hypercasual mobile company Rollic for $168m (GamesIndustry.biz)
• Zynga is acquiring hypercasual mobile game firm Rollic for at least $168 million (Venturebeat)

Uber buys the UK’s Autocab

• Uber is buying a taxi software company to expand its foothold in the UK (CNBC)
• Uber is buying its biggest rival in the UK (Engadget)
• Uber to acquire Autocab in expansion partnership (Intelligent Transport)

Northvolt riding the ‘momentum of electrification’

• Battery developer Northvolt raises $US1.6 billion for two new gigafactories (The Driven)
• Northvolt secures $1.6bn backing for twin battery gigafactories (PV Magazine)

European Commission moves to investigate the Google/Fitbit deal

• EU launches ‘in-depth’ probe of Google bid for Fitbit (Euractiv)
• EU Regulators Open Investigation Into Google’s Fitbit Acquisition, Cleary Leads (Law.com)
• Google-Fitbit takeover: EU launches full-scale probe (BBC News)

🎙 Matthew Briers, CFO of TransferWise

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:

Telegram vs. Apple

• Apple Faces EU Antitrust Complaint from Messaging App Telegram (Bloomberg Law)
• Telegram files EU antitrust complaint against Apple’s App Store (Ars Technica)
• Durov’s Telegram channel

Facebook vs. the EU

• Irony isn’t dead… Facebook sues EU on data privacy grounds for requesting too much personal data (The Register)
• Facebook sues EU antitrust regulator for excessive data requests (Reuters)
• Facebook sues EU for requesting ‘highly sensitive personal information’ (The Brussels Times)

AUTO1 scores a big round of funding

• AUTO1 Raises $300 Million to Develop Used-Car Retail Platform (The New York Times)
• AUTO1 Group Raises $300M To Ramp Up Retail Platform (PYMNTS.com)

Infobip also scores a big round of funding

• Exclusive: European software startup Infobip raises over $200 million in Series A funding – sources (Reuters)
• Croatia’s Infobip secures $200 million+ at unicorn valuation in its first round of funding (Tech.eu)

TechHub bites the dust 

• TechHub goes into administration. Remembering the last 10 years. (TechHub blog)
• TechHub, once the heart of London’s start-up scene, goes bust (Financial Times)

🎙 Mattias Ljungman, founder of Atomico and Moonfire Ventures

eBay sells it classified biz to Norway’s Adevinta

• Adevinta signs agreement to acquire eBay Classifieds Group (Adevinta)
• One of the oldest businesses on the internet just got sold for $9 billion (CNN Business)
• eBay sells its classifieds business to Adevinta for $9.2 billion (Venturebeat)

e-mobility news from across Europe

• Paris snubs Bird in highly competitive electric scooter competition (The Verge)
• Belgian e-bike company Cowboy snags €23 million Series B to continue European expansion (Tech.eu)
• Soundcloud founders launch Berlin-based e-bike subscription startup (Reuters)

The EU leaders’ lack of digital ambitions

• EU leaders slash science spending in €1.8 trillion deal (Science)
• MEPs debate recovery fund, condemn major cuts to long-term EU budget (European Parliament)
• Leaders agree on slimmed-down €80.9B for Horizon Europe (Science|Business)
• Von der Leyen deplores ‘regrettable’ cuts in health, research, climate (New Europe)

European tech’s Q2 was ok, considering…

• European Venture Report Q2 2020: Funding down to 2018 levels after record high in 2019

Philippe Botteri, partner at Accel

Here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:

Apple and Ireland mark victory on €13 billion tax bill appeal 

• Commission loses out in Apple-Ireland tax battle, announces tax abuse clampdown (Euractiv)
• Apple has €13bn Irish tax bill overturned (BBC News)
• Apple just won a mammoth victory over Europe’s ‘tax lady.’ But the fight is far from over (Fortune)

Privacy Shield: invalidated

• US-EU Privacy Shield data sharing agreement struck down by court (Ars Technica)
• The background to EU citizens’ court win over US tech giants (The Guardian)
• Court of Justice of the European Union invalidates EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, while standard contractual clauses survive (for now) (Lexology)

UiPath raises $225 million at ‘decacorn’ valuation

• UiPath raises $225 million to automate repetitive back-office tasks (Venturebeat)
• UiPath’s $225M Round: What Does This Mean For RPA (Robotic Process Automation)? (Forbes)
• $10 Billion Robotic Software Firm UiPath Eyes 2021 U.S. IPO (Bloomberg)

Alibaba wants to buy Glovo

• El gigante chino Alibaba negocia la compra de Glovo (Crónica Global)

UK to bar Huawei from 5G networks after US pressure

• U.K. Bars Huawei for 5G as Tech Battle Between China and the West Escalates (The New York Times)
• UK to phase out Huawei gear from 5G networks in a major policy U-turn after U.S. sanctions (CNBC)
• Pressure from Trump led to 5G ban, Britain tells Huawei (The Guardian)

Teamviewer buys Ubimax

• Teamviewer buy augmented reality firm Ubimax (Reuters)
• Teamviewer acquires industrial AR solutions company Ubimax to strengthen its AR, IoT business (The Tech Portal)

Oscar Werner, CEO of  Sinch

And here are the notes and links for this week’s episode:

Opera acquires Fjord Bank

• Opera announces investment in and agreement to acquire Fjord Bank (press release)
• Norwegian browser maker Opera ventures further into fintech with acquisition of Fjord Bank (Tech.eu)

Delivery Hero backs sustainability tech startups

• Delivery Hero continues to strengthen its green program by investing in sustainable solutions (press release)
• Berlin-based Delivery Hero invests in sustainable tech that could make food delivery more eco-friendly (Tech.eu)

Travelperk buys Albatross

• Barcelona’s TravelPerk buys Albatross, an API for virus-related travel restrictions, to expand risk management offering

UK’s Visionable poised for a big round

• British technology start-up Visionable (billed as the ‘Zoom for medics’) is mulling a fundraising of up to £100m to support growth in UK and overseas (Daily Mail)

Ubisoft wrapped up in scandals

• Ubisoft attempts to hype up new games as executives quit over misconduct allegations (CNBC)
• What went wrong at Ubisoft? (Gamesindustry.biz Podcast)
• Ubisoft: Sexual misconduct probe sees three senior heads resign (BBC News)

Faisal Galaria, CEO of Blippar

• TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: FAISAL GALARIA AS NEW CEO, FOUNDER AMBARISH MITRA AS CPO AND PREET PRASANNAN AS CTO (Blippar blog)