85 deals, €1.3 billion, and Tom Hanks as the voice of CLIPPY
Hello Friends,
Last week we tracked over 85 tech funding deals worth over €1.3 billion and over 10 exits, M&A transactions, rumours, and related news stories across Europe.
With the holiday season now upon us, it would appear as though two things are for certain — everything and its accessories are on sale, and end-of-year commentaries, reports, recaps, and 2024 predictions are headed your way.
You can expect no less from us, and we've been busier than Will Ferrell — crunching numbers, talking to various industry experts, and analysing more data than grains of sugar in a mince pie.
We're kicking things off this week, with our paying subscribers receiving access to an in-depth analysis of November's numbers. These same supporters will receive a premium edition of our annual report.
If you want in, head over here to gain access. We thank you in advance.
For now, let's get you up to speed on everything that happened last week.
Meliora,
💸 Top funding rounds
🇨🇭ABB gets $547M loan From the European Investment Bank
🇬🇧 Statera Energy secures £300M in debt financing for green projects
🇸🇪 Matsmart-Motatos tackling food waste with €40M investment led by Circularity Capital
🫱🏽🫲🏻 Noteworthy M&A activities
🇬🇧 Partners Group sells UK software maker Civica to Blackstone
🇬🇧 Aonic acquires VR game developer nDreams in $110M deal
🇵🇹 Esseco Group acquires majority shares in winetech company WATGRID
🤝 “Trust will make or break an organisation” - Chris Dimitriadis (Chief Global Strategy Officer, ISACA)
We recently caught up with Chris Dimitriadis, an international authority on cybersecurity and digital trust, at the recent ISACA Digital Trust World conference.
Dimitriadis is the Chief Global Strategy Officer of ISACA, an international professional association focused on IT governance, and Chair of the Board of Directors for the organisation’s European arm.
When we last interviewed Chris, the main themes of the event and our chat were digital trust and data security. This year, AI was on everyone’s lips.
Find out more over at Tech.eu.
🚀 On the investor front
🇺🇸 Tiger Global’s private equity boss to step down
🇩🇰 Denmark’s European Energy announces €150M funding facility for renewable energy projects
🇪🇸 Tritemius launches a €50M fund to invest in Web 3.0 startups
🇪🇸 Bcombinator will launch a fund of €40M to invest in startups
🇳🇱 Dutch VC firm TIIN Capital launches new cyber tech fund with a target size of €100M
Head over here for the full round-up.
Recommended by LinkedIn
📈 These are the trends tech workers need to know about for 2024
It’s safe to say 2023 hasn’t been the best year for tech (or the easiest year for tech professionals).
Competition for tech jobs is also rife as hiring rates have taken a plunge to the tune of 40 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. This is particularly pronounced in late-stage companies — hiring was at 31 percent in 2023 compared to 62 percent in 2022, say our friends over at Amply.
Speaking of Amply, here are three great job listings from them that we've listed on the Tech.eu job board:
🗞️ Top-line news items
🇬🇧 Autumn Statement broadly welcomed by UK tech
🇬🇧 UK law change allows patenting of key AI technology
🇺🇦 Ukraine fires top cybersecurity officials
🇬🇧 Deliveroo riders are not employees, Supreme Court rules
🇪🇺 Hiring across European tech startups is down nearly 40 percent
Head over here for the full round-up.
📡 Recommended reads, listens, and views
🇬🇧 Tech giants join Cambridge University's Founders initiative for startup acceleration
🇩🇪 How AI helped Earlybird find Aleph Alpha
🇸🇪 ArK Kapital gears up for US expansion, welcomes former Blackstone executive John McCormick as investor
🇱🇻 PrintyMed spins a web of innovation with bio-friendly spider silk
🇧🇪 Former Tesla engineer leads Belgium's first DAC technology climatetech startup Sirona Technologies
Head over here for the full round-up.
☝️CLOSED: The Rise and Fall of OpenAI
While the situation that's been unfolding over at OpenAI has proven to perhaps give us all a collective pause (mainly to go grab the popcorn), it's also been a fantastic source of meme fodder.
Kudos to James Clark for bringing this one to my attention.
VCs Congratulating Themselves rarely fail to disappoint, exhibit B: "Before you criticize the board at OpenAI, walk a mile in their shoes"
However, Dré Labre's CLOSED: The Rise and Fall of OpenAI - Official Trailer [HD] - (AI generated trailer) really goes above and beyond.
Guest starring Tom Hanks as the voice of CLIPPY? Brilliant.
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🎄 There are 28 days left until Christmas. 🎄