At Itnig, we know it’s hard to keep up with all the news and updates flying around. MWC was canceled, while US VCs are coming to Europe, and N26 exits the UK market. Other news and updates on the latest in the startup and tech universe!
MWC has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns. Check out the MWC Alternative Week we had at Itnig. Meanwhile, legendary Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia is coming to Europe and it’s not the only US fund showing increasing interest in the continent. The US VCs are coming to Europe.
A Brexit consequence: N26 exits UK market. Watch our podcast with Head of European Markets Francisco Sierra.
Startup Inside Stories Podcast
- 125 : The Birth of VOLAVA ft. Joel Balague
We interviewed Joel Balague, CEO and founder of VOLAVA, an interactive cycling platform with direct streaming service from a real gym to your home. Volava is considered to be the Spanish version of the American fitness company Peloton.
- 126: The Fate of Apartment Metasearchers, Apartum and Sergi Villaubí
Seri Villaubí visited the podcast. Sergi, entrepreneur, and founder of Apartum: the first comparator of tourist apartments on the internet. He also told us about his new adventure with Monstera.
- 127: The Softonic phenomenom with Tomás Diago
We had the honor to have Tomás Diago, a pioneer on the Internet in Spain as a guest. In 1997, when you had to buy software boxes, Tomás Diago founded Softonic. It started as a humble software download website and became one of the largest Internet companies in the world with more than 100 million users per month, the story is amazing.
- 127: The digital record label of Esteve Lombarte
Itnig talks with Esteve Lombarte, CEO and founder of Acqustic, a platform for musicians with all the tools to boost their careers. The app allows artists to find their next gig opportunity, making it easier for venues to find performers and manage the event.
February Startup News & Updates
Other than MWC Canceled, while US VCs are coming to Europe and N26 exits UK market, other important stuff happened this month in the startup and tech world:
Over the past 5 years the amount of money flowing into European food startups has tripled, jumping from €538M to €1.6bn, according to Forward Fooding. Meet the European food-tech startups that topped a new ranking based on growth, sustainability, and social media buzz.
Our friends from Tropicfeel achieved an equity crowdfunding goal of €738,000 in less than 3 hours. If you missed it, here’s their story on the Itnig podcast.
In other news, Uber managed to surprise investors with its earnings report showing shrinking losses and giving an optimistic profit forecast. Many analysts are turning from skeptics to believers about Uber’s future. Why?
When comparing traditional venture capital funding with crowdfunding, there are some differences that we should consider when deciding which source of capital may be the right choice. Crowd Angel raised €1.3M to continue to invest in companies.
In other news, 4 out of 10 public loans to startups are not returned. The data comes from the analysis that the professor of Financial Economics at UCM José Martí prepares each year for ENISA.
In other news, Yubo Ruan, the 21-year-old founder and CEO of 8 Decimal Capital started a $60M fund, and young entrepreneurs struggling to be taken seriously can learn a thing or two.
As it stands, Apple Pay is responsible for around 5% of card transactions, globally. However, over the next five years this is expected to grow to 10%, Quartz reports. So much so, competition watchdogs are starting to pay attention.
Astranis, a satellite Internet startup focused on bringing overlooked parts of the world online, raised $90 million in new funding. This new funding will help Astranis deploy its first satellite, providing Internet service in Alaska, as well as funding further growth, CEO John Gedmark tells Fortune.
In other news, FC Barcelona has signed a new global partnership agreement with Maltese startup Chiliz, the sports and entertainment fan engagement platform based on blockchain. The agreement will give fans a way to interact with the football club and its activities, via the new ‘Barça Fan Tokens’.
New Funding for Startups
- BCN – MediQuo closes €2 million to launch its new PRO medical appointments app
- Madrid – eGoGames gets €3 million to begin selling its mobile e-sports platform to businesses
- UK – Forward Health raises €4.5 million and rebrands to Pando Health
- France – Qonto raises €104 million, the largest funding round for a French fintech
- Switzerland– Frontify collects $22.3 million Series B to grow brand management platform across Europe and the US
- CaixaBank and global accelerator Plug and Play signed an agreement to develop and accelerate fintech startups.
- BCN – Scaled Robotics raises €2M to reduce construction time and cost.
- UK – floLIVE snaps up €19.5M to bring companies seamless global connectivity.
- Denmark – Dixa raises €32.5M to end bad customer service.
- Sabadell Asset Management launches its fourth capital risk fund with €60M.
- Paris – CybelAngel raises €32.9 million Series B to help companies manage digital risk
- UK – Travel tech startup Impala raises $20m just four months after raising $11m
- Berlin – Sanity Group has announced a €20.1 million Series A funding round.
- BCN – ID Finance raises €2M in less than a week
- Spain – Bnext closes its equity crowdfunding with more than €3,3M
- The interactive content platform Genial.ly raises €4.4M
- Catalan VC Nina Capital raises €15M and invests in 7 startups.
- Germany – Limehome secures €21 million to expand its hotel platform across Europe
- Germany – Celus raises €1.7 million to revolutionize the electronics industry
- UK – Health-tech startup Second Nature raises $10 million to combat obesity and diabetes
- VC firm Atomico announces its fifth fund of €820 million, to invest in Series A, B, and C stage breakout startups in Europe.
- Meanwhile, Da Vinci Capital, a new VC fund, has announced that it will invest more than €277 million in high growth technology companies.
- OTB Ventures launches a €92.4 million fund to invest in Central and Eastern European tech startups.
- London-based CapitalT has also announced launching a €40 million fund looking for the next European unicorns.
Random Tech News
- Life hacks from the military.
- With MIDI 2.0 instruments will feel more analog.
- Generating fake traffic jams with 99 smartphones in Google Maps.
- Apple says universal phone charger would ‘stifle innovation’.
- It happened to Pied Piper in HBO’s Silicon Valley, and now it’s happening to Tinder and Bumble.
- Hummer to officially return as electric SUV
- Snapchat’s Bitmoji TV cartoon show is here…
- BONUS: A Quantum Computation Course
- Google and Tinder investigated over GDPR compliance.
- Keep track of the Coronavirus from this realtime dashboard.
- Debt is going to finally come to the tech industry.
- SpaceX will now let you book a rocket launch online starting at $1 million.
- SpaceX could spin-off Starlink satellite business and take it public.
- Bill Gates just bought a $645 million 100% green luxury superyacht.
- New details emerge about Russia’s trolling operation.
- The war against space hackers.
- Apple fined for slowing down old iPhones.
- Data of all 6.5 million Israeli voters reportedly exposed.
- Pentagon requests $15.4B for Space Force.
- Here’s everything Samsung just announced at Unpacked 2020.
- The US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks.
- There’s a privacy bracelet that jams smart speakers and other recording devices.
- The PS5 is so expensive to make, Sony may sell it at a loss.
- Failed startup open sourced tech behind it.
- The tech behind shooting Disney’s The Mandalorian.
- SpaceX to be seeking 250M in funding.
- About Google Chrome’s deep linking controversy.
- Twitter confirms it’s exploring a crowdsourced fact-checking tool.
- The computer scientist responsible for cut, copy, and paste, has passed away.
- Some ex-NSA and Amazon engineers are building a ‘GitHub for data’
- How Saudi Arabia infiltrated Twitter.
- Coinbase launches its debit card so you can easily pay with crypto.
- Bonus: Old but still true. Don’t waste people’s time.
With the MWC being canceled, while US VCs are coming to Europe and N26 exits UK market, we can be sure that changes are coming!
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