Startup Researcher - Europe: Week 26, 2024

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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - Europe, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌍

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Let's delve into the core sections of our weekly newsletter:

• 📰 Important News

• 💸 Top Funding Rounds

• 💰️ Notable Exits

• 🏦 About Investors

• 📈 Deep Dive Bites

• 🚀 Startup of the Week

• 💼 Investor of the Week

• 🤑 Opportunity Radar

📰 Important News

• The European Union announced the winners of its "Large AI Grand Challenge" awarding four startups €1 million and 8 million GPU hours to train their models on EU supercomputers over the next year. The winners are Lingua Custodia, Unbabel, Tilde, and Textgain.

• Amsterdam-based NLC Health Ventures, in collaboration with Verily, formerly known as Google LifeSciences, launched Exolvo Biosciences, a biotech company focused on biologic drug delivery solutions.
  

• Balderton is pioneering parental support for founders by offering free access to Cooper Parenting, making it the first VC firm to do so. The program provides parents with expert guidance, resources, workshops, and community-led peer support.

• Silo and Mistral have joined forces to provide businesses with integrated AI solutions, combining Silo AI’s end-to-end capabilities with Mistral AI’s advanced models to meet rising demand.

• The European Union is accusing Microsoft of antitrust breaches for bundling its Teams tool with Office 365 and Microsoft 365, following a probe initiated almost a year ago after a complaint by Slack.

💸 Top Funding Rounds

• Rohlik, the Czech Republic's first unicorn, raised €160 million in an equity and debt round led by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with participation from existing investors and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
  

• Vienna-based startup Prewave, specializing in AI-powered supply chain intelligence, secured approximately €63 million ($67 million) in a Series B funding round led by global investment firm Hedosophia.
  

• Switzerland-based SkyCell, transforming the pharmaceutical supply chain, closed a $116M Series D round from Tybourne Capital Management, CCI, Catalyst, and M&G Investments’ private assets strategy.
  

• London-based Stability AI, an open-source generative AI company, secured $80 million (approximately €75 million) in funding from a consortium of investors. The company also announced the appointment of Prem Akkaraju as CEO.
  

• Turkish food delivery giant Getir received a $250 million investment led by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Co as part of its restructuring plan.

💰️ Notable Exits

• Eindhoven-based Sendcloud, an e-commerce shipping platform, is planning to acquire Isendu, an Italian shipping automation platform serving over 1,000 online businesses. The acquisition is expected to be finalized by Q3 2024.
  

• Crossbeam, a Philadelphia-based ecosystem-led growth platform, announced the acquisition of Paris-based Reveal in an all-stock transaction.
  

• Softonic, the world's leading platform for secure software downloads, has acquired Appvizer, a specialized platform for B2B software recommendations.
  

• Alan, a startup improving health management through technology, has acquired Wave.ai, an AI-powered professional coaching platform, to expand into workplace wellness and professional development.
  

• French rewards and benefits company Up Group has acquired Stebby, a Tartu-based employee wellness benefit platform.

🏦 About Investors

• Luxembourg-based VC firm MiddleGame Ventures has secured €55 million in the first close of its targeted €150 million fintech-specific fund.
  

• Prague-based VC firm Presto Ventures and Michal Strnad’s Czechoslovak Group (CSG) have launched Presto Tech Horizons, a €150M investment fund focusing on innovative security and defense tech companies.
  

• Amsterdam-based Carbon Equity, a climate venture capital and private equity investment platform announced a strong first close of its Climate Tech Portfolio Fund III, raising €60 million. The fund, launched earlier this year, aims for €125 million with a maximum of €200 million.
  

• Czech VC Purple Ventures launched a €40 million fund dedicated to investing in 60 seed and pre-seed startups over the next four years.
  

• DTCP, an investment management firm specializing in digitization and automation, announced the closing of its DTCP Growth Equity III Fund and an initial closing of its additional B2B early-stage investment fund, totaling $450 million.

📈 Deep Dive Bites

Sweden's vibrant startup scene is powered by its top venture capital firms. Discover the most active VCs, their key investments, and how they're shaping the future of innovation. Click here to learn about the influential players driving Sweden's entrepreneurial growth.

🚀 Startup Of the Week

Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆

Rohlik

Rohlik, founded in 2014 by Tomáš Čupr, is a Czech online grocery delivery startup headquartered in Karlín, Hlavní město Praha, that offers a 90-minute same-day delivery service. The company has become the Czech Republic's first unicorn and has raised a total of $613.1 million in funding over 9 rounds. Recently, Rohlik secured €160 million in an equity and debt round led by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development to expand to another 10 cities in DACH and central-eastern Europe.

💼 Investor of the Week

Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆

MiddleGame Ventures

MiddleGame Ventures, founded in 2018 and based in Luxembourg, is a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments in fintech startups that are reshaping financial services infrastructure. MiddleGame Ventures recently announced the first close of its third fund, targeting €150 million with around €55 million raised so far, focusing on Series A and B startups amid a shifting investment landscape where fintech is currently less prominent compared to climate tech.

 🤑 Opportunity Radar

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