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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

• Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested at Le Bourget airport near Paris on charges following his arrival from Azerbaijan.

• Mike Lynch, the founder of Autonomy Corporation, and his daughter Hannah were found dead after the Bayesian superyacht sank off Sicily during a storm.

• Newcleo is shifting its holding company from the UK to France to access EU funding for a potential €1 billion equity round while continuing its UK operations.

• Northvolt is shutting down its San Francisco R&D center to concentrate research at its main site in Sweden, following recent setbacks including a canceled contract and delays in expansion plans.

• UK micro-investing platform Odin has been instructed by the FCA to halt onboarding new customers and suspend current deals due to regulatory non-compliance.

💸 Top Funding Rounds

• London Beautytech Fresha secured €27.8 million ($31.12M) in venture debt from J.P. Morgan to expand into new markets and enhance its ML and AI-powered robotics capabilities.

• Switzerland-based Vandria raised $30.7 million in Series A funding to develop mitophagy-inducing therapeutics for age-related and chronic diseases.

• Swiss drone company Wingtra raised $25 million in its Series B1 funding round, with investments from US, Swiss, and Austrian funds, to scale its VTOL drone technology and enhance its software suite.

• Tilt raised €16.1 million ($18.02M) in Series A funding led by Balderton Capital, aiming to enhance its real-time shopping platform and expand its fashion super app capabilities.

• Reliant AI, an AI firm specializing in data analytics for life sciences, has emerged from stealth with $11.3 million in Seed funding led by Tola Capital and Inovia Capital.

💰️ Notable Exits

• Thomson Reuters acquired UK-based AI startup Safe Sign Technologies to enhance its legal tech offerings, integrating Safe Sign’s advanced large language models into its CoCounsel AI Assistant.

• Podimo acquired Dutch podcast production house Tonny Media to bolster its presence and content offerings in the Netherlands, following their partnership that began in 2022.

• Dublin-based Drive, known for TradeBid and Nevo, has been acquired by U.S. Nasdaq-listed ACV Auctions, enhancing its automotive tech capabilities.

• Logically acquired Italian Insikt AI to enhance its intelligence operations with advanced Social Network Analysis capabilities, integrating Insikt’s technology into Logically’s platform.

• Contentful acquired Berlin-based Ninetailed to integrate AI-driven content personalization into its composable content management platform.

🏦 About Investors

• Earlybird Digital East is spinning off from the Earlybird family but will maintain its current operations, team, and strategy, continuing as an independent venture capital fund focused on Central and Eastern Europe.

• Direttissima Growth Partners launched a €120 million ($134.35M) fund focused on scaling digitalization and sustainability tech startups, aiming to address the growth funding gap in Europe.

📈 Deep Dive Bites

Explore Turkey's vibrant venture capital landscape, where top VC firms are powering innovation and supporting startups across diverse industries. From Istanbul to other major hubs, these firms are crucial in driving technological advancements and shaping the future of Turkey’s startup ecosystem. Curious about the key players? Dive into the full article to discover the most active VC firms in Turkey.

🚀 Startup Of the Week

Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆

Fresha

London-based beauty tech company Fresha has secured a €27.8 million venture debt facility from J.P. Morgan to support its expansion into new markets and enhance its ML and AI-powered robotics capabilities. Fresha operates as a leading marketplace platform for beauty and wellness, enabling consumers to discover, book, and pay for appointments with local businesses. The platform also offers an all-in-one, subscription-free business software for beauty and wellness professionals, streamlining operations like appointment bookings, point-of-sale, customer management, and marketing. With over 120,000 businesses and 500,000 professionals using the platform globally, Fresha has processed more than 1 billion appointments.

💼 Investor of the Week

Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆

Earlybird Digital East

Earlybird Digital East, a venture capital fund known for its early investment in UiPath, is spinning off from the broader Earlybird family to operate independently. Despite this separation, Digital East, which last raised a $242m fund in 2021, will maintain its existing operations, team, and strategy, continuing to focus on investments in Central and Eastern Europe. The firm returned $2.3bn in capital on a $150 million fund raised in 2014, making it one of the top-performing VC funds in Europe. Digital East’s commitment to supporting exceptional early-stage companies through strategic support and access to international networks remains strong as it embarks on this new chapter.

 🤑 Opportunity Radar

EIT Health Catapult: fast-tracking Europe’s best start-ups

Apply to the EIT Health Catapult program by August 29, 2024, and fast-track your healthcare startup to success. This unique competition and training program offers life sciences and health tech startups the chance to gain visibility, expert mentoring, and valuable industry connections across Europe. With opportunities to pitch at the final event, compete for cash prizes, and even have your startup showcased on the New York Nasdaq Tower, the Catapult program is your gateway to becoming one of Europe’s top healthcare innovators.