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Speedinvest raises €190m to invest in European tech startups
The European venture capital firm Speedinvest has raised a new €190 million fund to invest in Europe’s early-stage startups, according to EU-startups.com. Speedinvest met its target for the fund ahead of schedule, thanks to robust investor demand, and the fund is now “oversubscribed,” the firm says. The firm typically funds promising new companies with anywhere between €50,000 to €1.5 […]
Report shows Airbnb is crowding out long-term housing in the UK
Airbnb’s short-term rentals are exacerbating a housing shortage and crowding out local communities, according to a report from The Guardian. The Guardian cross-referenced a database of Airbnb listings with government housing data. While the database included shared rooms, private rooms, and entire homes, 67 percent of the listings were for whole apartments. In some areas, the analysis found […]
Tier Mobility, the Berlin-based e-scooter firm, boosts Series B funding round to $100 million
The Berlin-based e-scooter startup Tier Mobility has extended its Series B funding round to $100 million, up from an initial $60 million first announced in October, according to Bloomberg. The mobility platform was first founded in late 2018, and already operates in 55 cities and 11 countries. The new funding comes from equity and debt financing through […]
Atomico raises its largest fund yet, with $820m to back Europe’s “mission-driven” startups
The venture capital firm Atomico has closed its fifth fund, raising $820 million to invest in European startups, according to Tech Crunch. It’s the largest fund raised by the London-based VC firm since it was founded by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom in 2006. The fund will focus on backing “mission-driven” projects at the Series A stage, but also has […]
Yubo shows how a FrenchTech app can go global
While social media platforms like Facebook have come under fire for their harmful impact on mental health, particularly for younger users, the success of one “Made in France” social media platform suggests there’s room for a new approach. Yubo, the French social media startup that emphasizes the “social” aspects of its teen-focused platform, has drawn […]
Digital policy chief says AI and industrial data offer Europe a “second chance” at tech leadership
Europe’s digital policy chief Margrethe Vestager says Europe has a “second chance” to compete with tech sectors in the US and China, by using artificial intelligence (AI) to leverage big data from Europe’s largest companies, according to Politico. “One of the reasons why we don’t have a Facebook and we don’t have a Tencent is that […]
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook should accept some state regulation on content
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the platform should accept some form of state regulation, speaking at the Munich Security Conference this week, according to The Guardian. He said that as a content provider, Facebook’s role falls somewhere between that of a newspaper and a telephone company, and noted that online content should subject to the kind of […]
Belgian healthtech firm OncoDNA raises €19m for precision cancer treatments and analysis
The Belgian healthtech startup OncoDNA has closed a €19 million Series B funding round to support international growth, software development, and new hiring initiatives, according to EU-startups.com. Since it launched in 2012, the company has become a leader in precision molecular analysis, helping doctors provide personalized treatments tailored to each patient’s individual cancer profile. The company offers […]
US competition authority demands details on acquisitions by Google, Facebook, and other tech giants
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ordered five major tech companies to provide details on acquisitions of smaller companies over the past ten years, according to The Guardian. Information on the purpose and scope of the acquisitions will help inform antitrust investigations into the five companies, which include Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. While the […]
Facebook has acquired the UK startup Scape Technologies, with precision ‘AI vision’ location tools
Facebook has acquired the UK company Scape Technologies, a startup offering tools to identify locations more accurately than GPS using AI computer vision, according to Tech Crunch. Few details on the deal have been released, but regulatory filings obtained by Tech Crunch indicate that Facebook has gained majority control of Scape Technologies, in what they estimate […]