• early stage bets made by Lakestar and Headline
• seeds on marketplaces, quantum/deeptech, gaming, and AI-based tools (of course)
• British VC resigns abruptly

 

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Interesting deals

Nordics

🇸🇪 Cappy, selling financial loans via a B2B platform used for flexible wage withdrawals, raised $600k from local angels.

🇸🇪 Startdeliver, developing a customer success platform that aggregates customer data and actions in new ways and new channels, raised $1 million seed from Ampli Ventures.

🇸🇪 Retein, developing water purification technology sold to industrial customers, raised a $1 million seed round backed by Industrifonden, Butterfly Ventures, Navigare Ventures, and Chalmers Ventures. 

🇳🇴 ComplAI, doing a SAAS compliance platform for business processes, raised $1.7 million seed from RunwayFBU, Vestland Invest, DNV Ventureand angel investors in Norway.

🇸🇪 Charm Solutions, developing machine learning solutions helping institutional lenders with access to small business credit risk assessments, raised a $3.5 million seed round led by BootstrapLabs. 

🇫🇮 Quanscient, building a cloud and quantum powered simulation-as-a-service platform helping with R&D digital prototype development, raised $3.7 million seed from investors led by Maki VC.

🇳🇴 Qrtd, building a social commerce marketplace yet to be launched, raised $5 million from local angel investors. 

🇸🇪 Goals, one of the hottest local startups of the past years working on a soccer gaming product to be released at the end of 2024, announced that it raised $20 million back in February from investors including Seven Seven Six, Northzone and Moonfire Ventures.

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DACH 

🇩🇪 Rabot Charge, providing intelligent charging management solutions for customers to charge their electric cars at home, raised $1.6 million in a seed extension backed by HTGF and Vent.

🇩🇪 Rebel Tech, developing tools and technologies for electronics repair, such as a laser device separating a smartphone's glass from its electronic display, raised $1.7 million pre-seed from Planet Fund, Voyagers Climate Fund, Satgana, G-Force, Founders Factory and Magic Fund.

🇩🇪 Modelwise, developing an AI-based tool that automates nearly 90% of functional safety analysis, raised $2.2 million seed from Join Capital and Emerging Ventures.

🇩🇪 Nosh, manufacturing alternative proteins and food ingredients, raised $3.6 million seed from investors led by Earlybird Capital, joined by Clear Current Capital, Grey Silo Ventures, and Good Seed Ventures.

🇩🇪 Equipme, SAAS developer of B2B marketplaces for companies and their suppliers, raised $3.8 million seed from investors led by La Famiglia, with additional participation from Lightbird and Anamcara.

🇩🇪 Tanso, selling a carbon intelligence suite to industrial companies, raised $4.1 million seed extension backed by UVC Partners and Capnamic Ventures.

🇩🇪 Qdrant, developing a vector similarity search technology, raised $7.5 million seed from investors led by Unusual Ventures, joined by 42Cap, IBB Ventures and angel investors.

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The UK

🇬🇧 SparkLayer, developing an end-to-end headless eCommerce solution on top of Shopify, was seeded by Fuel Ventures, Long VP and angel investors.

🇬🇧 Zetta Genomics, developers of a genomic data management platform, raised $2.4 million in a Seed II funding round led by Nina Capital and joined by APEX Ventures and Cambridge Enterprise.

🇬🇧 VyperCore, a fabless RISC-V processor startup incorporating novel hardware memory allocation management technology, raised $4.4 million seed from Octopus Ventures, Foresight WAE Technology, Science Creates Ventures and Silicon Roundabout Ventures.

🇬🇧 Pivotal, software startup developing a measurement of biodiversity at scale, raised $5.6 million seed led by Octopus Ventures, joined by AENU, The Clearing Ventures and Pale Blue Dot.

🇬🇧 Evermile, logistics service aggregator using an optimisation engine, raised $6 million seed from Israeli investors joined by Fred Destin of Stride VC.

🇬🇧 TreesPlease, gaming studio developing a free-to-play mobile game with merge puzzle mechanics, went out of stealth with a $8 million seed round backed by Laketsar and angel investors.

🇬🇧 Triver, founded by ex-chief risk officer at Funding Circle in order to provide short-term working capital to SMEs, was seeded with $8.7 million by Stride, Axeleo Capital and Motive Partners.

🇬🇧 Scan, developing a diagnostic imaging platform, raised $12 million series A co-led by Aviva Ventures, YZR Capital, Oxford Capital, Triple Point Ventures and Simplyhealth Ventures.

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France

🇫🇷 Bitstack, developing a mobile application for saving in bitcoin with 25,000 users in France, raised $2.2 million seed from Founders Future, Y Combinator and Kima Ventures.

🇫🇷 Primo, developing a software-as-a-service product that handles the IT needs of small and medium companies, raised $3.4 million seed in a round co-led by GFC and Headline, joined by angel investors.

🇫🇷 Bsport, selling SAAS for studios, boutique fitness and sport clubs, raised $4.4 million seed from investors led by Seventure Ventures.

🇫🇷 Skarlett, building a marketplace aiming to create financial liquidity for people over 60s by connecting their real estate assets to investors willing to cash them out, raised $4.4 million seed from Alven, Raise Capital, Motier Ventures, Farmers, Kima Ventures and angel investors.

🇫🇷 Swaap, developing a market neutral AMM protocol which delivers superior yield to liquidity providers, raised $4.5 million seed from multiple crypto investors, joined by Kima, EF and angel investors.

🇫🇷 Asap work, operating a no-code platform used to connect construction companies with qualified interim profiles, raised $5.6 million seed from Speedinvest, Purple Ventures, Kima Ventures, Market One Capital.

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Other geographies 

🇮🇹 eWibe, developing a an investment wine marketplace, raised $250k from Bonsai Partners.

🇪🇸 Rand, building a neobank on top of an app that provides money back or cash prizes from gaming platforms, raised $3.3 million series A from investors led by Stratminds VC and joined by Wayra, Farside, JME Ventures, Inveready, DFG and Primal Capital.

🇪🇸 Plexigrid, manufacturer of an end-to-end modular technology for electricity done by Swedish people in Spain, raised $5 million series A backed by Polar Structure, Vargas Holding and TheVentureCity.

🇳🇱 Weaviate, an open-source vector database using machine learning models outputting vectors, raised $50 million series B led by Index Ventures, joined by Battery Ventures, NEA, Cortical Ventures, Zetta Venture Partners and ING Ventures. Weaviate previously raised $16 million series A in February 2022.

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Please note that this is just a selection of interesting early stage transactions, all deals (many more!) are available here. Pro tip: use advanced trackers to learn about new deals by industry, country, stage or a specific set of investors.

 

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Investors

Powder

🇳🇱 Forbion raises €1.35 billion across two funds both focused on focused on life sciences startups, one at an earlier stage of development and the other supporting the expansion of late-stage companies.

🇳🇱 Gilde Healthcare announced a new investment fund with €600 million in commitments backing European and North American startups active in digital healthcare, medical technology and therapeutics.

🇬🇧 Aviva announced the commitment of a further £150 million to its corporate venture capital fund, Aviva Ventures, which did 6 deals in the past 15 months.

🇪🇸 Columbus Venture Partners announced a new fund, with a target size of €150 million to be deployed in health and biotech startups in Spain. 

🇱🇺 Bootstrap Europe closed a third venture debt fund at €130 million aimed at 35 sustainability startups to receive €1-15 million over a period of three to four years. 

🇬🇧 Kindred Capital announced closing its third fund at $130 million focusing primarily on pre-seed investments (70%) and with 50% of the fund reserved for follow-on investments. 

🇳🇱 Armada Music, the Dutch independent record label that specialises in releasing electronic dance music, launched Beat, a $100 million fund to acquire dance music recording and publishing catalogs. 

🇬🇧 Founders Pledge, a charitable initiative for entrepreneurs commiting to donate a portion of their personal proceeds to charity when they exit, did a first $38 million close for a VC arm that's going to be a rules-based fund designed to invest in high-growth technology companies whose founders have also committed to philanthropy via Founders Pledge.

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On the move

🇬🇧 Dominic Perks, the head of London VC firm Hambro Perks has abruptly left his role. He was acting chief executive and co-founder, and has been the face of the firm since 2013 - he's now even been removed from the company's website, even though the firm still carries his name.

🇸🇪 Brett Bivens, American in Europe who was head of research at Daniel Ek’s firm Prima Materia, is moving on from the firm to build his own thing.

🇬🇧 Pete Cooper joined C5 Capital as a managing partner and global head of partnerships. He previously was deputy director for cyber defense in the UK Cabinet Office.

🇧🇪 David Theys joined Houlihan Lokey as a managing director in the firm's new Antwerp office. He previously led Benelux operations at Nielen Schuman. 

🇩🇪 Jin Oh, ex-president at Riot Games, and Jonathan Huang (ex-Temasek and Sea Capital), joined Bitkraft Ventures as a partner and principal, respectively, to focus on the Asian gaming market.

🇬🇧 Antje Gaensler left Lazard to join Moelis & Co. as a London-based managing director within its capital structure and advisory group. 

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Also notable 

🇫🇷 Bpifrance announced Entreprises Avenir 1, an investment fund allowing individuals to invest as little as 1000 euros, alongside Bpifrance.

🇬🇧 Felix Capital contributed to a $12 million Series A investment round closed by Rally, an American developer of a checkout payment software.

 

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Investors profile

🇺🇸 Headline

• founded in the Bay Area in 1997 as BV Ventures by the German media group Bertelsmann represented by Jan Henric Buettner, Wolfgang Rose, Thomas Gieselmann and Mathias Schilling. The latter two are still active with the firm. 
• it's rebranded twice since then, ending up with Headline in 2021, and are active in Europe via two offices - one in Paris, and the other in Berlin, which is the European HQ, headed by Christian Leybold.
• Headline is a generalist VC, geo and stage agnostic, with no thesis or differentiators other than the standard claim of investing in startups led by exceptional founders. They do have solid track record, exits and experience across all stages and geographies, backed by a multiculturality that's difficult to come across at the usual European VC level. 
• internally, it says it uses an in-house built AI sourcing system, dubbed EVA, which filters its pipeline of deals, plus an in-house business analytics platform, dubbed ATHENA.
• the European team is autonomous, meaning it makes its investment decisions by itself, and deploys from a €320 million pan-Europe-focused fund closed in 2022, with checks from $1.5 million up to $15 million.
• co-investors in Europe: Heartcore, HV Capital, Partech, Insight Partners, Eurazeo, Creandum
• part of 21 deals in the past 15 months, with 10 new startups added in the portfolio in 2022:

🇳🇱 AG5 - a plug-and-play skills management tool.
🇩🇪 Alloy - platform allowing institutional investors to interact with decentralised finance in a safe and compliant manner.
🇩🇪 Automaited - workflow automation by hyperautomating repetitive tasks with the help of artificial intelligence.
🇫🇷 Elyn - an automated and unified sales platform designed to make try-before-you-buy sales easier.
🇬🇧 Five Lives - on-demand health services via a dementia prevention mobile app.
🇬🇧 Let's do this (later stage) - online marketplace that that features endurance events from all over the world.
🇩🇰 Monta (later stage) - platform for EV owners to share charge points with friends, family, or neighbors on the street.
🇫🇷 Payflows - treasury management solutions for businesses.
🇫🇷 Primo - developing a software-as-a-service product that handles the IT needs of small and medium companies.
🇬🇧 Stotles - sales intelligence SAAS to help small and medium-sized businesses grow their business with the government.

 

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