• seeds for carbon insurance (2!), AI-powered waste analytics, post-container automation SAAS, conversational chatbots
• LP cutting off its VC funding
• new VC fund in the Nordics

 

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Interesting deals

Nordics

🇸🇪 Your Speech Factory, developing a PowerPoint plugin used for virtual presentation coaching suggestions, raised $400k.

🇸🇪 Pihr, developers of a software solution that helps companies benchmark their payroll, raised $500k from local angel investors.

🇩🇰 Clutch, developing a mobile app providing AI-powered match analysis and personalized coaching for badminton training, raised $1 million from Pre Seed Ventures, Crowberry, and angel investors.

🇸🇪 Fever, building a smart grid platform that automates and optimizes the bidding and market participation for companies' energy assets, raised $1.5 million seed in a round backed by La Famiglia.

🇸🇪 T.Loop, deploying Data Energy Centers for buildings with heating needs that match with DEC excess heat, secured $1.9 million from local angel investors.

🇳🇴 Vixel, doing a VR collaboration tool for the construction industry, raised $2 million in a combination of equity and grants.

🇳🇴 Muybridge, software startup developing disruptive camera sensor technology, raised $2.7 million seed from Flow Ventures.

🇳🇴 Kin, building a retail aggregator operation focusing on acquiring and developing attractive niche players in the e-commerce space, raised $3.6 million from Askeladden and angel investors.

🇳🇴 Gateway, developing a cloud-based infrastructure and blockchain technology to scale web3 projects, raised $4.6 million seed from investors led by Lemniscap.

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France

🇫🇷 Locuta, developing conversational customer chatbots, raised $1 million seed in a round led by Newfund.

🇫🇷 Ottho, developing an online training platform for no-code programming, raised $1.3 million seed from local angel investors.

🇫🇷 Unikbase, developing digital twins for real-life valuables, raised a $2 million funding round led by Weber Investissements.

🇫🇷 Carbon Maps, developing a climate management platform for food industry, making high-precision assessments of consumer products, ingredients, and raw materials, raised €4 million pre-seed round backed by Breega and Samaipata.

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The UK

🇬🇧 Greyparrot, doing SAAS for AI-powered waste analytics, raised a $1.6 million post series A round backed by Regeneration.VC and Closed Loop Partners.

🇬🇧 Salsa, developing a mobile messaging app for brands looking for a crypto-native way to engage their audiences, raised $2 million seed in a round co-led by Inflection and IDEOCoLab Ventures.

🇬🇧 Kita, developing and selling carbon insurance products, secures $4.8 million seed investment in a round led by Octopus Ventures.

🇬🇧 Oka, also building a carbon insurance startup, raised $7 million seed from Aquiline Technology Growth and Firstminute.

🇬🇧 Earthly, a developer tools company that provides automation system for the post-container era, announced a $6.5 million seed plus round closed in 2021, led by Innovation Endeavors, joined by existing investors 468 Capitaland Uncorrelated Ventures.

🇬🇧 DirectID, operating an analytics platform that uses open banking data to optimise credit and risk decisioning, raised $9.6 million in a round backed by Ingka Investments.

🇬🇧 Quell, developer of fitness gaming technology expected to be launched by end of 2023, raised $10 million series A round led by Tencent, joined by Khosla Ventures, Heartcore Capital, Social Impact Capital and Naval Ravikant.

🇬🇧 Worldwide Webb, developing a browser-based MMORPG set in the future in which players can use avatars from other games and brand IPs, raised $10 million series A from Pantera Capital.

🇬🇧 CyberSmart, selling cybersecurity SAAS to SMBs, raised an additional $15.3 million Series A extension led by Oxx, joined by British Patient, Legal & General Capital et al

🇬🇧 Metomic, developer of tools that detect & protect sensitive data across all internal databases & cloud applications, raised $20 million series A led by Evolution Equity Partners with participation from Resonance and Connect Ventures.
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DACH

🇨🇭Pelt8, doing organizational SAAS for aggregating sustainability data and enriching it with suppliers' information, was backed by Innosuise.

🇩🇪 Spoke.ai, developing an AI-based software solution that prioritizes and summarizes across tools, raised $2 million seed from byFounders and Possible Ventures.

🇩🇪 konfetti, developing a marketplace for courses and activities, raised $2 million seed from Speedinvest, Peak Capital and angel investors.

🇩🇪 Xolo, a 3D printing firm that offers a volumetric printing solution to various industries, raised $8.5 million series A from DeepTech & Climate Fonds, HZG Group, Onsight Ventures, and existing investor SquareOne. 

🇩🇪 Finway, building a software platform used for financial management for small companies, raised $9.7 million series A backed by Capital 49, Force Over Mass, btov Partners and 10x Group.

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Other geographies

🇳🇱 Eyk, developing a no-code data compilation and analytics platform designed to help marketers optimise analytical models across advertising channels, raised $700k pre-seed from Goldfish, Graduate Entrepreneur and Dutch angel investors.

🇷🇴 Bloomcoding, building a digital coding school for children, raised $1 million from Credo Ventures, Inovo VC and u.ventures.

🇪🇸 Qbeast, developing big data software analytics, raised $2.6 million from Elaia, Inveready and Sabadell.

🇷🇴 Veridion, developing a B2B lead generation tool, raised $6 million series A backed by Day One Capital, GapMind Venture, LAUNCHub Ventures, OTB Ventures and Underline Ventures.

🇳🇱 Source, doing SAAS for greenhouses, raised a $23 million series Afunding led by Astanor Ventures, joined by Acre Venture Partners and multiple Dutch angel investors.
​

Please note that this is just a selection, all deals are available here.

 

Investors

Powder

🇩🇰 Dansk Vækstkapital holded a final close of third fund on €322 million, with a focus on unlisted venture funds and buyout funds, including small and mid-cap funds, with Denmark as part of their investment strategy.

🇪🇸 Kibo Ventures, the Spanish early stage VC, partnered up with the American consulting firm Oliver Wyman for a €200 million private equity fund.

🇪🇸 Clave Capital has reached a first close of €50 million for a new fund backing startups with high growth potential in the healthcare sector.

🇳🇴 Sarsia announced raising a third fund at roughly $50 million that focuses on climate and environmental investments. 

🇪🇺 Amadeus Capital Partners (UK) and APEX Ventures (Austria) launched a joint fund with a first close of €28 million designed for backing early-stage deep tech startups with between €1-1.5M in seed and series A stage. 

The new fund, called Amadeus Apex, also announced a first financing deal with planqc, a German startup developing quantum computers.

🇬🇧 Contrarian Ventures secured €25 million from the European Investment Fund as part of a targeted €100m final close for a Europe-focused climate tech fund.

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On the move

🇫🇷 Geoffroy de Ribains was promoted to a managing partner position at AdBio Partners, after 3 years with the company.

🇳🇱 Dutch software-focused private equity firm Main Capital hired a full team in Boston, USA led by Daan Visscher.

🇬🇧 Sameer Singh joined Speedinvest as a venture partner, after doing scout work for Atomico. 

🇫🇮 Mikko Hyppönen, ex-Chief Research Officer at F-Secure, officially announced the launch of an investment vehicle called T2AB focused on security-focused tech startups.

🇩🇰 Vibeke Bak Solok will start working as CEO for the neo-bank Lunar, replacing Anders Hartlev who's been on the job for 18 months. Vibeke worked as CFO for a large Danish pension fund, ATP, and was part of Lunar's board as non executive member. Lunar has raised more than $500 million in equity from the likes of Tencent, Kinnevik, Heartland and Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker. 

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Also notable

🇳🇱 Inkef Capital, a Dutch early stage VC, apparently will *not* get more funding support from its sole LP, the Dutch pension fund ABP, due to disagreements over performance pay structure. Inkef's currently investing from a €500 million fund closed in 2016.

🇳🇱 Dutch on-demand scooters/mopeds provider GO Sharing was acquired by Binbin, a Turkish player with 3 million users in Eastern Europe and looking to expand in the West. GO Sharing has last raised €50 million from Dutch investors Opportunity Partners and Rabo Investments in 2021. 

🇬🇧 Fabric Ventures joined a $5.5 million seed round raised by NY-based Strider, building a digital platform for collaborative storytelling.

🇪🇺 Speedinvest (Austria), LocalGlobe (UK) and Foundamental (Germany) among the Euro investors backing a $4.5 million seed round closed by Kenyan Jumba, a construction technology platform that streamlines B2B construction material purchases and financing.

🇪🇺 Norrsken VC (Sweden) and Proparco (France) contributed to a $2.7 million seed round closed by Workpay, another Kenya-based and YC-backed startup provding HR-payroll across Africa.

 

Investors profile

🇫🇷 Newfund

• founded in 2008 by François Véron and Patrick Malka, leading a team of 13.
• focused on early stage investment in France and the United Statesand claiming to be the only French early-stage fund with presence in the US. 
• this reflects in their portfolio construction, which includes a good portion of American startups, mostly founded by French people from US.
• public data indicates that they deploy from a €130 million fund closed in 2018 and from a dedicated American fund closed at $21 million in 2020.
• co-investors: Kima Ventures, Speedinvest, Evolem
• 16 new deals closed last year, 10 of which from Europe:

🇫🇷 Adaxis - robotic additive manufacturing platform.
🇫🇷 HoopCare - virtual medical clinic.
🇫🇷 Locuta - conversational customer chatbots
🇫🇷 Olino - insurance for small businesses and freelancers
🇫🇷 Oplit - tool used for industrial production planning
🇫🇷 Pono - digital credit collateral management solution
🇫🇷 Ramify - consumer marketplace for investments and wealth management recommendations
🇫🇷 Reecall - AI-based assistant solution
🇫🇷 ShareID - a new generation of multi-factor authentication that is linked to government-issued IDs
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​

🇩🇪 Fly Ventures

• founded in 2016 by Fredrik Bergenlid and Gabriel Matuschka, leading a team of 6 from Berlin.
• focused on early stage deals related to automation and applied deep tech, across Europe, with 500k-1.5M initial tickets.
• invests from a $60 million fund (their second) closed in 2020. 
• co-investors: Point Nine Capital, Speedinvest, Seedcamp, Balderton
• 12 deals in 2022, mostly followons, an indication that they're likely raising money. The new 2022 additions:

🇺🇸 InfinyOn - programmable data streaming platform that manages data movement between users, services, and locations.
🇧🇪 Thynk.Cloud - cloud-based data-driven solution that automates sales, operations, and data management for the corporate travel.

 

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