European Tech Weekly (Series A+ deals) - Week 7
22 Series A+ deals in the w/c 14-Jan-2022
Welcome to the third edition of European Tech Weekly, a newsletter that provides a summary of Series A+ financing rounds in Europe on a weekly basis.
About the author - my name is Chirag Modi and I am a tech investor based in London, UK. I am fascinated by technology investing in private as well as public markets and strive to learn from founders, operators, and fellow investors. You can reach me on Linkedin, Twitter, or via email (chirag [at]cmodi.com).
*This edition has been edited to include Sharpist’s $23m Series A round.*
Financing Announcements in Europe by Stage
Note: Minimum deal size of $10m; excludes several sectors including biotech; non-exhaustive
Company Profiles - Series A
Boxy (France | $28m Series A | Other | Serena)
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in France, Boxy is an autonomous convenience store startup. It raised $28m in Series A funding led by Serena.
Boxy develops automated convenience stores without checkout that currently offer 250 essential products at affordable prices. After downloading an app, entering their identity, and registering a payment method, shoppers can access the store around the clock using a QR code. Once inside, they can select their items and leave the store, receiving an invoice moments later.
According to Pymnts.com, “the company says it will use the money to help meet its goal of opening a new store per week this year, in hopes of having 1,000 stores online by 2025. Although it’s now working on expanding its network in the Paris region, Boxy says it is looking at other parts of France, including the Rhône-Alpes and Hauts de France regions.”
Sources: Pymnts.com
Agreena (Denmark | $23m Series A | Climate Tech | Kinnevik)
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Denmark, Agreena is an AgTech startup that mints, verifies, and sells carbon certificates generated by farmers who transition to regenerative farming. It raised $23m in Series A funding led by Kinnevik.
According to Kinnevik, “in essence, Agreena enables turning agricultural land into carbon sinks, using their technology to reduce greenhouse gases in our atmosphere at scale. The company’s offer combines a vertically-integrated tech solution with deep knowledge in sustainable agricultural practices. This rare mix creates the right incentives for farmers who want to shift to regenerative agriculture and leverage the buoyant voluntary carbon credit market.”
“Agreena currently serves more than 150 farmers in 9 countries, with more than 50,000 hectares of farmland yielding regeneratively. With the new funding, the company will expand geographically, as well as further develop its tech-stack with blockchain logic to enhance market transparency and traceability.”
Sources: Kinnevik
Sharpist (Germany | $23m Series A | Other | Endeit Capital, Capnamic)
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Germany, Sharpist is a results-oriented, digital coaching provider. It raised $23m in Series A funding co-led by Endeit Capital and Capnamic.
“Sharpist provides companies with personal business coaches from an international network of certified coaches via its mobile and web app, supplemented with personalized learning content.” Enterprise clients include STRABAG, Franke, and Otto Group. In Q4 2021, Zalando, Metro, and BASF joined the customer roster.
“Sharpist plans to double the size of its 100-people strong team in 2022. With the fresh capital, Sharpist will accelerate growth across Europe and product development with a focus on product experience. Additionally, the company plans to expand to new markets, including the UK and Ireland, opening a branch in London in the coming months.”
Sources: Press release, Tech.eu
Banked (UK | $20m Series A | Fintech | BofA, Edenred)
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in the UK, Banked provides alternative real-time card payment methods to businesses and consumers. It raised $20m in Series A funding led by BofA and Edenred.
According to UKTN, “it uses an API to connect with consumers’ bank accounts. Consumers who select “Pay by Bank” at checkout are asked to select their bank before being redirected to their banking app to authorize the payment. The company claims that its fees are up to 90% lower than traditional payment methods and that its service can reduce fraud.”
Sources: UKTN, Press release
UFODrive (Luxembourg | $19m Series A | Consumer | Hertz)
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Luxembourg, UFODrive is an electric car rental company. It raised $19m in Series A funding led by Hertz.
UFODrive allows customers to use their smartphones to book and drive premium EVs from a variety of pick-up locations. The company is currently operating in 18 locations including Luxembourg, London, Brussels, and Dublin.
According to Siliconrepublic, “as well as investing in the company, Hertz said it plans to use UFODrive’s rental and fleet management technology to enhance its global EV fleet operations.”
Source: Siliconrepublic
Gaia (UK | $20m Series A | Healthtech | Atomico)
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in the UK, Gaia combines reproductive health data with financial technology to make IVF treatments more accessible, affordable and individual. It raised $20m in Series A funding led by Atomico.
According to EU-startups, “Gaia offers a new way to pay for fertility care starting with a model that provides personalized insurance and payment plans for people going through IVF treatments. Underpinning the proposition is Gaia’s predictive technology, which uses secure and clinically validated datasets to predict the number of rounds a couple will likely need in addition to the clinics that can offer the right treatment. By introducing a greater element of predictability into the fertility process, Gaia is able to develop an insurance product that gives people greater visibility over the number of rounds they will likely need to undertake and a fairer way to access them. Gaia’s model means that those who do not have a live birth in the rounds subject to Gaia’s prediction technology pay a fraction of the cost of the treatment, while those that do have a baby spread the cost of their total treatment cycles into manageable monthly payments over time. Gaia’s model allows prospective parents to pursue their treatment with full clarity on their costs.”
“Gaia will use the funding to further scale its operations and begin to expand geographically, targeting markets such as the US, where people are critically affected by a lack of access.”
Sources: EU-startups, Techcrunch, Atomico
Heygo (UK | $20m Series A | Consumer | Northzone)
Founded in 2020 and headquartered in the UK, Heygo is a travel streaming platform that offers live guided online tours with local guides. The business is also being described as “Twitch for Travel”. It raised $20m in Series A funding led by Northzone.
Viewers join the tours / platform for free and can ask questions to the individual streamer/guide. Furthermore, viewers can tip the streamer/guide. Heygo takes a small cut on the tips. According to Techcrunch, “Heygo will also now be launching a dedicated in-house streaming app. This will likely set it apart from, say, virtual Airbnb or Amazon “experiences” that mushroomed during the pandemic.”
Heygo has recently passed 2 million tour bookings and has onboarded guides in over 90 countries.
Sources: Company blog,
Company Profiles - Series B
Sharegain (UK | $64m Series B | Fintech | Westcap)
Founded in 2015 and headquartered in the UK, Sharegain is a securities lending and capital markets fintech platform. It raised $64m in Series B funding led by WestCap.
Sharegain’s end-to-end digital solution combines full control and transparency with minimal overheads or up-front costs, enabling online brokers, private banks, asset managers, and custodians to lend their stocks, bonds, and ETFs, and generate additional revenue for their own business and their clients.”
Sources: Press release
PlayPlay (France | $55m Series B | Software | Insight Partners)
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in France, PlayPlay is an online video creation solution that enables comms and marketing teams to turn any message into a compelling video. It raised $55m in Series B funding led by Insight Partners.
The company has developed an easy-to-use software solution that enables in-house teams without any filming or editing skills to create high-quality videos, in order to elevate their communication. More specifically, it combines a drag-and-drop interface, layout suggestions, automatic subtitling, a premium stock library, etc to make video creation quicker and easier.
Today, more than 1,000 companies spanning 15 different countries use PlayPlay to create compelling content for their audiences, including Yext, Heineken, and AXA.
“The investment will allow PlayPlay to further enhance its platform, accelerate international expansion by growing its first US-based office in New York City, and hire 100 new employees in technology, product, sales and marketing across Europe and North America.”
Source: Press release
Bramble Energy (UK | $47m Series B | Climate Tech | HydrogenOne)
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in the UK, Bramble Energy is a developer of hydrogen fuel cell technologies. It raised $47m in Series B funding led by HydrogenOne.
The company has “developed a unique, patent-protected, printed circuit board (PCB) fuel cell (“PCBFC”.) The PCBFC utilizes existing and cost-effective production methods and materials from the well-established PCB industry, reducing cost and complexity in manufacturing hydrogen fuel cells.”
According to UKTN, the company “will use the new round of funding to expand the deployment of its fuel cell stack technology commercially in an effort to decarbonize various industries. Bramble energy will also be looking to increase its headcount from 35 to 100.”
Sources: Press release,
Aerospacelab (Belgium | $45m Series B | Other | Airbus Ventures, XAnge)
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Belgium, Aerospacelab is a satellite manufacturer. It raised $45m in Series B funding co-led by Airbus Ventures and XAnge.
According to XAnge, “Aerospacelab designs and produces satellites, launches them with different payloads, and develops data-fusion analytics capabilities. In the long term, Aerospacelab’s constellations of micro-satellites will provide real-time content for a wide range of applications, ranging from defense and security to civil sector applications including environmental, insurance, and economic intelligence. For instance, Aerospacelab’s tools can be used to monitor the evolution of catastrophic events such as floods and wildfires in close to real-time, allowing for the provision of operational and damage insights to relevant authorities.”
“This latest funding will ramp up satellite production capacity, deploy multiple constellations to establish an intra-daily monitoring of the Earth’s surface, and implement geospatial data fusion analytics capabilities.”
Sources: Spacenews, BNP Paribas
Cansativa Group (Germany | $15m Series B | Other | Casa Verde Capital)
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Germany, Cansativa Group is the largest medical cannabis distributor in Germany. It raised $15m in Series B funding led by Casa Verde, an investment firm that is co-founded by the one and only Snoop Dogg.
“The company's B2B platform manages every stage of the cannabis value chain from import to distribution and related logistics, serving thousands of pharmacies across the country. Through an exclusive agreement with Germany's regulatory body, Cansativa is the only company permitted to distribute domestically-grown medical cannabis.”
“The company will use the funding to expand its medical cannabis product portfolio and build out its recreational platform ahead of legalization in Germany.”
Sources: Press release
Disclaimer
This post and the information presented are intended for informational purposes only. The views expressed herein are the author’s alone and do not constitute an offer to sell, or a recommendation to purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, nor a recommendation for any investment product or service. While certain information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, neither the author nor any of his employers or their affiliates have independently verified this information, and its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Accordingly, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this information. The author and affiliated persons and companies assume no liability for this information and no obligation to update the information or analysis contained herein in the future.