Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast

Please take our listener survey! You get a month's Sifted membership for free, and we'd love to learn more about our listeners:bit.ly/siftedpodcastThis week we discuss:(02:06) Starling Bank hits profitability(05:55) Maria Raga steps down as Depop CEO(07:43) Amazon aggregators lay off staff en masse(09:55) Can augmented reality save the global manufacturing industry?(13:47) Should your boss pay your energy bills?

This week we discuss:(2:59) Take our listener survey for a month of free membership!(03:05) Klarna’s valuation was slashed to $6.7bn(6:15) The latest in big layoffs: Hopin has let go 29% of its workforce this month and Babylon is planning on cutting 100 jobs(9:15) Glovo is raided by the European Commission amid concerns the company may have operated in a “cartel”(16:48) Pollen is being accused of missing payroll and not refunding customers

This week we discuss:(02:38) Two new climate tech funds,  Climentum and AENU, launch(06:29) Quantum-as-a-service startup Oxford Quantum Circuits raises £38m(07:46) More than 100 Gorillas riders lose their jobs, with many saying they haven't been paid(11:50) What's it like to launch a business with your sibling?(17:29) Glastonbury and a festival in the metaverse, compared

This week we discuss:2:24 Crypto winter and Bitpanda layoffs4:17 Hiring tech startup Screenloop raises $7m5:43 Wise and Songkick founders launch new VC fund8:48 Christian Tooley from i³ investing on why you need to queer your dealflow19:09 The EU has a new plan to supercharge European innovation

On this week's show:02:20 — Idoven raises $19.8m to scale it's AI heart disease detection tech05:00 — Kranus Health raises $6.5m to build the “viagra of digital therapy”09:45 — Europe's top "digital nomad villages"17:26 — How did travel booking site Omio rise from the ashes, after nearly being snuffed out by the pandemic

On this week's show:03:22 — SoftBank backs Proximie in $80m round for AR surgery06:00 — Epoch Biodesign has raised $11m to grow its plastic-eating enzymes tech09:38 — What's going on in European tech hiring?11:32 — Fintech reporter Amy O'Brien discusses a rare interview with N26 CEO Valentin Stalf15:46 — Nathan Benaich talks about his research into why European universities aren't producing top tech companies at the same rate as the USLinks:https://sifted.eu/articles/proximie-softbank-80m-surgery/https://sifted.eu/articles/epoch-biodesign-enzyme-plastic-waste/https://sifted.eu/articles/uk-tech-job-listings-down/https://sifted.eu/articles/n26-culture-fraud-valentin-stalf/https://sifted.eu/articles/university-spinout-startups/

Amy is joined this week by our producer, Tim! First up, we’re chatting about big raises in crypto and the EU’s Ukrainian relief fund. Berlin correspondent Miriam Partington joins us to tell all about speedy grocery company Gorillas’ very rough week. Next, we discuss the founders trying to improve treatments for women’s health issues, from sustainable menstrual cups to 3D-printed breast implants for breast cancer survivors. The articles we discuss:https://sifted.eu/articles/crypto-payments-startup-fung-regulation/https://sifted.eu/articles/web2-web3-fintech/https://sifted.eu/articles/felix-capital-600m-fund/https://sifted.eu/articles/eu-fund-ukrainian-startups/https://sifted.eu/articles/gorillas-hr-executives-layoffs/https://sifted.eu/articles/femtechs-france-healthcare/

This week on the show we’re talking to Freya Pratty about her joint investigation with Éanna Kelly into Pollen, an elite events company with heavy investor backing. We’ll hear about its angry customers who claim they’re owed thousands, and what Pollen has to say about it. We’re also finding out what European startup employees really think of their “ill equipped” bosses, and hearing about some of the continent’s top companies raking in investment this week.The stories we discuss:Florence: https://sifted.eu/articles/florence-care-startup-raise/Hoxhunt: https://sifted.eu/articles/cybersecurity-hoxhunt-raises-series-b/Foodack: https://sifted.eu/articles/foodhack-raises-1m-angellist/Britishvolt: https://sifted.eu/articles/britishvolt-scale-up-gigafactory-batteries/Pollen: https://sifted.eu/articles/pollen-refunds-events/Startup managers: https://sifted.eu/articles/startup-managers-good-bad/

Some of Europe's best known tech companies have cut thousands of staff this week, as the economic slowdown arrives on the continent.On the pod we discuss who's been hit hardest so far, how startups can best survive the storm, and what's in store for buy now, pay later startups, with credit becoming more expensive as interest rates rise.The stories we discuss:Tech company layoffs in Europe 2022: listed https://bit.ly/3sYnsSqThe European startups still hiring despite the tech downturn https://bit.ly/3MVpWJAGrocery delivery startup Zapp in talks to lay off 10% of its staff https://bit.ly/3yXAG5WBurn rate & layoffs: Is grocery delivery startup Gorillas struggling? https://bit.ly/3lK6NyfKlarna lays off 10% of its team amid valuation crunch https://bit.ly/3wRxwOnCan Klarna and its rivals survive an economic downturn? https://bit.ly/38PiXmoHow to prepare for a downturn https://bit.ly/3PGBClfStartup Life newsletter https://bit.ly/3a0Zcsx

It’s our first real, live billionaire guest… Christian Angermayer, founder of ATAI Life Sciences, a startup that seeks to treat mental health disorders with psychedelics. But first, hear all about the four Polish grandpas who founded a quantum science startup because "retirement is boring”. We also called Miriam Partington, our Berlin correspondent, on a new movement coming out of Germany, called steward ownership, that promises startups an alternative to giving over equity and control of their company.