Tech.eu

Tech.eu podcast team is proud to present our first interview special — a new episode format, in which we offer you a few pre-recorded conversations with some of the most interesting people of the European startup ecosystem. In this episode, you’ll learn what a Motherbrain is, how corporate VCs work, and what the market is like for a startup that offers hourly bookings in mainstream hotels. Check out the full show notes on Tech.eu: https://tech.eu/news/tech-eu-podcast-interview-special-cyril-lefay-byhours-itxaso-del-palacio-m12-henrik-landgren-eqt-ventures For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

This week, Natalie Novick and Andrii Degeler discuss the recent Slush conference in Helsinki, the issues with e-scooters in Madrid, the EC's new initiative regarding AI, inclusion and diversity in the tech industry, and more.  Check out the full show notes on Tech.eu: https://tech.eu/news/podcast-99-slush-recap-e-scooters-madrid-petcube-yaroslav-azhnyuk For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

This week, Natalie Novick and Andrii Degeler discuss eating insects, fixing employee ownership regulation in Europe, mourning (or lack thereof) of CeBIT, and more. Check out the full show notes on Tech.eu: https://tech.eu/news/podcast-98-uber-fine-innovafeed-gravity-panayiotis-philimis For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

This week, Natalie Novick, Andrii Degeler, and the special guest Martin Bryant talk about the fresh capital poured into e-scooters in Europe, university spin-offs across the continent, Europe possibly becoming America's “tech police,” entrepreneurial journalism, and much more. The episode features an interview with Oscar Farres from the European Investment Fund. Check out the full show notes on Tech.eu: https://tech.eu/news/podcast-97 For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

This week, Natalie Novick and Andrii Degeler discuss what BlaBlaCar is going to do with the bus operator Ouibus, what the Brexit draft agreement means for the tech ecosystem in the UK, and much more. Also featured in the episode is a great and insightful interview with Simon Cook, the CEO of Draper Esprit. Check out the full show notes: https://tech.eu/news/podcast-96-blablacar-sncf-brexit-draft-agreement-draper-esprit-simon-cook For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

The biggest deal of the week: Bitfury, a Latvian-founded company headquartered in Amsterdam that describes itself as the “largest full-service blockchain technology company in the world,” has just closed an $80 million funding round. Lesara and Travelbird, which raised more than €100 million in total and employed more than 600 people, have filed for insolvency in a span of two weeks. - Dutch travel booking platform Travelbird suspends operations after failing to raise emergency funding - German online fashion startup Lesara files for insolvency Facebook will allow French regulators to access inside the company in an effort to combat hate speech across the platform - France to 'embed' regulators at Facebook to combat hate speech - France and Facebook announce partnership against online hate speech - Facebook is the least trusted major tech company when it comes to safeguarding personal data, poll finds Interview: Christian Owens, CEO and founder of Paddle (recorded at the SaaStock conference in Dublin) Events coming up soon: - Slush in Helsinki; December 4­–5 - Seedstars CEE Summit in Kyiv; December 14 - Techstars Startup Weeks around Europe; November - Global Entrepreneurship Week around the world; November - Investors Day & BETAPITCH Global 2018 in Berlin; November 15 - RockTech Paris; November 21 - Robotex in Tallinn; November 26 ­– December 2 Did we miss something? Let us know by filling out the event submission form. Our reading recommendations: - Dave Lee on the BBC: “Why Big Tech pays poor Kenyans to teach self-driving cars” (video) - Our free report “Seed the future – A deep dive into European early-stage tech startup activity” We hope you enjoy the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at andrii@tech.eu or tweet at @tech_eu, @nnovick, and @adegeler. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

The biggest deal of the week: Monzo, the UK-based fintech company, is now a unicorn. The company has raised £85 million and now boasts more than a million users.  The UK plans to introduce what it calls a “digital services” tax that will target tech giants - UK chancellor announces 2% ‘digital services tax’ on tech giants’ revenues starting in April 2020 - Hammond's digital tax faces opposition from big tech firms - US attacks UK plan for digital services tax on tech giants Interview: Christian Nagel, co-founder and managing partner at EarlyBird Lessons learned from the story of Click & Grow, and the rise of indoor smart gardens - Estonian-founded “smart garden” startup Click & Grow raises $11 million from an IKEA stores operator and other investors - Q&A with Mattias Lepp, founder and CEO of Click & Grow - I Tried the Click and Grow Herb Garden — Here's How It Went - I grew basil and lettuce using this indoor smart garden — and the process was truly effortless Events coming up soon: - Govtech Summit in Paris; November 12 - Techstars Startup Weeks around Europe; November - Global Entrepreneurship Week around the world; November - Investors Day & BETAPITCH Global 2018 in Berlin; November 15 Did we miss something? Let us know by filling out the event submission form. Our reading recommendations: - Matthew Hughes on TNW: “Influencer marketing is bullshit” - Diablo Immortal Reveal with Chat Reaction — Blizzcon 2018 Opening Ceremony We hope you enjoy the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at andrii@tech.eu or tweet at @tech_eu, @nnovick, and @adegeler.  For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

The biggest deal of the week: Berlin’s GoEuro who has raised a $150 million investment round by Kinnevik and Temasek, with participation from Hillhouse Capital. I was at a few things they did when I was living in Berlin-- they really have a cool company and they are providing a lot of utility for people travelling around Europe. If you are interested in staying in the know about all the deals — check out the Tech.eu Insider newsletter! Google has abandoned plans to open a new campus for startups in Berlin’s Kreuzberg. - Google abandons Berlin base after two years of resistance - 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant - Fuck Off Google Interview: Florian Pauthner, managing director of SevenVentures Ireland is joining the ranks of the countries where Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms get heavily regulated. - Ireland to regulate Airbnb-style rentals to tackle housing shortage - Clampdown on Airbnb rentals 'will be difficult' Events: - Connected Data London 2018; November 7 - Web Summit in Lisbon; November 5­–8 - Govtech Summit in Paris; November 12 - Techstars Startup Weeks around Europe; November Did we miss something? Let us know by filling out the event submission form. Our reading recommendations: - Nitasha Tiku on Wired, “An alternative history of Silicon Valley disruption” - David Heinemier Hansson, “It doesn’t have to be crazy at work” - China’s Grueling Formula for Success: 9-9-6 - After three weeks in China, it's clear Beijing is Silicon Valley's only true competitor - Book reviews on 800-CEO-READ and The Economist We hope you enjoy the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at andrii@tech.eu or tweet at @tech_eu, @nnovick, and @adegeler.   Image credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images | The Guardian For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Here’s what we discussed this time. The biggest deal of the week: Truphone, a UK-based eSIM mobile carrier that works with Apple, raised $71 million. The company is now valued at $507 million. We also tracked a number of eight-figure rounds in Spain, Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. If you are interested in staying in the know about all the deals — check out Tech.eu Insider newsletter! Google will soon start charging smartphone makers for Google Play Store in Europe - Google app suite costs as much as $40 per phone under new EU Android deal - Google to charge smartphone makers for Google Play in Europe Interview: Gidi Pridor, VP Marketing at TravelPerk that has recently raised $44 million in funding “Davos in the desert” and Saudi money in European tech - Where Saudi Arabia is investing in tech - Tech reckons with Saudi cash after journalist’s brutal murder - Assessing Saudi Arabia's stake in Uber - Term Sheet -- Thursday, June 2 - Where SoftBank has invested its $100 billion Vision Fund - £70bn Saudi-backed Softbank fund in talks with UK's Oaknorth - Business titans fight shy of Saudi’s trillion-dollar charm offensive - The meaning of the Vision Fund Interview: Igor Zhadanov, CEO and co-founder at Readdle Events: - Women Startup Challenge Europe in Paris, France; October 25 - NOAH London Conference; October 30­–31 - Edinburgh’s Startup Summit; on October 31 - Web Summit in Lisbon; November 5­–8 - Govtech Summit in Paris; November 12 Did we miss something? Let us know by filling out the event submission form. Our reading recommendations The Aleph Report, “Politicians and regulations are about to end the startup world” Martin Bryant, “The language of technology” series We hope you enjoy the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at andrii@tech.eu or tweet at @tech_eu, @nnovick, and @adegeler.   Photo by Yunus klifa on Unsplash For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

On this episode, hosted by Natalie Novick and Andrii Degeler, we discussed the following topics: The biggest deal of the week: immersive reality tech startup Varjo has raised a $31 million Series B round from Atomico, Next47, and others. Apple’s shopping in Europe - Danish startup Spektral sold to Apple for $30 million - Apple confirms it has acquired Spektral, a Danish computer vision startup, for augmented reality technology - Apple inks $600M deal to license IP, acquire assets and talent from Dialog to expand chipmaking in Europe HelloFresh and the issues with subscription marketing - The World's Most Ruthless Food Startup: The Inside Story of How HelloFresh Clawed Its Way to the Top - HelloFresh: The world's most ruthless food startup - ‘Complaints are vastly outweighed by positive feedback’: HelloFresh defends face-to-face salespeople - HelloFresh To End Street Team Program Following Complaints From Greenpoint Residents - Subscription box deliveries set to become billion-pound market - HelloFresh has a Bigger Customer Retention Problem Than Blue Apron Interview: Semyon Dukach, One Way Ventures Berlin-based startup Pitch raises $19 million to take on slide decks - Pitch, from the founders of Wunderlist, raises $19M to take on PowerPoint in presentations - Wunderlist creators raise $19 million for Pitch, a next-gen collaborative presentation platform Events: - NOAH London Conference; October 30­–31 - Fintech Belgium Summit in Brussels, Belgium; October 22 - Women Startup Challenge Europe in Paris, France; October 25 Did we miss something? Let us know by filling out the event submission form. Our reading recommendations Kara Swisher: “I just knew I was going to surpass these guys I was working for.” Also, check out Kara’s recent AMA session on Reddit. Blockchain scepticism: “The Big Blockchain Lie” and “Sorry Civil, 'crypto-economics' and 'constitutions' won't save journalism.” Bonus: Tim Berners-Lee on reinventing the web (without blockchain). We hope you enjoy the podcast! Please feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at andrii@tech.eu.   For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy