Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast

This week we discuss:01:45 What are the new EU policies startups should watch out for in 2023?08:26 Nuclear fusion: The bet that Europe should have won18:21 Why are VCs getting so excited about generative AI?This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted

This week we're bringing you a longer form interview with Meri Williams, CTO at Pleo and formerly CTO at Monzo and Healx. Meri's got a reputation for being one of the best in the business at growing and sustaining technical teams at startups and scaleups, and in this episode she gave her opinion on Elon Musk firing half his tech team, how to get engineers to learn soft skills and how to hire developers from around the world.---This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we discuss:01:13 How are startup valuations worked out?05:54 Basecamp raises $20m to scale its biodiversity tech09:15 Getir finally acquires Gorillas12:04 Are all-in-one airport scanners the future of diagnosing illness?21:46 What challenges are disabled founders facing?This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we discuss:01:17 Gorillas investors to pay $100m to secure Getir all-stock buyout, sources say04:40 Online grocer Oda raises €150m but loses its unicorn valuation08:10 As the speedy grocery giants falter, this startup is backing a sustainable alternative11:09 The state of European tech 2022: 19 things you need to know17:06 Autonomous freight startup Einride raises $500m in debt and equity Series C21:52 ‘It’s like networking on steroids’: Sifted readers share their experiences of startup acceleratorsThis podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we discuss:01:45 Klarna posts big losses in latest financial results06:19 Scammers increasingly targeting UK neobank customers10:14 Idris and Sabrina Elba invest in Huel13:50 The startups fighting the loss of global biodiversity19:33 The strange world of "alternative business coaches"This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we've got a bonus episode for you, recorded while Amy was off at the Slush startup conference in Helsinki. It's a conversation with veteran tech investor and Index Ventures partner Danny Rimer, who's sat on the boards of household name companies like Dropbox, Etsy, Farfetch and Discord. He also led Index's early investment into design software product Figma, which got acquired by Adobe this year for a cool $20bn.In this episode Danny and Amy discuss layoffs, pay rises, crypto and that Figma deal, plus much more. This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we discuss:(04:24) Starling Bank blocks crypto payments in wake of FTX collapse(06:01) Are we about to see another dot com crash?(12:27) Tech event Slush revokes award for Russian founder after backlash(20:47) How has Theranos affected biotech startups?This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we're bringing you the second in our new series of extended interviews with the big names and rising stars of Europe's tech and startup scene.This episode features a conversation with Timmu Tõke, founder of Ready Player Me — an Estonian company that recently won investment from legendary VC firm Andreessen Horowitz to develop its metaverse-ready avatar technology.Recorded in the midst of a turbulent time for the metaverse and all things Web3, in this interview Timmu shares his thoughts on what the metaverse might look like, who should govern it and why he thinks Mark Zuckerberg might be barking up the wrong tree.---This podcast is brought to you by Zendesk for Startups. Zendesk helps startups build lasting customer experiences from day one. With the Zendesk for Startups Program, startups get Zendesk customer support software and CRM for six months FREE of charge. You’ll get access to expert advice and a community of likeminded founders and CX leaders to help you build the foundation for long-term growth. Learn more and claim your 6 months free at zendesk.com/sifted.

This week we discuss:03:35 Anything World raises $7.5m06:16 Crypto payment startup Ramp raises $70m08:15 Solar startup Alight wins $150m in buyout to scale up its ambitions10:04 Spotify's Daniel Ek has a new startup in the works16:53 What's gone wrong for UK battery startup Britishvolt?

This week we discuss:00:53 Kry lays off 300 employees03:52 Monzo staff unionise07:33 Flying taxi startup raises $30009:53 Robots in demand as energy prices soar12:57 What's been going down at Web Summit?