Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast

This week we discuss:Getir calls on staff to go door-to-door with goodie bags as cashflow problems persist (1:36)Eurazeo's growth team quits to start new fund (5:31)VanMoof: What happened to VCs' favourite bike? (8:42)Are Oura rings and executive coaches the answer to founder burnout? (12:46)

We're back with another longer form interview and this week we're joined by Eileen Burbidge, cofounder of London-based, early-stage VC firm Passion Capital and director at reproductive healthcare company Fertifa. She came into the studio to reflect on the differences between Silicon Valley and London, her time at Monzo and how she wants to fix reproductive healthcare in Europe.

This week we discuss:02:00 UK government unveils plan to direct £75bn from pension funds to startups05:30  5 key questions that the Mansion House Compact doesn’t answer07:34 The startup creating AI jobs for humans: Prolific raises £25m 10:39 Causaly raises $60m Series B to give scientists instant access to 'all of biology' 13:15 Aphea.Bio raises €70m Series C 24:00 Paris is burning (VC investor cash on AI startups) — Link coming soon

Our competition to win a ticket for the Sifted Summit has now closed, thanks for entering if you took part! We're still keen to learn more about who listens to the podcast,  please take this five-question survey if you have a minute to spare: https://ftx.typeform.com/to/L2ai27FuThis week we discuss:02:14 Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s Neko Health raises €60m Series A amid European expansion plans 06:38 'An inkjet printer for the periodic table' — VSParticle raises €14.5m09:14 Arrival loses key finance lifelines as troubles mount13:47 Britishvolt cofounder pins new hope on Italian gigafactory20:11 I am a successful founder — and it’s the worst job I’ve ever had

Our competition to win a ticket for the Sifted Summit has now closed, thanks for entering if you took part! We're still keen to learn more about who listens to the podcast,  please take this five-question survey if you have a minute to spare: https://ftx.typeform.com/to/L2ai27FuThis week we discuss:01:51 Data roaming outside the EU still sucks — but the AUTO1 founder’s new startup wants to fix it06:31 The German spacetech planning to fire stem cell 'organoids' into orbit10:31 Babylon shareholders wiped out as healthtech agrees to delist12:55 Startup boards are still a boys' club — 45% have no female representation17:58 'The G-spot of Europe': how Vilnius is trying to attract international tech talent

Our competition to win a ticket for the Sifted Summit has now closed, thanks for entering if you took part! We're still keen to learn more about who listens to the podcast,  please take this five-question survey if you have a minute to spare: https://ftx.typeform.com/to/L2ai27FuThis week we discuss: See the pitch memo that raised €105m for four-week-old startup MistralA Human Genome Project for the nervous system? BIOS Health raises fresh fundingNato launches tech accelerator to bring Silicon Valley ethos to Europe’s armiesWhere to find Europe’s best AI engineersTony Blair thinks AI will save Britain, he’s just not quite sure how it should work

This week we sat down with Chloe Smith, the UK's acting secretary of state for Science, Innovation & Technology — the government minister tasked with supporting the growth of the country’s tech and startup sector.She told us about what the UK is doing to attract talent to its shores, and about how the country plans to unlock pension funds to invest in high-growth tech companies.

This week we discuss:Infarm quits Europe as vertical farming withers on the vineCheckout.com cuts internal valuation by another 15%EIF to set up a €200m fund for European defence techCan e-fuel make flying green? Startups are tryingAn unknown Swedish startup’s €3bn bid to build a green rival to AWS

This week we discuss:01:06 Monzo narrows losses slightly as lending book triples04:06 Inside GetYourGuide: Germany’s $2bn travel experiences platform07:41 US giant NEA backs Stockholm AI company Sana Labs09:45 Did US hustle mentality ruin Typeform?14:36 SaaS won’t save the planet, but a hardware-software duo just might20:16 An OpenAI alum is building a robot butler for your home

This week it’s another longer form interview. We’re joined by Ophelia Brown, managing partner of Blossom Capital, a VC fund that’s backed the likes of payments company Checkout.com, crypto exchange Moonpay and HR platform Localize. She sat down with Sifted’s Amy Lewin to make her case for a crypto comeback, as well as giving some harsh words on the political mismanagement of the UK tech sector.