The European startup ecosystem is full of interesting and exciting news, twists and turns. At EU-Startups, our aim is to keep you informed on everything that’s going on and share the inspiring entrepreneurial spirit this continent has to offer. From big funding announcements, duocorns picking up pace, to new partnerships and conscious collaborations – there’s never a dull day!
So, with this in mind, we decided to pull together all the big milestones that we saw this week into one place. It’s impossible for us to cover every announcement with an article, but perhaps this is one way we can continue to share as much as possible about up-and-coming innovators and ideas. Let us know what you think!
This week, there are some interesting revelations about employee wellbeing, how employees are open to their performance being monitored and tracked, and some interesting partnerships and expansions.
Launches and Expansions
- Essity Ventures launched EVolution – its first-of-a-kind co-creation challenge for startups in the hygiene and health industry
- Plaid is now live in 8 markets, recently adding open banking capabilities for Spain and Poland and data connectivity for Germany, building on recent launches earlier this year in the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy. The company will be also shortly launching in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
- The beauty SaaS for UK makeup and hair mobile freelancers – GLAM LAB – has launched just in time to upgrade the Halloween and the Christmas party seasons.
- baby vc, one of the largest bootcamps for aspiring Venture Capitalists in France aims to make the VC industry more transparent and accessible for young professionals has announced plans to expand to Germany.
Acquisitions and Collaborations
- Mojo partnered with ZAVA to launch AIpowered home male fertility tests
- HumanForest has partnered with tech company Acer for two months in support of their latest product, the Aspire Vero laptop.
- British engineering and smart tech firm CAL International have teamed up with Australian green tech start-up AirSeed Technologies to embark on a ground-breaking climate change initiative, which will see the aerial platform technology aim to plant 100 million trees by 2024.
- Payment service provider Transact365 partnered with crypto exchange FINECTUM. The partnership means Transact365’s merchants can now accept crypto payments for its goods and services. Supported cryptocurrencies include BTC, LTC, USDTE, USDTT and ETH, with Transact365 offering access to five continents
- Remote, the leader in building, managing and supporting global, distributed workforces, announced a new integration with global HR technology disruptor HiBob.
Other Milestones & Insights
- Oddbox, the wonky fruit and veg delivery service, has started offering Mintago’s financial wellbeing platform to all staff. The partnership will provide better financial support – such as a pension planning platform and financial management tools – to Oddbox employees, which is more important than ever in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis.
- New, world-class digital skills training centre opens in Manchester (England) to boost employment prospects
- One-third of Voi users say they have reduced their car use as micromobility grows in popularity across Europe
- Spotlight, a startup competition in Eastern Europe, announced the investment prize up for grabs this year, reaching a record €465k. A group of the most active investors from the region have contributed: Tech Angels, Seedblink, Hellen’s Rock, GapMinder VC, Fortech Investments, Growceanu, V7 Capital, RocaX, Startup Wise Guys, and Transylvania Angels Network.
- Research by data science company Profusion has revealed a clear opportunity for businesses to improve how they use technology and data to monitor and assess the performance of their employees. Profusion’s analysis revealed that 61% of employees were comfortable with technology and data being used to monitor their output, activity or presence. However, 81% said that data must be made available to employees to enable them to challenge any interpretations.
- Publicis Sapient, a leading digital business transformation company, announced the launch of its second annual Global EnergyTech Awards, a first-of-its kind awards program focused on technology within the global energy sector.
