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!
This week, mobility startups hit the headlines and agritech partnerships are shaping a new future for food.
Launches and Expansions
- Rows, the next-generation spreadsheet for businesses, backed by Lakestar, Accel, and Cherry Ventures, announced a new product update: Rows 2.0. Now, users – including founders, marketers, data analysts and software developers, and any professional using spreadsheets – can harness the power of artificial intelligence and easily import, transform and share data inside a spreadsheet.
- The education marketing company Candlefox launched Allcourses.ie – a digital comparison platform for those in the Republic of Ireland who are seeking both online and in-person learning courses. Allcourses will be the seventh website operated under the Candlefox umbrella and the second outside of Oceania, following the success of CoursesOnline, which was launched in 2018 to offer courses to those within the UK.
Acquisitions and Partnerships
- Leading mobility startups, Ubiq and Swobbee, have teamed up to revolutionize battery-swapping logistics. With a shared goal of making battery swapping more efficient and profitable for operators, the partnership brings together the innovative technologies and expertise of both companies to create a new standard in battery-swapping logistics.
- Tazapay announced a new partnership with the global real-time payments gateway, Volt. This strategic partnership unlocks new growth opportunities for Tazapay in both the UK and Europe.
- Upvest partnered with Vivid, one of Germany’s largest all-in-one banking and investment apps. Upvest’s API solution enables Vivid’s end clients to invest in European ETFs and shares with all shareholder rights for the first time.
- Yara, a global crop nutrition company based in Norway, and Syngenta Group, an agriculture innovation company headquartered in Switzerland, have entered into a partnership with Varda, a new ag-tech startup founded by Yara. The two companies want to accelerate the adoption of Global Field ID, a new technology standard that helps facilitate field data discovery and data sharing in the agriculture and food industry.
- Brand protection firm Tracer announced it acquired Mad Power Technologies, a company that provides AI/ML services with expertise in data capture and modelling, reporting and analytics, and cloud-based application delivery.
- HumanForest partnered with food delivery app Uber Eats to provide the couriers who use its platform with discounted rates for its eBike and eMoped fleet. As HumanForest’s first eMoped delivery partner, couriers will be eligible to receive a 10% discount on minute bundles that can be purchased via the HumanForest app. This means they will be able to ride for as little as £2.25 per hour, highlighting the affordability and accessibility of the service available to couriers across London.
- Buddy, the personal finance app for Gen Z, with 2.7M users worldwide, has partnered with Klarna Kosma, a sub-brand and business unit of fintech giant Klarna, to harness the rapid growth of its Open Banking platform.
- RoomRaccoon is partnering with the global financial technology platform Adyen. The partnership will see RoomRaccoon expand our payment offering in 28 markets in Europe and North America, including the UK. Now, independent hotels can meet the expectations of modern guests with seamless payment processes and offer local payment method preferences that their guests know and trust.
Milestones and Insights
- Bonnet, an electric vehicle charger aggregator in the UK and Europe, is inviting its more than 150k strong driver community to join top-flight global investors in taking a stake in the company. It comes as Bonnet has more than doubled its coverage in Europe in just three months, and now boasts over 200,000 chargers where EV drivers can easily start charging through its award-winning app in 12 countries.
- Global VC Pi Labs has kicked off its 2023 Growth Programme, backing five early-stage start-ups that have developed technological solutions that are expected to positively impact the way businesses and societies interact with the built world.
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