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Berlin-based social platform Friendticker just received a seven-figure investment

Thomas Ohr
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0
Berlin-based social platform Friendticker just received a seven-figure investment

German social network Friendticker, which allows users to check in, share activities and recommend venues in a city, has just landed a seven-figure investment (Update – December 2022: The startup seems to be no longer in business and we therefore deactivated the link).

Founded in 2010, the startup uses a check-in concept, where users share their favourite locations like restaurants and venues. The company wants to now further establish its concept, which offers users real value in exchange for their check-ins, with rewards at selected locations.

What does this startup plan to do with its new funding? The fresh capital is going to enable the young company to grow more quickly in Germany and all over the over the world. The investors in this particular round for the Berlin-based online platform were DuMont Venture, NRW.BANK and Klaus Wake.

By the way: Are you a corporate or investor on the hunt for innovative and exciting startups to invest in, or acquire? Then don’t hesitate to check out our Startup Sourcing Service!

Leading Dutch social network Hyves is acquired by TMG

Thomas Ohr
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1
Leading Dutch social network Hyves is acquired by TMG

The leading Dutch social network Hyves was just acquired by TMG (Telegraaf Media Groep) for an undisclosed sum (Update – December 2022: The company Hyves seems to be no longer in business and we therefore deactivated the link).

This Dutch social network, which was founded by Koen Kam, Floris Rost van Tonningen and Raymond Spanjar, is hugely popular in the Netherlands. Launched a few years ago in 2004, the social network has grown to an immense 10.6 million members already, acting as a key social point online for many people in the country.

Founded just 8 months after Facebook, the Hyves team is battling it out against this US-based global social media platform, as well as online networks like MySpace. The team is currently based in Amsterdam.

By the way: If you’re looking for exciting startups to acquire in a specific industry, or country, check out our Startup Sourcing Service!

Have you heard of HackFwd, a pre-seed fund?

Thomas Ohr
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1
Have you heard of HackFwd, a pre-seed fund?

Are you already familiar with the pre-seed fund called HackFwd? (Update – December 2022: The programme seems to be no longer running and we therefore deactivated the link).

Started in 2010, Hackfwd is a pre-seed fund designed especially for passionate European-based tech geeks. The project was started by European technology entrepreneur Lars Hinrichs (founder of Xing), and the Board includes other well-known technology and investment entrepreneurs.

HackFwd involves top grade professionals in talent management, finance and marketing to serve as guides and excellent support for the entrepreneurs taking part in the pre-seed funding, so that they may grow and accelerate at maximum speed, in an efficient way.

By the way: If you’d like to stay up-to-date regarding startup news and interesting opportunities, make sure to subscribe to our free weekly EU-Startups Newsletter.

Cologne-based Learnship.com, a B2B language learning service, lands seven-figure funding

Thomas Ohr
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0
Cologne-based Learnship.com, a B2B language learning service, lands seven-figure funding

German company Learnship.com, a language-learning-service with real teachers in virtual classrooms, has landed fresh funding to expand its growth, in a round participated in by one of its customers.

The Cologne-based startup offers single and group courses, via a B2B service, primarily focusing on employee language learning within large companies.

Some well known companies like Panasonic, Pfizer, ThyssenKrupp and Bertelsmann are using the service already. In fact, company Bertelsmann has liked the language-learning-provider so much that it now invested in the startup. Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) took over a large stake of older investors in this seven-figure investment round.

Interested in B2B startups? Check out our Premium Report for an in-depth look.

Vente Privée launches its voucher campaigns for retailers in France

Thomas Ohr
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Vente Privée launches its voucher campaigns for retailers in France

Vente Privée, one of the biggest shopping clubs in Europe, will launch its voucher campaigns for retailers on the French version of its website next Tuesday (Update – December 2022: The startup seems to be now called VeePee).

Vente Privée was founded in 2001 in Paris, France, by Jacques-Antoine Granjon and Michael Bernabou. This groupon-like project, called Rosedeal, will also be launched in Germany, Italy, UK and Spain soon. The partners for the first deals will be GoSport and Speedy.

By the way: You can find out about other interesting French startups in this list!

London-based Busuu, language learning community, partners with well-known publishers

Thomas Ohr
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0
London-based Busuu, language learning community, partners with well-known publishers

The UK-based language learning community busuu.com is partnering with the British publisher Collins and other publishers like the German PONS Group.

This new partnership will help busuu to offer grammar guides to its over 1 million users. These guides will be available at €9.99 for those users on a free account and €7.99 for Premium users.

The language learning startup is based in London, UK, and was founded by Bernhard Niesner and Adrian Hilti. If you’re wondering where their unique name comes from, Busuu is a language spoken in Cameroon. Based on an ethnological study conducted in the eighties, apparently only eight people are able to speak this language.

Interested in partnership news? Be sure to sign up for our free weekly EU-Startups Newsletter so that you can stay up-to-date!

Silicon Sentier launches its new accelerator for French founders: Le Camping

Thomas Ohr
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0
Silicon Sentier launches its new accelerator for French founders: Le Camping

Silicon Sentier will soon launch its newest accelerator project – Le Camping. This startup programme is located in Palais Brongniart, and will begin in January 2011.

How does it work? In total 10 teams will enter the campsite to survive six months of intense work, following a tailored programme to boost their projects, and with the support of over 40 mentors.

Do you have an startup idea in mind, a competent team and are a hard worker? Are you ready for a supportive environment that gives you and your project a boost? Then the Camping programme might be for you!

If you’re curious to participate, this Le Camping programme last 3 months, and has 3 main aspects:

  • Accelerate: Create a prototype and win your first customers
  • Grow: Improve your product and expand its community
  • Pitch: Present your product to over 100 investors at the Investor Day

Nominations are open from October 27 to November 28. Just visit lecamping.org to get started!

Speaking of pitching: Do you have your ticket yet for the upcoming EU-Startups Summit, where startups can pitch in front of investors for funding and business support? Check out the video below, and read about 2023 edition of our annual event here!

Meet Travelhands.eu, the German travel service marketplace

Thomas Ohr
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0
Meet Travelhands.eu, the German travel service marketplace

Travelhands.eu, the travel service marketplace based in Germany, wants to offer its users ‘special attention, for special requests’ (Update – December 2022: The startup seems to be no longer in business and we therefore deactivated the link).

Users registered on the platform can search for and access a number of services while they travel, for example, babysitting-services in a hotel, rental services, or special rates for seniors. The whole experience is made easy by the service providers on the platform, who offer a complementary range of services for travellers.

It’s also possible for locals to upload services that could be used by travellers in the area: “Maybe someone wants to offer a historical tour of their hometown or somebody wants to rent a stroller for a few days to a family,” said Managing Director Nicole Bosch.

Interested in travel news? Check out our latest Premium Report on European travel startups!

British company EasyRoommate, a flat-sharing service, launches its iPhone app

Thomas Ohr
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British company EasyRoommate, a flat-sharing service, launches its iPhone app

UK-based flatsharing service EasyRoommate, just launched its app for iPhone users, in order to reach more people and be more easily accessible ‘on the go’ (Update – December 2022: The startup seems to be no longer in business and we therefore deactivated the link).

Targeting users who are in the market for a new home, users can use EasyRoomate to quickly and easily survey the area they’d like to live in, and locate flatshare-possibilities, via their computer, or now the iPhone app.

The director of Easyroommate UK, Jonathan Moore, calls the company’s new iPhone app “a new weapon in the flatshare arms race”.

By the way: Are you looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition? Then check out our Startup Sourcing Service!

The first ever ‘Startup Weekend’ kicks off in Barcelona, Spain!

Thomas Ohr
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The first ever ‘Startup Weekend’ kicks off in Barcelona, Spain!

Ellas 2.0, an initiative dedicated to tech entrepreneurship among women in Spain, and Barcelona Activa just kicked off their first Startup Weekend in Barcelona.

Last Friday the participants pitched 20 projects, which was quickly slimmed down to a total of seven final projects. At this pitching event, 30% of the participants were women.

After the Jury’s decision, the 3 final winners were chosen:

  • Tripku: A social travel network that offers a matching service for travel friends
  • Kantox: A international marketplace for currency exchange
  • Shift-o-rama: A shift scheduling and management platform

Speaking about events, do you have your ticket for the upcoming EU-Startups Summit? Here is a video of the last Summit below!

London-based Smarket sees over £1 million traded on its “betting exchange”

Thomas Ohr
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0
London-based Smarket sees over £1 million traded on its “betting exchange”

The social-gambling-startup Smarket just announced that it has seen over £1 million traded on its “betting exchange” since their official launch in February 2010 (Update – December 2022: The startup seems to have since changed its name to Smarkets).

The young company is based in London and competes with big gambling players like Betfair. The site lets users set odds and bet against other players before, and during, all kinds of events.

In addition to this recent announcement about Smarket’s current betting exchange-numbers, the startup also published the news that it will shortly expand into horse racing as well, opening up its portfolio of services within the betting world.

By the way: If you’re watching the UK startup scene with a keen eye, don’t forget to check out our articles, interviews and funding round news focused on the UK!

The European Parliament launches its own social network game, Citzalia

Thomas Ohr
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0
The European Parliament launches its own social network game, Citzalia

The European Parliament is launching an interactive social network game, called Citzalia, which allows citizens to log in as avatars and experience the inner workings of parliament.

The project was started to help EU-citizens understand and also discuss EU legislation processes in a better way. The official launch of Cizalia will be in January of 2011, and will be available in 23 languages.

Citzalia is being developed by the European Service Communication Agency Network (ESN) based in Brussels.

You can check out some first impressions of Citzalia you’ll find in the following video:

By the way: Are you interested in the European Commission and its efforts for the European startup world? Check out our articles on these topics, here!

German company MyParfuem.de launches ‘Choice of Nature’, for personalised cosmetic products

Thomas Ohr
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0
German company MyParfuem.de launches ‘Choice of Nature’, for personalised cosmetic products

The founders of German-based company MyParfuem.de, a service for user-generated-perfume, just came up with a new idea (Update – December 2022: The startup seems to be no longer in business and we therefore deactivated the link). It’s called ‘Choice of Nature’ – a website that specializes in the production of individual cosmetic products.

The founders are brothers Yannis and Matti Niebelschütz, and Patrick Wilhelm-André. Just like MyParfuem, the new project Choice of Nature also offers mass customization options. Users are able to create different products from three different areas – fragrance, wellness and care.

Find this interesting? Be sure to sign up for our free weekly EU-Startups Newsletter so that you can stay up-to-date with Europe’s buzzing startup scene!

Barcelona-based group-buying startup Groupalia nabs €5 million

Thomas Ohr
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0
Barcelona-based group-buying startup Groupalia nabs €5 million

Spanish group-buying company Groupalia has just raised €5 million in it’s second funding round (Update – December 2022: The startup seems to be no longer in business and we therefore deactivated the link).

The Spanish company already raised €2.5 million with its first round in May of this year. In addition to angel investors, the funding comes from Nauta Capital, and Caixa Capital Risc, Spanish bank la Caixa’s venture capital division.

Groupalia was founded in Barcelona, and like other group-buying services, the site features a daily deal on interesting things to see, eat, buy and do in different Spanish cities.

By the way: If you’re interested in Spanish startups, you can check out all our articles on funding rounds, acquisitions and more here!

German penny-auction-site Swoopo experiences 3% decline in sales in 2009

Thomas Ohr
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1
German penny-auction-site Swoopo experiences 3% decline in sales in 2009

Swoopo, one of the biggest penny-auction-sites on the internet, just published it’s financial figures for 2009 (Update – December 2022: The startup seems to be no longer in business and we therefore deactivated the link).

The gross sales of this German-based entertainment and shopping company reached €18.5 million over the last year. Compared to 2008, this figure means a decline of 3%. After taxes the company has earned a net profit of €0.7 million.

This year Swoopo withdrew their operations and activity from Korea, and there have also been rumors of layoffs for the company.

By the way: If you’re interested in German startups, you can check out all our articles on funding rounds, acquisitions and more here!

Italian startup spreaker lands €300K to socialize audio content online

Thomas Ohr
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0
Italian startup spreaker lands €300K to socialize audio content online

Italian startup spreaker has just landed some fresh funding to help grow its online services. The Mediterranean young company offers an application that helps users to create and share audio content live on the internet, adding a social aspect to this new online sphere.

The funds raised in this round were around €300K, and came exclusively from angel investors who are also from Italy.

The music service launched at the beginning of this year, and already claims a user base of 10K users who are transmitting music, sports reports, comedy and all kinds of news online.

By the way: Are you looking for exciting startups in Italy for an acquisition or investment? Check out our Startup Sourcing Service!

Interview with Jason Calacanis, US entrepreneur and startup evangelist, on European startups

Thomas Ohr
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0
Interview with Jason Calacanis, US entrepreneur and startup evangelist, on European startups

At this year’s ‘Future of Web Apps’ event, Annika Lidne from disruptive media did an interesting interview with Jason Calacanis, a US internet entrepreneur and blogger, founder and CEO of Mahalo.com, and startup evangelist.

In this interview, they talk about how Nordic and European startups must operate to be able to compete with startups from Asia and the US. Jason thinks that European startups are currently held back by legislation and lacks support by their governments, need to become more hard working and take more risks.

You can watch the interview here:

By the way: If you’re a corporate or investor looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition, check out our Startup Sourcing Service!

Spanish travel startup Club Santa Monica lands €500K seed funding

Thomas Ohr
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0
Spanish travel startup Club Santa Monica lands €500K seed funding

A Spanish private travel club, called Club Santa Monica, has just closed a seed investment round (Update – December 2022: The startup seems to be no longer in business and we therefore deactivated the link). According to TechCrunch, the startup now has an additional €500K under its belt.

The investors in this round are well-known Spanish names, such as serial investor Alejandro Suarez, as well as Alvaro Arbeloa (a football player for Real Madrid) and other seed investors in the European travel and online space.

Club Santa Monica was launched in June 2009, founded by Juan Dominguez and Miguel Angel Jiménez, and has already grown its user base to 100,000 people.

By the way: If you’d like to stay up to date with more promising new European startups, acquisitions and funding rounds, make sure to subscribe to the EU-Startups Newsletter!

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