Mike Butcher
Editor At Large
The Latest from Mike Butcher
In the fight against methane, a key GHG, Valley investors have hit upon an unusual target: Cow burps
What do iconic Valley investors Zachary Bogue and Chris Sacca have in common? They are both trying to stop cows from burping methane. What gives? With the conclusion of COP28, the global talks on the
Qogita — a wholesale marketplace for retailers — raises $86M Series B to compete with Ankorstore in Europe
Qogita, a two-sided e-commerce wholesale marketplace aimed at retailers largely in the health and beauty sectors, has raised €80 million ($86 million) in a Series B round led by London’s Dawn Capi
Machine learning is set to speed up the detection of contamination in food factories
The factories that process our food and beverages (newsflash: no, it doesn’t come straight from a farm) have to be kept very clean, or we’d all get very ill, to be blunt. Ensuring that usually ent
As a new AI-driven coding assistant is launched, the battle for AI-mindshare moves to developers
With the news that Microsoft’s Copilot is getting OpenAI’s latest models and a new code interpreter, it’s clear the battle over the future of AI is increasingly being fought at the developer and
Regulatory approval for this subscription solar UK startup could mean more are to come
With the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorizing what’s believed to be the first time a company can provide solar panels and batteries on a subscription model — without subscribers
Revenue-based financing heats up in the Middle East as Flow48 attracts $25M in funding
We’ve seen how non-dilutive, revenue-based financing has risen up the priority ranks for companies as the era of ZIRP — as the Zero Interest Rate Period is now lovingly and somewhat longingly know
Tech-enabled warehousing startup Huboo raises another $36.6M amid continued e-commerce growth
When consumers switched to home deliveries and “digitized” their lifestyles during the pandemic, it led to a surge in e-commerce sales and thus, also, in the need for warehousing and shipping. But
As pet owners turn to mobile insurance apps, Lassie raises $25M Series B led by Balderton
We last wrote about Lassie, a pet health app and insurance provider, when it closed an €11 million Series A round in 2022. Its growth had been spurred by the boom in pet ownership during the pandemi
Reflections on Web Summit: Out of the frying pan, and out of the fire?
“What controversy?” said the journalist from a global mainstream television outlet to me at the Web Summit Media Dinner, earlier this month in Lisbon. For all the heat and light, the gnashing of t
DoorFeed raises another €7M for its platform allowing large-scale investors to hoover up family homes
Institutional real estate investors have historically struggled to buy up tons of family homes (the so-called “Single Family rental sector”) so they can turn us all into rental slaves and
Uber-for-parcels startup Relay raises $10M seed round to scale in the UK
Incumbents in the parcel deliveries space usually have fixed daily routes from suburban depots. But since most parcels are fairly lightweight, this is a bit of a hammer to crack a nut. So it makes sen
European investors grab the popcorn for the new ‘series’ of OpenAI, but are fearful of the fallout
With the OpenAI saga playing out across the pond, the European tech community has been waiting for the latest updates as if a new series of “Succession” was about to drop. Indeed, events h
UK-based Ooodles raises $12M to scale up its device-leasing services
While refurbished device marketplaces like Back Market have raised substantial amounts in funding (Back Market reached a $5.7B valuation last year after a D round) and Raylo in the UK provides leases
Lidl owner and Bosch Ventures co-lead $500M Series B into German AI startup Aleph Alpha
German AI startup Aleph Alpha has raised a Series B funding round of $500 million from a consortium of seven new investors, as well as existing investors from previous rounds. Founded in 2019, Aleph A
Lab-grown leather scales up as Gozen raises $3.3M from Happiness Capital, SOSV and others
Whether we like it or not, the leather industry significantly contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global waste generation. The current methods used to fulfil the increasing demand for le
Oxolo bags €13M for generative AI-driven video platform which can optimize engagement on the fly
Much has been made of AI-powered videos that can either make a real person speak different words or other languages, or generate a synthetic person that can speak on-demand. A few years ago former foo
Hoxton Ventures shoots for the big time, luring Bryan Gartner from Khosla Ventures
Everyone more or less agrees that 2023 is going to be effectively written off in VC-land. The feeding frenzy of the last few years has left everyone with more than a little indigestion: valuations hav
General Catalyst and European early-stage fund La Famiglia ‘join forces’ to invest in European startups
In a move that will help cement the incursion of U.S.-based VCs into the European ecosystem, General Catalyst and La Famiglia have announced they are, in their words, “joining forces.” That’
Palestine’s growing tech industry has been literally blown apart by the war between Israel and Hamas
Gaza, despite being one of the most economically challenged regions in the world, has ironically always been a tech hub — not only for Palestine and Palestinians, but also for the world: Interna
Tradeshift co-founder accused of sexual assault by company, allegations he denies
Tradeshift, a late-stage fintech startup that has raised over $1 billion in venture and debt, has dismissed its co-founder Christian Lanng, citing “serious allegations of sexual assault and harassme