The Latest from Steve O'Hear
With two new funds, LocalGlobe has more latitude than ever
“You wanted me to record this?” asks Saul Klein, LocalGlobe founding partner. “Just in case you say anything interesting,” I quip back. “I won’t be doing most of the talking, so maybe
Atomico’s talent partners share 6 tips for early-stage people ops success
There are still a number of surefire measures any early-stage company can and should put in place to achieve "people ops" success as they begin scaling.
Butter is building an ‘all-in-one’ platform to run virtual workshops
Butter, a startup registered in Denmark but operating fully remote, is building an “all-in-one” platform for planning and running virtual workshops. Offering video software and other featu
TrueLayer raises $70M for its open banking platform
TrueLayer, the London startup that offers a developer-friendly platform for companies, including other fintechs, to utilise open banking, is disclosing $70 million in new funding. The Series D round i
Bob W, the ‘tech-driven’ hospitality provider, raises €10M in seed funding
Bob W, the self-described “tech-driven” hospitality provider that offers an alternative to traditional hotels and short-stay rentals, is disclosing €10 million in seed funding. Leading t
Charles raises €6.4M seed to bring ‘conversational commerce’ to WhatsApp
Charles, a Berlin-based startup that offers a “conversational-commerce” SaaS for businesses that want to sell on WhatsApp and other chat apps, has raised €6.4 million in funding. Led by
Zapp, the on-demand delivery and ‘dark’ store operator, picks up backing from Lightspeed and Atomico
Zapp, one of a number of startups currently battling it out in London and beyond by promising to let you order everyday items on-demand from its own delivery-only stores, has quietly raised a new roun
Nested, the UK-based ‘modern’ estate agent, raises additional £5M to improve the home-selling experience
Nested, the London-based startup that is using technology to build a “modern” estate agency and improve the home-selling experience, has raised an additional £5 million. Backing comes fro
MessageBird acquires 24sessions to bring video to its ‘omnichannel’ platform
MessageBird, the omnichannel cloud communications platform recently valued at $3 billion, is continuing to ramp up its M&A activity. Following last year’s acquisition of Pusher, a company th
Finch Capital acquires Wirecard Turkey
Finch Capital, the early-stage fintech VC with a presence in London and Amsterdam, is acquiring Wirecard Turkey, a subsidiary of Wirecard, the disgraced fintech out of Germany. The acquisition, for wh
Everli, the European marketplace for online grocery shopping, bags $100M Series C
Everli, the European marketplace for online grocery shopping that started in Italy but now also operates in Poland, Czech Republic and France, has raised a $100 million in Series C funding. The round
Gorillas, the on-demand grocery delivery startup, raises $290M and ‘surpasses’ $1B valuation
Gorillas, the Berlin-HQ’d startup that promises to let you order groceries and other “every day” items for delivery in as little as 10 minutes, has raised $290 million in Series B fu
Ribbon wants to make it easier for product teams to interview users
Everybody says they want to build user-centric companies and products, but how exactly is that achieved? Talking and listening to users, of course — a task that is both unnecessarily time-consum
Digital banking solutions provider Meniga closes additional €10M investment
Meniga, the London fintech that provides digital banking technology to leading banks, has closed €10 million in additional funding. The round is led by Velocity Capital and Frumtak Ventures. Also pa
Clubhouse UX teardown: A closer look at homepage curation, follow hooks and other features
UX expert Peter Ramsey and TechCrunch reporter Steve O'Hear discuss some of Clubhouse's UX challenges as it continues to onboard new users at pace while it strives to create enough stickiness to keep
Swedish fintech Zaver raises $5M to bring cardless payments and BNPL to ‘durables’ sector
Zaver, a Swedish fintech that enables merchants to accept cardless payments and offer buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) as an option, has raised $5 million in new funding. The company, which began life focused
Saleor scores $2.5M seed round for its ‘headless’ e-commerce platform
Saleor, a Poland and U.S.-based startup that offers a “headless” e-commerce platform to make it easier for developers to build better online shopping experiences, has raised $2.5 million i
Fulfilment startup Cubyn raises €35M to expand across Europe
Cubyn, the Paris-based logistics startup that lets e-merchants outsource fulfilment and delivery logistics, has raised another €35 million in funding. The round is led by Eurazeo and Bpifrance Large
Dija acquires Cambridge-based Genie to expand its 10-minute grocery service across UK
Dija, the London-based grocery delivery startup backed by Blossom Capital, Creandum and Index Ventures, has acquired Cambridge, U.K.-based Genie, in what looks in part like an acqui-hire. The deal, fo
Wise accuses former Brazil banking partner of smear campaign after ‘unfounded’ accusations of fraud
Wise, the London-headquartered company that made its name offering international money transfers and is reportedly planning an IPO, has accused its former banking partner in Brazil of a “smear c