The Latest from Steve O'Hear
London’s Jiffy picks up £2.6M seed to enter the grocery dark store race
Another online grocery delivery and “dark store” operator breaks cover today: London-based Jiffy, which aims to deliver fresh groceries and household essentials in around 15 minutes, has r
New challenger Ikigai combines digital banking and wealth management
Ikigai, a London fintech founded by former McKinsey partners, thinks there’s room in the crowded challenger market for a new premium offering that combines digital banking with wealth management
Wise’s Taavet Hinrikus and Teleport’s Sten Tamkivi partner in new investment firm — just don’t call it a VC fund
Taavet Hinrikus, the first employee of Skype and co-founder of fintech giant Wise (formerly TransferWise), is teaming up with Teleport co-founder and current Topia CPO Sten Tamkivi to create a new inv
Zego, the tech-enabled commercial motor insurer, raises $150M at $1.1B valuation
Zego, the insurtech that got its start by offering flexible motorbike insurance for gig economy workers but has since expanded with a range of tech-enabled commercial motor insurance products, has rai
Designing with accessibility in mind: a conversation
At TechCrunch Sessions: Justice, we examined the importance of ensuring products are designed to be accessible from the beginning. And how building the expertise of disabled technologists and advocate
Cosi raises €20M for its ‘full-stack’ approach to short-term rentals
Cosi Group, a Berlin-based startup offering an alternative to boutique hotels and managed short-stay apartments, is disclosing €20 million in new investment. Backing the round is Vienna-based Soravi
Backed by Blossom, Creandum and Index, grocery delivery and dark store startup Dija launches in London
Dija, the London-based grocery delivery startup, is officially launching today and confirming that it raised £20 million in seed funding in December — a round that we first reported was partial
Countingup closes £9.1M for its business current account with built-in accounting features
Countingup, the U.K. fintech offering a business current account with built-in accounting features, has closed £9.1 million in Series A investment. Leading the round is Framework Venture Partners, wi
Flink, the Berlin-based grocery delivery startup that operates its own ‘dark stores’, raises $52M
The on-demand grocery delivery industry in Europe (and beyond) continues to heat up amidst the pandemic, including a plethora of startups taking a vertical approach by operating their own delivery onl
Humaans raises $5M seed to make it easier for companies to on-board and manage staff
Humaans, a London-based HR startup, has raised $5 million in seed funding to accelerate the development of its employee on-boarding and management platform. Backing the round is Y Combinator, Mattias
Klarna confirms new $31B valuation
Klarna, the Swedish buy now, pay later behemoth and upstart bank, has raised $1 billion in new funding at a post-money valuation of $31 billion. That sees the company retain the crown as the highest-v
Sources: Lightspeed is close to hiring a new London-based partner to put down further roots in Europe
Update: Murphy has now confirmed his appointment in a tweet. Original story follows below… Lightspeed Venture Partners, the well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has backed the lik
TreeCard raises $5.1M seed to plant trees as you spend
TreeCard, a U.K. yet-to-launch fintech offering a spending card made out of wood and the promise to fund reforesting via the interchange fees generated, has raised $5.1 million in seed funding. The ro
VCs are chasing Hopin upwards of $5-6B valuation
Virtual events platform Hopin is hopin’ for a mega valuation. According to multiple sources who spoke with TechCrunch, the company, which was founded in mid-2019, is running around the fundraise cir
Katana raises $11M Series A to be the SaaS powering ‘manufacturing entrepreneurs’
Katana, an Estonian startup that has built manufacturing-specific enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for SMBs, has raised $11 million in Series A funding. Leading the round is European ventur
Gophr, the UK last-mile delivery company, picks up £4M funding
Gophr, a U.K.-based last-mile delivery provider, has raised £4 million in funding as it looks to invest in its product off the back of 300% revenue growth during the last 12 months. Leading the round
TransferWise rebrands as Wise ahead of an expected IPO
“Ten years in, TransferWise is now Wise,” screams the press release that landed in my in-box late last week. The fintech giant, most recently valued by private investors at $5 billion, is
Podimo, the podcast and short-form audio subscription service, picks up €11.2M in new funding
Podimo, the Copenhagen-founded subscription service for short form audio stories and podcasts, has raised an additional €11.2 million in funding. The round is led by Chr. Augustinus investment fund,
AccountsIQ scores €5.8M for its financial management software for multi-entity SMEs
AccountsIQ, a financial management software (FMS) startup founded by a team of chartered accountants (when accountants want to be entrepreneurs, you know startups are a thing), has raised €5.8 milli
Certific, a health tech startup from the founder of TransferWise, aims to be the rails for certified home testing
Certific, a health tech startup co-founded by TransferWise’s Taavet Hinrikus, is breaking cover today with the launch of what it claims is the first “certified” remote COVID-19 testi