These Were The Top 10 Tech Stories From Tech.eu This Week

 

Happy Friday!

We sincerely hope you and yours are keeping healthy and safe. Please take care of yourself and others.

This week, our research team tracked more than 60 tech funding deals worth over 900 million euros ($997.7 million), as well as more than 10 M&A transactions, rumors and related news stories across Europe, including Russia, Israel and Turkey.

Meanwhile, here’s an overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for this week (subscribe to our free newsletter to get this roundup in your inbox every Monday morning):

1) Estonian ride-hailing service Bolt said on Tuesday it has raised 100 million euros from London-based investment firm Naya Capital Management in a deal valuing the European rival of Uber at 1.7 billion euros.

2) Buyout group EQT has acquired a majority stake in Freepik, a Spanish online marketplace for graphics and stock photos. The deal values Freepik at 250 million euros, according to a report by local newspaper El Economista citing market sources.

3) Scandit, a Zurich-based enterprise platform for computer vision and augmented reality, has raised an $80 million Series C round led by G2VP, which was joined by Atomico, GV, Kreos, NGP Capital, Salesforce Ventures and Swisscom Ventures.

4) French cloud-based telephony platform Aircall has raised $65 million in Series C funding to capitalize on the surge in remote communication needs. The round was led by DTCP, with participation from new investors Swisscom and Adam Street, as well as existing investors Balderton Capital, Draper Esprit, eFounders and NextWorld.

5) British artificial intelligence drug discovery company Exscientia has raised $60 million in a Series C financing round led by a new investor, Denmark’s Novo Holdings, with existing investors such as Evotec, Bristol-Myers Squibb and GT Healthcare Capital chipping in.

6) Berlin-based Smava, a credit comparison platform that offers cheaper loan options to consumers, has raised 57 million euros from Kreos Capital, along with existing investors Earlybird, Verdane, Vitruvian Partners and Runa Capital. The round includes a mix of capital and growth debt.

7) Amsterdam-based venture capital firm henQ has launched its fourth fund, henQ 4, with a first close of 70 million euros. The Dutch VC typically leads pre-seed to Series A rounds in B2B software companies across Europe.

8) Decibel, a London-based customer experience analytics platform, has raised a $40 million Series B round led by Perwyn, a family fund in the U.K. The round also includes an initial investment of $17 million from Draper Esprit, Eight Roads Ventures and Ventureforgood. The company has raised $54 million to date.

9) Berlin-based startup Medwing, creator of digital HR management tools for the health care sector, has raised a 28 million euro Series B round led by Cathay Innovation, with participation from existing investors Northzone, Cherry Ventures and Atlantic Labs.

10) A unit of SoftBank Group-backed Indian ride-hailing company Ola will buy Amsterdam-based electric scooter company Etergo as part of its plan to locally build electric vehicles.