Spooky Startup Stories & Awesome Opportunities

Hey there,

Are you ready for your weekly dose of European startup news, insights and opportunities? :) Well, here you go:

?? Spooky Startup Failure Stories: Our Head of Content, Antonio, just published an interesting article named "When coffee runs dry & funds disappear: 6 European startup horror stories".

????EU-Startups Podcast:?We recently moved the EU-Startups Podcast to a weekly frequency, and in the latest episodes we interviewed?Alex Pavlov, Partner at the VC firm RTP Global, and?Rachel Delacour, the Co-Founder & CEO of Sweep - the?Paris-based carbon tracking startup which already raised about $100 million (from iPod inventor Tony Fadell and others).

?? GreenTech Funding:?Luxembourg-based Circu Li-ion, a battery upcycling company on a mission to save the planet by boosting the value of each battery, just raised €8.5 million. Danish biotech Bioomix raised €6.3 million to make agriculture more sustainable with microbial solutions.?Frankfurt-based TVARIT secured €6.5 million to accelerate zero-waste manufacturing in metal industries, and Helsinki-based climate tech Kausal scored €880k to help cities reach their sustainability goals.

???Unlocking the Potential of the Blue Economy:?In an endeavour to steer the global focus toward marine sustainability, Malta Enterprise presents the SDG14 Challenge. Mentorships, visibility and funding opportunities are up for grabs. Applications are now open!

?? AI Funding Boom:?Munich-based?Quantum Systems, a?leading?European innovator in dual-use drone-robotics, just finalised a Series B round of €63.6 million. Kota, an all-in-one platform to automate insurance and retirement benefits for modern teams, successfully closed a €5 million round. Piper, a Barcelona-based AI startup secured €3 million to automate repetitive tasks for sales teams, and London-based Klu raised €1.6 million pre-seed to enable companies to deploy and build their own AI-driven apps.

?? Foodtech Innovators: Hamburg-based GoodBytz?just secured €12 million to continue developing robotic kitchens which enable professional chefs to effortlessly amplify and reproduce their capabilities. Munich-based FarmInsect landed €8 million to manufacture protein-rich animal feed from insects, and Amsterdam-based Cheflix added €1 million to cook more masterclasses content from top restaurants.

?? Healthcare Startups: Berlin-based Lillian Care, a healthcare startup co-founded by serial entrepreneurs and veterans of the German healthcare industry, raised €2.4 million aiming to ensure primary care delivery in underserved areas. Madrid-based Galeneo Health closed a €1 million funding round to manage off-site hospitalisation services for patients.?Berlin-based Likeminded raises another €1.5 million to expand its mental health platform.

?? turnedVC Podcast: We recently introduced you to turnedVC, which is a fun show?where Marcin Lewandowski is interviewing some great people that turned venture capital investors. The four episodes which have already been released can be found here.

??? Our FutureTravel Summit last week in Barcelona was a huge success. Here you'll find the pitch competition winner, and here you'll more highlights an find some nice images from the event.

?? Join us as Investor: To further accelerate our growth and impact we (Menlo Media: EU-Startups / FutureTravel) have just gathered a fine group of selected business angels from across Europe, and you can very soon invest alongside them at the same valuation. In order to make this happen, we're planning to launch a Seedrs campaign in about two weeks from now. If you'd like to join the round but are not registered on Seedrs yet, make sure to register soon.?

?? EU-Startups On Tour: Our Startup Analyst?Francesca Romana Piccioli will be traveling to?Seoul (South Korea) next week to attend?COMEUP, a?global startup and innovation festival. And our Head of Content, Antonio?López Escárzaga will be traveling to Milan to participate in the EIT Health InnoStars Grand Final. Catch them if you can! :)

That's all we had to share with you this week. Have a lovely Sunday!

Your EU-Startups Team