These were the 10 biggest European tech stories this week
Robin Wauters
On a mission to boost the competitiveness of the European technology, startup and investment ecosystem(s), and help the Belgian tech ecosystem reach the next level while at it.
Happy Friday!
This week, Tech.eu tracked 10 technology M&A transactions and 64 tech funding deals totalling €227 million in Europe, Turkey and Israel.
Like every week, we listed every single one of them in our free weekly newsletter, along with interesting news regarding fledgling European startups, tech investors old and new, a number of good reads published elsewhere, government and policy news, as well as an overview of interesting lists, facts and figures from a wide variety of sources.
You can subscribe to our newsletter below to receive all this information in your inbox every Friday afternoon for free, but here’s an overview of the 10 biggest European tech news items for this week:
1) Spotify is reportedly considering a direct stock exchange listing, bypassing the typical IPO script.
2) The European Parliament wants the European Commission to ‘Trump-proof’ the Privacy Shield data sharing agreement between the EU and the United States after the new US administration threatened to roll back some privacy safeguards.
3) Flattr, an extension for online micropayments, has been acquired by eyeo, the parent company of AdBlock Plus. No terms were disclosed.
4) Israel-based Valens, a producer of semiconductors that is developing connected car technology, has secured an additional $60 million in financing. The round was led by Israel Growth Partners (IGP), and includes Delphi, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Goldman Sachs and MediaTek as new investors, in addition to existing investors.
5) Israeli VC firm 83North announced the close of its new tech fund at $250 million, its largest yet.
6) Fred Destin, one of European VC’s biggest personalities, is leaving Accel, the London-headquartered VC firm he joined from Boston’s Atlas Ventures in mid-2014, to focus more on seed investing.
7) Estonian startup Teleport has been acquired by employee relocation management platform MOVE Guides for an undisclosed sum.
8) British tech company Imagination Technologies saw its shares crash by more than 70% on Monday when it was told by Apple, its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches intends to stop using Imagination’s graphics technology in its new products.
9) Munich-based KONUX, an industrial IoT startup, has raised a further $9 million led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), bringing its Series A round to $16 million.
10) Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler and Bosch are teaming up to develop self-driving cars in an alliance aimed at accelerating the production of “robo-taxis”.
Bonus link: Europe’s 500 most prominent venture capital investors (Dealroom)