Rewriting the M&A Playbook: Inside Visma’s Acquisition Strategy
Visma is redefining European M&A by buying early‑stage SaaS firms and letting them operate independently. The firm offers shared resources, mentorship from a founder‑centric board, and tools like Slack for cross‑company collaboration, while preserving each startup’s management and product roadmap. Notable deals include Holded (acquired in 2021 after a €15 m Series B, roughly $16.2 m) and Nmbrs (2020), where founders remain active and benefit from pooled data and pricing expertise. This model positions Visma as a growth‑partner rather than a traditional integrator.
Stop Telling European Founders to Move to the US
European founders are increasingly told to relocate to the United States, yet a new State of European Tech 2025 report shows 85 % want to stay, citing deep engineering talent and quality of life. Successful companies such as Wolt, Iceye, IQM and...
Carissa Véliz on the Dangers of Predictive AI
In a Sifted podcast, Oxford ethicist Carissa Véliz warns that predictive AI amplifies power imbalances, echoing ancient oracles that told leaders what they wanted to hear. She highlights how algorithmic hiring and firing can embed bias and opacity into corporate...
Meet the Sifted 100: Southern Europe's Fastest-Growing Startups of 2026
The Sifted 100 Southern Europe leaderboard, compiled with AI‑infrastructure partner Nebius, spotlights the region’s 100 fastest‑growing private firms based on two‑year revenue CAGR. Milan‑based Hotiday leads with a 1,331% CAGR by subletting hotel rooms, while fellow Milan startup Lexroom secured a...
EQT Has Won the EU's €5bn Superfund. Now What?
The European Union has appointed Swedish investment firm EQT to manage its new €5 billion (≈ $5.45 billion) Scaleup Europe Fund, a super‑fund designed to supply late‑stage capital to high‑growth European companies. EQT won the mandate after a competitive process that included Atomico...
Monzo Profits Soar Amid European Expansion
Monzo announced a record £1 billion (≈$1.27 billion) gross profit, marking its third straight year of profitability. Adjusted profit before tax jumped 20% to £172.6 million (≈$219 million) while revenue rose 39%, with four core streams each topping £300 million (≈$381 million). The bank added 3 million...
Mistral Strikes Second M&A Deal in Months with Austrian AI Startup Emmi
Paris‑based Mistral announced the acquisition of Austrian startup Emmi AI, a developer of physics‑based large engineering models that simulate complex industrial processes in real time. The deal follows Mistral's February purchase of French cloud‑deployment platform Koyeb, marking its second acquisition...
Exclusive: The ‘Lobby Wars’ Pitting Europe’s Chip Startups Against Semiconductor Giants
Six European semiconductor startups have banded together to launch a new lobby group called Voices, backed by the European Commission. The coalition seeks to amplify the interests of fledgling chip makers amid aggressive lobbying by industry giants such as Intel,...
Dutch Dronemaker Destinus in €200m Funding Talks, Reports Say
Defence tech startup Destinus, based in the Netherlands, is in talks to raise roughly €200 million ($218 million) ahead of a planned IPO. The company is targeting a valuation above €5 billion ($5.5 billion) on the back of projected annual revenues of about €500 million...
James Wise on Why the Sovereign AI Unit Criticism Is Wrong – and the One Company He Wishes He’d Backed
James Wise, partner at Balderton Capital, joins the Sifted Podcast to discuss his latest venture as chair of the UK government’s Sovereign AI Unit, a £500 million (~$635 million) fund aimed at accelerating artificial‑intelligence research. He explains the fund’s early investments in...
The Hidden Costs of Hiring Freelancers Across Borders — and How to Avoid Them
Hiring freelancers across borders offers speed and flexibility, but many firms stumble on compliance. Misclassifying workers as independent contractors exposes companies to six‑figure fines and multi‑million‑euro liabilities, especially during audits, funding rounds, or acquisitions. WorkMotion advises using Employer of Record...
Why Europe’s AI Leaders Are Heading to Nexus Luxembourg 2026
The third edition of Nexus Luxembourg will run June 10‑11 2026, gathering over 10,000 AI leaders, policymakers, and investors at Luxexpo The Box. The summit is divided into four zones—Intelligence Forum, Fintech Sphere, Launchpad Arena, and Luxembourg Makes It Happen—offering applied AI,...
The Talent Profile Europe's Top AI Scaleups Are Chasing
European AI scaleups are actively recruiting "Promethean founders"—individuals who have previously launched or failed at startups—to inject founder‑level resilience and speed into their teams. Research from EQT Ventures shows 75% of their founder pool scores extremely high on risk tolerance...
DeepMind Spinout Isomorphic Labs Raises $2.1bn
Isomorphic Labs, a DeepMind spin‑out focused on AI‑designed drugs, closed a $2.1 billion Series B round led by Thrive Capital. The round also included the UK Sovereign AI fund, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, Alphabet’s GV and Singapore’s Temasek, adding to a $600 million raise...
The AI Energy Crisis Is Bad. Wait Until Quantum Arrives
Europe is set to launch Magne, a quantum computer built by Microsoft and Atom Computing in Denmark, backed by €80 million (≈$87 million) from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and EIFO. The article warns that as quantum computers become commercially viable, their energy...