As the businesses are bouncing back to normalcy after the COVID-19 crisis, there has been an increase in funding activities across Europe. Several tech startups across Europe are focused on growing and taking their businesses to the next level, these companies have raised funding. Most companies intend to use the investment to expand their team and accelerate their business.
European tech startups weekly
As a part of a weekly roundup, here is a list of some of the most important tech startups that have hit the headlines in Europe this week.
French insurtech platform
QantEv is a French startup that develops an enterprise platform for health insurers. This startup secured $1.7M (nearly €1.4M) seed funding in a round led by Elaia Partners along with British deep tech investor Entrepreneur First and angels including Gwénaël Moy, former CEO of AX. The insurtech startup will use the investment to continue developing the AI platform and expand into new markets. Also, Gwénaël Moy will join the QantEv board.
Founded in 2019 by Tarik Dadi, QantEv claims that its platform trains predictive models on millions of insurance claims in order to build a holistic view of patients and providers behaviour. As per the company, it helps insurers select the best network providers, improve quality of care and reduce costs.
Online mental health platform
Togetherall, an online mental health platform has bagged $10M (nearly €8.5M) funding from FPE Capital LLP. Besides the funding, Togetherall will accelerate its expansion into the North American market and focus on the US market with continued growth in the UK and Canada. The investment boosts Togetherall’s ambition to provide a great positive impact on those who use its service and accelerate product development.
The company is known for providing access to a community and professional support to millions of people across the UK, New Zealand, Canada, and the US, 24/7, all through the year. Its clinically-managed online community supports people with their mental health via 24/7 anonymous peer-to-peer support. Founded in 2007, Togetherall has helped more than a quarter of a million members with an increase during the pandemic crisis.
UK-based eSports startup
Fnatic, a UK-based eSports startup secured $10M (nearly €8.5M) funding in an internal funding round. The investment round was led by VC firm Beringea along with participation from existing investors JHD, LVL1 Group and Unbound. The funding will be used for the global growth of the Fnatic brand and back its high-performance eSports teams. Also, the company launched a crowdfunding initiative with Crowdcube to let fans invest in the business.
Founded in 2004 by Sam Mathews and Anne Mathews, Fnatic has been ranked as one of the most viewed teams consistently among western eSports fans. The company has teamed up with Gucci, BMW, OnePlus, Monster, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and more.
Finnish proptech startup
Finnish proptech startup Linear has closed €1.1M seed funding led by Innovestor Ventures along with participation from institutional and existing investors such as Superhero Capital. This investment will be used to develop its SaaS tool and expand into new markets as well.
Linear was founded back in 2018 in Helsinki. The proptech startup helps them manage the sales process and acquire new clients with the deployment of digital marketing tools such as virtual interior designs and apartment tours.
Flying taxi startup to open Florida hub
Lilium, a German flying air taxi startup has announced that it will open a hub in Florida in five years. The company hopes to fly passengers between New York and Boston in just an hour. To date, the Munich-based startup bagged $375M (nearly €317.5M) funding from numerous investors.
The primary hub called vertiport is set to be open in 2025. It is believed to be the primary location in the statewide community spanning around 2000 miles, notes the company. The Lilium air taxi called Lilium Jet is a vertical take-off and landing vehicle that can carry four passengers and a pilot. It can fly 186 miles in just one hour.
3D audio technology
Audioscenic has announced that it has secured £1.5M (nearly €1.67M) funding from Foresight Group and Williams Advanced Engineering in a round strongly backed by IP Group, an existing investor. The company will use the investment to hire additional technical, as well as commercial staff to develop and expand its offering and launch its technology with select customers.
Audioscenic was spun out if the Institute of Sound and Vibrational Research (ISVR) at the University of Southampton in 2017. Its technology was developed by Dr. Marcos Simón and Prof. Filippo Fazi.
Banking-as-a-Service startup bags funding
London-based Railsbank, a Banking-as-a-Service platform has secured $37M (nearly €31.3M) as part of continued equity funding to support its global growth and product expansion. MiddleGame Ventures and Ventura Capital, both existing investors in Railsbank, co-led the round, with Anthos Capital, Global Brain, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Moneta VC, Mitsui Fudosan and Firestartr also participating.
The new investment will enable Railsbank to continue to expand its global footprint, further strengthen its core product proposition, launch Credit Cards as a Service and help increase its lead in embedded finance as the world’s pre-eminent BaaS platform, enabling startups and established brands to prototype, launch and scale financial products within their own customer experience.
The Railsbank platform connects fintech companies and banks together. It provides fintech companies with a range of wholesale banking services such as IBANs, receiving money, sending money, converting money, direct debit, issuing cards, and managing credit through APIs. It was founded in 2015 by Nigel Verdon and Clive Mitchell.
Main image picture credits: Lilium
