Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses across the world are bouncing back to normalcy but they are urged to take some precautions and measures to curb the spread of the virus. During this time, the European tech startups are approaching the crisis with practical solutions. Also, the activity in the European tech startup ecosystem right now shows that these companies are focused on growth despite the dull times caused by the pandemic.
European tech startups weekly updates
Here is a roundup of what happened in the tech startup area in Europe this week by Silicon Canals. Do check out to stay updated with the measures taken by successful tech startups.
Fairphone 2 to get Android upgrade
Amsterdam-based sustainable smartphone startup Fairphone has confirmed that Fairphone 2, which was launched back in 2015 will get continued software support. While a majority of Android smartphones launched back in 2015 are unusable contributing to global e-waste pollution and emissions, Fairphone 2 will get the Android 9 upgrade. Notably, it is one of the few smartphones released five years back to get the upgrade.
The company debuts public testing of Android 9 upgrade for the Fairphone 2 and the first beta version will be rolled out to users. Founded by Bas van Abel in 2010, Fairphone designs, produces, and sells smartphones to raise awareness for the most urgent environmental issues. Unlike other smartphone makers, it is building a market for ethical phones and wants to act more responsibly.
Catawiki reports strong growth despite COVID-19 crisis
Amsterdam-based startup Catawiki, which is a leading online marketplace for special objects has announced a strong performance in 2019 and an accelerated growth in sales and profitability in the first half of 2020. Notably, in May, the company reported its seventh consecutive month of profitable growth. It has reported that its business witnessed a growth of 24% in 2019.
In 2019, Catawiki witnessed significant growth in sales of objects across categories such as art, watches, design, and collectibles. Its user growth in France and Italy also grew considerably. Founded in 2008 by Marco Jansen and René Schoenmakers, this online marketplace features over 67,000 lots across the world in more than 60 categories such as classic cars, antiques, watches, etc.
Dutch online platform supports manufacturers 24/7
SupportPoints is a Dutch online platform with a network of experts supporting manufacturers’ PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers) needs 24/7. It connects clients facing PLC problems with experts who support malfunctioning PLCs and software modifications. SupportPoints provides knowledge on how to serve controllers, both dated and recent ones from brands such as Schneider Electrics, Allen-Bradley, ABB, and Siemens.
SupportPoints is the brainchild of Peter Goeijenbier with over 30 years of experience in consulting maintenance engineering, design manufacturing, and workflow analysis. The company was launched with support from Moqod, a software development agency to meet the global PLC requirements. It is an intuitive and smart user-centric SaaS platform providing best practices of building web platforms and complex logic.
Dutch startup plants trees as you shop
TreeClicks, a free browser extension based in the Netherlands that plants trees for free when you shop at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart and thousands of other shops. A majority of its ad revenue is spent on planting trees. This startup connects e-commerce and reforestation in a bid to stop the environmental destruction caused by reckless shopping.
It is available as a free extension on major browsers – Chrome and Firefox. Once downloaded on your desktop, it will direct you to major e-commerce sites and earns an advertising fee from the websites for luring you as customers. TreeClicks was founded in Amsterdam by Jelle Bekirovic to minimise the negative impact on the environment.
Berlin-based brokerage startup secures funding
Homeday is one of the largest platforms in Germany to find the best local agents and sell properties. The company operates with the mission to revolutionise the real estate market all over the world by building the global destination for property owners who want to sell their properties. It provides real estate sellers a full brokerage service sans any commission.
Now, this startup that was founded in 2014 by Dmitri Uvarovski and Steffen Wicker has secured €40 million funding from Axel Springer SE and Purplebricks. Besides this investment, the Berlin-based startup is backed by Project A, a leading VC firm in Europe with offices in London, Munich and Berlin.
Dublin same-day grocery delivery startup bags funding
Irish online grocery delivery startup Buymie has announced that it has secured €5.8 million funding led by a new investor Wheatsheaf Group, which is the food and agriculture investment arm of Grosvenor Estate. The existing investors such as Act Venture Capital, Haatch Ventures, HBAN, and Sure Valley Ventures have also taken part in the funding round along with other notable investors.
With the latest investment, Buymie intends to speed up market expansion in both Ireland and the UK. Also, it will focus on its mission to reduce the environmental impact of grocery shopping. This online grocery delivery startup was founded by Artavazd Sokhikyan and Devan Hughes in 2015. And, it has secured €8 million funding to day. Earlier this year, Buymie signed a deal with Lidl Ireland to rollout its services in all major Irish cities.
Revolut launches Open Banking in Ireland
UK-based challenger bank Revolut has announced that it will launch an Open Banking feature in Ireland. With this feature, over 1 million of its retail and business customers can connect their bank accounts to Revolut and see everything in a single place such as balances and transactions along with bank account transactions all within the Revolut app.
The Revolut’s Open Banking feature lets the retail customers in Ireland connect their Permanent TSB, AIB, Ulster Bank, and Bank of Ireland bank accounts to Revolut. It has been built in partnership with TrueLayer, a leading provider of financial APIs. The objective of the challenger bank is to help people manage their financial life in an easy, quick and convenient manner.
Workspace management company gets new feature!
London-based Condeco is a leader in workspace management technology. Now, the meeting room scheduling software company has launched a new ‘return to office’ desk booking tool, which lets corporates to manage desk space in reduced capacity offices as employees return to offices. Staff will be able to book and check-in through an app just like reserving a hotel room or flight ticket. This helps manage demand and adhere to social distancing norms.
Founded by Paul Statham, Condeco is a growing company in this sector with offices in Europe, America, Australia, and Asia. It is a pioneer in scalable, cloud-based meeting room scheduling and workspace reservation solutions. The latest software lets companies to allot specific time to employes on a day-to-day basis. It will also enable automatic scheduling of deep-cleans for each desk or area.
Dutch challenger bank helps fight child exploitation
Amsterdam-based challenger bank bunq has joined forces with global charities. After the public beta programme, bunq has unveiled a new app called ‘Common Goals’. With this app, users can create a Common Goal whenever they want for any purpose and instantly share the same with anyone so that they can donate. Via this app, users can stay up to date on how much they have raised and can see the overall donations by the entire bunq community.
bunq, which was founded by 2012 by Ail Niknam has partnered with global charities and users can donate directly via the app. It aims to make the lives of users easier and make the world a better place. And, it has teamed up with five charities with the Common Goal launch and these include One Acre Fund, Free a Girl, Terre des Hommes, Salt Farm Foundation, and LittleBitz.
Main image picture credits: Homeday
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