Fitness gaming, Next 40, more money for late stage European companies, and many more...
What's Up Tech? #125
Welcome to our 125th newsletter. It was written with 🖤 by Saish Rane, Medina Sinani and Angèle Sahraoui
In 2023, baby vc is proudly sponsored by OneRagtime which will fund enrolment fees for the 2023 VC bootcamps participants, to promote diversity and inclusivity in the VC ecosystem — giving everyone the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background.
OneRagtime is a European Seed & Series A venture capital fund with 40+ portfolio companies like Jellysmack, Homa Games and Zenly.
Follow OneRagtime on LinkedIn and check their website!
Fundraisings from last week with Pliant, Quell and Brigad
News from last week with the European Tech Champions Initiative, Next 40 and French Tech 120
Internship & Job offers of the week
And before we dive' into this week’s newsletter, we’re thrilled to announce our partnership with OneRagtime, a European top-tier Seed & Series A fund with portfolio companies like Jellysmack and Homa Games. 🇪🇺
This collaboration is a major step towards promoting diversity and inclusivity as OneRagtime will be subsidizing the enrollment fees for selected candidates.
We’re 100% committed to helping level the playing field and giving everyone the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background, and ultimately paving the way towards better outcomes and more innovation. 🚀
This partnership with OneRagtime is a big step in the right direction, and we’re eager to see the impact it will have on the industry!
Now, wishing you a pleasant read 🖤
💳 Pliant raised $28M with SBI Investment (🇩🇪)
Berlin-based FinTech Pliant has secured $28M in a Series A funding round to support plans to expand further into European markets in 2023. The round was led by Japan’s SBI Investment and included existing investors such as Alstin Capital, Motive Ventures, neosfer, and MS&AD Ventures. 🕺🏻
Pliant's B2B solution allows companies to optimize their payment processes with physical and virtual credit cards that seamlessly integrate into existing financial processes and software tools. In addition, the fintech leverages its expertise in the field of B2B credit cards, allowing other financial software companies partnering with Pliant to embed its solutions into their existing products. 💵
Despite the challenging market environment for startups, Pliant's exceptional performance and strong growth potential have enabled it to secure significant funding. The Series A round is the largest fintech financing in Germany in 2023 and a clear sign of confidence in the company's vision and unique approach. ⭐️
Pliant plans to use the capital raised to deepen and expand the technical capabilities of its credit card solution, as well as to further expand its successful go-to-market approach in new regions. 🌏
👾 Quell raised $10M with Tencent (🇬🇧)
Quell is a UK-based gaming company that crafts personalized gaming experiences through its Impact connected workout device. It raised $10M with Tencent and also counted the presence of its existing investors like Khosla Ventures, Heartcore Capital, Social Impact Capital and Naval Ravikant. 💪
In doing so, they aim at bringing fitness gaming to the forefront and launching their first shadowboxing game, Shardfall as well as supercharge orders for their Impact device. 🥊
Tencent galvanises fitness gaming studio Quell, helping it raise $10 million series A
👨🍳👨⚕️ Brigad raises $30M to further expand its freelancer marketplace
Paris-based start-up Brigad announced a new funding round led by Balderton Capital and with participation from Wendel Group, Serena Capital and Square Capital. 💰
Brigad acts as a marketplace that connect freelancers with restaurants, caterers, private clinics, retirement homes and hospitals to streamline the search for and completion of short-term missions. 🤝
The startup originally started with the hospitality industry in France but expanded to the care sector a couple years ago—an evolution that was boosted by unfavorable working conditions in the healthcare industry and an increasing willingness on the part of healthcares workers to become independent freelancers.
The main objectives behind this fundraising? Accelerating where Brigad is already present, both geographically (France, UK) and sector-wide (healthcare, hospitality). 🚀
Brigad raises $30 million for its freelancer marketplace for hospitality and care workers
🇪🇺 EIB launches new fund of funds to back European late stage tech companies
The European Investment Bank announced in collaboration with France, Germany, Spain & other European countries, a new €3.75B fund of funds called the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI) that will support the much-needed late-stage financing of European tech companies. 💶
With France, Spain and Germany each pitching in €1B to create this fund, this initiative aims at filling the gaps for companies looking to raise funding rounds larger than €50M which is mostly invested by international growth funds. 📈
Launch of New Fund of Funds to Support European Tech Champions
🇫🇷 French Government Unveils Next 40 and French Tech 120
It has now become a ritual: the French government unveiled on Monday what it considers to be the 120 most promising French startups, with a special spot for the top 40 ones called Next 40. 🏆
What changed since last year? Well, not that much. 29 of the Next 40 companies remained the same, but with notable new entrants like EcoVadis, Electra, NW Storm, Innovafeed or Pigment. 👀
To put this list together, the government mostly looked at money raised (with comps valued at >$1B automatically locking their spot in the Next 40) but also at revenue generated and growth. 💵
However, and on a more negative note, only 15 companies out of 120 have at least one female co-founder or CEO. 😕
These are the biggest French startups in 2023 according to the French government
Internships
Associate Intern - Yttrium (Munich or Frankfurt)
Visiting Analyst - Redalpine (Berlin)
Jobs
Venture Science Climate Associate - Marble (Paris)
👉 And if you’d like to discover more offers… you can check our job board just here!
Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at joinbabyvc@gmail.com. We’d be super happy to have you sharing job/internship offers, events or feedback with us! 🤝
You can also read about us on our website and follow what we do on LinkedIn.
Take care, and see you next week,
The whole baby vc crew 🖤