Refurbished electronics saving e-waste, photonic quantum computing, OpenAI killing startups, and many more...
What's Up Tech? #156
Welcome to our 156th newsletter. It was written with 🖤 by Daniella Arnal, Mariam Makhmutova, Shashwat Kansal, and Justine Pelisson.
Fundraisings from last week with Refurbed, Quandela, PSG Equity, Acton Capital and Serena Capital
News from last week with Microsoft’s response to the AI chip shortage and OpenAI’s startup shake-up with Chat GPT-4 Turbo release
Internships & Job offers of the week
Enjoy the read! 🌞
📱 Refurbed raised $57M to expand its refurbished electronics marketplace across Europe (🇦🇹)
Refurbed, the Austrian marketplace selling fully refurbished electronic devices with warranties, secured $57M in a Series C funding round. Founded in 2017 and already profitable in Austria and Germany, the company plans to fuel its growth across Europe with the aim to promote sustainability in consumer choices. ♻️
This year, Refurbed celebrates a significant milestone of selling over €1 billion in gross merchandise value, the equivalent of saving 495 tons of e-waste…🌞
Refurbed Raises $57 Million For Its Renovated Tech Marketplace
💻 Quandela, a quantum computing French startup, raised €50m in Series B (🇫🇷)
Quandela secured €50 million in a successful Series B funding round, attracting support from key players in France. Quandela’s computers harness photons, offering greater stability when compared to conventional electron-based quantum computers. These photonic quantum computers are set to be marketed to industrial clients and hold the promise of eventually outperforming supercomputers. 🚀
After delivering Europe's first quantum computer to OVHcloud, Quandela will leverage the acquired funds to expand production. With three orders in the 2024 pipeline, the company also aims to grow its team and explore global opportunities in Asia and North America. 🎯
French Startup Quandela Raises €50m to Manufacture Commercial Quantum Computers
🤑 PSG Equity raised more than €2.6B for European Tech PE Fund
PSG Equity, a leading growth equity firm, has announced the final close of its second Europe-focused fund, PSG Europe II (PSGE II), with commitments exceeding €2.6 billion (surpassing its target and exceeding its predecessor fund, PSGE I). This fund will be dedicated to investing exclusively in European software companies. 🔍
PSG's investment strategy capitalizes on the ongoing digital transformation of the European economy and the fragmented nature of the European software sector. With nearly 200 professionals across Europe, North America, and Israel, PSG is one of the largest global teams focused solely on investing in growth stage B2B software companies, aiming to transform single-country, single-product software companies into multi-country, multi-product pan-European leaders. ☄️
PSG Equity Holds Final Close of Second European Fund at more than €2.6 Billion
😎 Acton Capital Closes Record-Breaking €225M Fund to support European and Canadian startups (🇩🇪)
Acton Capital, one of Europe's longest-standing venture capital investors, has announced the closing of its largest fund to date, ACTON VI, with €225 million to invest throughout Europe and Canada. The fund will focus on early growth-stage startups developing sustainable scaling strategies rooted in proven business models. 🧩
Dominik Alvermann, Managing Partner at Acton Capital, emphasised the importance of balancing an attractive growth profile and solid financial fundamentals in the current market cycle. The first investments from ACTON VI include Henchman, an AI-driven knowledge tool for lawyers; Klaus, a quality assurance solution for customer service; ECO Group, a platform for eco-brands; Seatti, a hybrid workforce management software provider; and Skribble, a Swiss e-signature service. ✅
ACTON VI: €225M to Back Companies Ready to Scale and Built to Last
🥳 Serena Capital raises €100M for its Data Ventures II fund (🇫🇷)
Right after having participated in Quandela’s latest round, Serena Capital just announced the closing of its latest fund: Serena Data Ventures II, at €100M. Serena Data Ventures II will be focusing on European startups developing technologies in AI, blockchain, and quantum computing. 🎲
French VC Serena Raises New €100m Fund to Back the ‘Invisible’ Technologies Behind Apps
💾 Microsoft's response to the AI chip shortage: a VC partnership
Amid the AI chip shortage, Microsoft is teaming up with its venture fund, M12, and Y Combinator to strengthen Azure's position as a leading platform for AI development by offering a no-cost Azure AI infrastructure option for high-end Nvidia-based GPU virtual machine clusters. 🤝
Microsoft plans to expand these partnerships with startup investors and accelerators over time. Annie Pearl, the VP of Growth and Ecosystems at Microsoft states that these free GPUs will be available for a limited time, with the goal of "training and fine-tuning use cases that unblock innovation." 💪
Microsoft Partners with VCs to Give Startups Free AI Chip Access
🫨 OpenAI's cutting-edge release sparks Startup shake-up
The release of OpenAI’s latest feature GPT-4 Turbo to create customized ChatGPT applications without coding, has stirred concerns within the startup community.🧐
While the advancements provide exciting opportunities for developers, some startups offering "wrapper" products around ChatGPT face serious challenges and potential disruption. Social media has even seen the emergence of the meme "OpenAI killed my startup," reflecting the almost immediate impact of these developments…🫣
The dynamic nature of the AI landscape suggests that adaptability and strategic evolution will be crucial for startups navigating this evolving terrain.⏩
OpenAI’s Developer Event Sparks Excitement and Fear in AI World
Internships
VC / PE Analyst - Via ID (Mobivia) (Paris)
VC Analyst Web3 - 50 Partners (Paris)
Visiting Analyst - Cavalry Ventures (Berlin)
VC Intern - Freigeist (Bonn)
VC Fellowship - NEA (Remote)
Jobs
Investment Analyst - CVX (London)
Venture Capital Analyst - RSBG Ventures (Cologne)
Investment Analyst - Market One Capital (Warsaw)
👉 If you’d like to discover more offers, you can check our job board just here or fill this form to submit a new one.
You can also read more about baby vc on our website and follow our updates on LinkedIn, or directly reach out to us at hello@baby-vc.co! 🤝
Have a wonderful week and see you next Tuesday!
The whole baby vc crew 🖤