Hello!

Here’s what happened today in European Tech.

Deals

– Romania-born robotic process automation software firm UiPath rose 17% in the company’s stock market debut today after the software vendor and its investors reeled in $1.34 billion in the company’s IPO. The shares opened at $65.50, giving it a market value of $34 billion upon debut.

– Outbrain will pursue an initial public offering, with the Israeli company seeking a $2 billion valuation after the abandonment of its earlier attempted merger with rival Taboola.

– Turkish e-commerce platform Trendyol has received an additional $330 million investment from existing partner Alibaba in a capital increase. With this injection of capital, Alibaba now holds an 86.5% stake in the company.

– UK fintech and pensions provider PensionBee arrived on the London Stock Exchange this morning with its shares priced at 165p, giving it a valuation of £365 million on admission.

– French startup BlaBlaCar has raised a new $115 million funding round. While the company is better known for its long distance carpooling marketplace, BlaBlaCar has also added a bus marketplace.

– ATAI Life Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company aiming to make psychedelic drugs to treat mental health disorders, announced that it is planning to raise $100 million in an initial public offering. The Berlin-headquartered company, which counts billionaire investor Peter Thiel as one of its main backers, has submitted an S-1 filing to the SEC.

– Deliverect, a Belgian scale-up that connects Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Doordash, Just Eat Takeaway.com and more delivery companies directly to restaurants’ POS system, announced that it raised $65 million in a Series C funding round from DST Global Partners and Redpoint Ventures.

– Israeli API platform RapidAPI announced today that it has completed a $60 million Series C financing round led by Green Bay Ventures with new investor Stripes and existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, DNS Capital, M12 (Microsoft’s Venture Fund), Viola Growth, and Grove Ventures.

– We also tracked a large number of (other) European tech funding rounds and M&A transactions, all of which we are putting in a handy list for you on Friday afternoon in our weekly roundup newsletter (note: the full list is for paying customers only). Also check out our European tech news section for ongoing coverage.

Worth Reading/Knowing

– The European Commission today announced tough draft rules on the use of artificial intelligence, including a ban on most surveillance, in an attempt to set global standards for a key technology dominated by China and the United States.

– The CEOs of Uber and Just Eat Takeaway today became engaged in a public spat after Uber announced it is planning to launch in Germany — a market that is currently dominated by Just Eat Takeaway.

– The EU’s new sweeping rules for Big Tech could soon be reshaped and look different.

– Danish late-stage fintech startup Pleo, which offers expense management tools and ‘smart’ company credit cards, says it plans to raise a $100 million Series C round of funding this summer.

– Revolut is beginning its expansion into China, kicking off a risky process that will see the challenger bank seek approval from Chinese regulators to operate in the country.

The London-headquartered financial technology business is seeking a “head of operations” for China who will work from either Shanghai or Beijing.

– France’s highest administrative authority on Wednesday avoided a direct clash with the EU’s top court while offering partial support for the country’s data retention practices.

– Bitpanda, the European investment platform that just recently reached unicorn status at a valuation of $1.2 billion, has launched a new product called Bitpanda Stocks, which offers investing in fractional shares, with the unique possibility of 24/7 access to investing.

– EU regulation on artificial intelligence must be designed to increase user trust, while unlocking innovation, writes Guido Lobrano, the vice-president for Europe for the Information Technology Industry Council.

Today’s Top Tweets

1/ It occurred to us recently that as a VC backed tech company, we don’t have any customers as shareholders. It’s weird. 🤯

About time to change it 👇🏼

— Kristo Käärmann (@kaarmann) April 21, 2021

Study shows that in 2019, 93% of €3.2B venture capital invested in Nordic companies went to male-only founding teams, 6% to mixed-gender teams & ONLY 1% to all-female teams. @robinwauters https://t.co/HA8xFXGrr2

— Amy Diehl, Ph.D. (@amydiehl) April 21, 2021

📢 This episode of the @tech_eu podcast with @Ilsoe & @AnnikaSjoberg_ is filled with more in-depth information from our latest report about why and how #gender affects #fundraising in Europe.

The outsized role of gender in European VC funding – Listen here ⬇️ #DEI #inclusion https://t.co/OKCBLOsnAj

— ngp capital (@ngpcapital) April 21, 2021

Congrats @danieldines & team @UiPath from everyone in the Earlybird family! #EBVCgang 🙌🏽 pic.twitter.com/Gwnx9KufZX

— Earlybird VC (@EarlybirdVC) April 21, 2021

Strengthening our commitment to diversity and inclusion, Delivery Hero is excited to announce its new D&I Advisory Board today with @itsjerilynne, @SigridKrajewski @niklasoestberg.
Learn more below. #likeheroes #deliveryhero https://t.co/jKIeONaHtw

— Delivery Hero (@deliveryherocom) April 21, 2021

Masked men associated with the brutal Lukashenko regime in Belarus have shut down @Imaguruby, the country’s key tech startup hub started by @TaniaMarinich, who now intends to continue its valuable work online #HelpImaguru https://t.co/2rvndmHvN7

— Mike Butcher (@mikebutcher) April 21, 2021

Well done Europe VCs. This makes you look like… not good people.
https://t.co/3RASsGaRPH

— Paul Johnston – @home / ruining TikTok for my kids (@PaulDJohnston) April 20, 2021

Berlin-based neobank for businesses @getpenta says its co-founder @jessica_hbach is leaving the company. I’m sure there’s a bit more to the story, but kudos to Penta for getting out in front of it and communicating clearly. pic.twitter.com/RQWDt2SA1e

— Robin Wauters @ Tech.eu (@robinwauters) April 21, 2021

👏👏👏@danieldines & @UiPath team for ringing the NYSE 🔔 today

👉 largest public cloud company born in Europe! 🔥🔥🔥

Feeling privileged to have been part of this journey from the early days 🙏🙏🙏#AccelFamily @RWong @algovc @Mkclements @Accel https://t.co/BTrLAUuaPy

— Philippe Botteri (@pbotteri) April 21, 2021

As part of @arctic15 activities we looked into “Why sustainable Stockholm is leading the way in impact investments”#impactinvesting #STHLMTECH #NordicMadehttps://t.co/x7WrN3G31V

— ArcticStartup (@arcticstartup) April 21, 2021

We aim to lead by example which is why our customers will now be able to shop based on the values they care about: Water Conservation, Worker Wellbeing, Reusing Materials, Animal Welfare, Reducing Emissions + Extending the Life of Fashion. Find out more: https://t.co/rcT80MeFjI pic.twitter.com/u3V0stuVma

— Zalando Technology (@ZalandoTech) April 21, 2021

Materialise invests €7.5 million to construct new Metal Competence Center, responding to increased demand for the technology as companies recognize the potential of metal 3D printing for serial production. https://t.co/IXJj8mBxrL pic.twitter.com/UwzLGzXx0f

— Materialise (@MaterialiseNV) April 21, 2021

Verity has reached a new milestone!
We are thrilled to announce that our autonomous indoor drone system
has officially completed 1 MILLION scans! (That’s a whole lot of inventory being tracked with no human interaction!) Cheers!#warehouse #drones #ItWorks #AUTOMATION pic.twitter.com/ShBD3rcXGY

— Verity (@verity_ag) April 20, 2021

Absolutely brutal research on the funding gender gap in EU. It’s not surprising, but it surely is depressing. How about less Super Europe League and more funding for are female entrepreneurs?https://t.co/U5I9MR60Wc

— Alex Barrera (@abarrera) April 21, 2021

Given I’ve been with @rswidenbank for over 15 years, I’d have made a terrible founder of a dating app… Glad @mattjackrob and I convinced @t_blom to try fintech instead!

A fun read of our early days and the foundations of our first decade @GoCardless https://t.co/64Yw0UYMIk

— Hiroki Takeuchi (@hirokitakeuchi) April 20, 2021

BNPL comes to Russia… pic.twitter.com/m8MKHo71Kw

— Ryan Browne (@Ryan_Browne_) April 21, 2021

Congrats to our #DBVN member @cardlay who secured €8 million in financing from newly minted Global PayTech Ventures. 📰https://t.co/TFiGPfF6Bg

— Deutsche Börse Venture Network (@DBVentureNet) April 21, 2021

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Originally Appeared On: https://tech.eu/free/38097/today-in-european-tech-uipaths-ipo-trendyol-nabs-330-million-blablacar-raises-115-million-new-eu-rules-on-use-of-ai-and-more/