UK’s flagship fund of funds backing female investors and founders announces first close at £130m

The UK’s first fund of funds with an explicit mandate to invest in female fund managers has announced a first close following team changes.

UK pension providers back £200m fund aimed at supercharging homegrown startups Ministers cheer landmark deal to unlock capital for fast-growing companies. The fund will bring in pension capital for UK venture.

UK pension providers back £200m fund aimed at supercharging homegrown startups

Over 100 startups left waiting for cash after EU-funded body collapses EIT Manufacturing trades blows with former backer EIT after filing for liquidation Over 100 startups left waiting for cash after EU-funded body collapses

Over 100 startups left waiting for cash after EU-funded body collapses

EQT and Atomico go head-to-head to manage €5bn EU fund A decision regarding the winner of the fund is “imminent”, a source with direct knowledge told Sifted EQT and Atomico go head-to-head to manage €5bn EU fund

EQT and Atomico go head-to-head to manage €5bn EU fund

Matt Clifford steps back from Entrepreneurs First after 15 years The pioneering accelerator’s cofounder and former CEO will transitions to a non-executive chair role, he announced on Wednesday.

Matt Clifford steps back from Entrepreneurs First after 15 years

How many government AI initiatives is too many? British politician Ed Vaizey asks for a more joined-up AI investment strategy from the UK government

How many government AI initiatives is too many?

UK’s flagship female founder fund loses two founding partners

EXCLUSIVE: The Women Backing Women fund of funds, which is yet to announce a first close, is down two partners.

‘Going into industry’ is still a dirty phrase for academia. We need to change this

OPINION: An interaction with a dying patient was the moment I realised I couldn’t stay in the lab — I needed to do something that would help science reach people faster.

Chip maker Fractile in talks to raise $200m at unicorn valuation, reports say

NEWS: London-based AI chip maker Fractile is seeking to raise $200m in funding at a $1bn valuation, according to the Financial Times.

European fintech is going AI-native

EXCLUSIVE: A growing number of fintech startups are making AI a core component of their offerings from the outset.

Credit data startup 9fin crowned Europe’s newest unicorn with $170m raise

NEWS: London-based analytics business valued at $1.3bn following Series C round Credit data startup 9fin crowned Europe’s newest unicorn with $170m raise

Europe’s top investors in climate, B2B SaaS, healthtech, fintech and consumer tech

RANKED: Sifted’s final roundup of the biggest cheque writers in 2025, covering everything from B2B SaaS and consumer to healthtech and fintech.

Manager decision imminent for EU’s €5bn Scaleup Fund — with fees still to be decided

SCOOP: The EU is expected to imminently name the investor chosen to manage its new €5bn Scaleup Europe Fund.

Europe has a deeptech advantage. Can it execute?

The HackSummit, taking place this year, is betting on European founders, investors and experts to meet the challenge of Europe’s deeptech moment.

Monzo shuts down US operations to focus on UK and Europe

NEW: Reversal comes amid broader transatlantic push by British neobanks.

Confessions of a tech ghostwriter: ‘I will help you scale cringe mountain’

ANALYSIS: Five writers on the secretive, well-paid job of making VCs and founders worth reading.

From hype to impact: How companies are scaling with AI

The companies that succeed start by identifying a real problem and then let AI become part of the solution.

European founders are obsessed with Silicon Valley. Here’s why I’m not

LATEST: While we celebrate European founders who ‘make it’ in the US, we overlook the category-defining companies thriving because they doubled down on Europe.

Making the most of Europe’s second mover advantage

OPINION: Tech sovereignty is a tough game — so maybe the region's startups should be playing differently.

Speedinvest cuts 10% of team after a period of churn

EXCLUSIVE: Following a period of employee churn, the early-stage investor is making further cuts to increase efficiency.

Mistral secures $830m loan to fund AI data centre build-out

French startup to acquire 13.8k Nvidia GPUs for its first data centre in the south of Paris Mistral secures $830m loan to fund AI data centre build-out.

EIF launches €15bn fund of funds to back 100 growth-stage VCs

This is the second iteration of the European Tech Champions Initiative, which launched in 2023 in a bid to boost late-stage startup funding in Europe.

AI notetaking startup Granola hits unicorn status with $125m Series C

The London-based company, which transcribes meeting notes for users, is valued at $1.5bn.

The ‘maverick’ founder Yann LeCun handpicked to run AMI Labs

After launching three AI startups, Lebrun has embarked on the ‘project of a lifetime’ as CEO of LeCun’s new startup.

Balderton, AVP in ‘covert plot’ to oust Cognism founder, court hears

NEW: Balderton Capital, AVP and other investors were accused of orchestrating a “covert plot” to oust the former CEO of Cognism.

These were the most active deeptech investors in 2025

EXCLUSIVE: Sifted tracked the 97 busiest cheque writers, in a year that saw investments rise 61%.

It isn’t just London calling. Here are the UK’s most investable regions

Regions across the UK are tapping government backing, leading research institutions and growing pools of capital to translate vision into results.

‘Fight like your lives depend on it, boys’: Sifted goes ringside at Europe’s first robot boxing match

NEW: I spent last Sunday in Zurich with the students who want to build the next unicorns

Crypto compliance startup Eunice raises $8m backed by Speedinvest and Moonfire Ventures

London-based compliance startup Eunice was ranked among the fastest-growing startups in the UK and Ireland by revenue.

Did robotics spinout Rivr sell to Amazon too early?

NEW: The ETH Zurich spinout, which builds delivery robots, sold to the US delivery giant for an undisclosed sum last week