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Hi Sifted Reader,

Guess what? We have another unicorn in our midst! French warehouse robotics startup Exotec is the latest to join the stable — and has made one of its earliest investors some tidy returns. Find out about that below, and also see:

• The UK's most successful accelerators, ranked
• How to tackle sexism in the tech industry
• European IPO contenders this year 

Over 200 accelerator programmes have launched across the UK, which often bet on very early-stage founders who have not yet built a product or team.

 

But... do they work? And which accelerators are performing best?

Isabel Woodford dives into the data.

Early-stage startups can access a free growth plan for one year, as well as $50k in credits, via the Mixpanel Startups Program. 

 

Check your eligibility here.

Last year, 28 European companies went public via IPO or SPAC, a slight raise from 24 the year before. So who's next to list on the stock market?

Sifted has done some digging, interviewing analysts and VCs and diving into press cuttings to come up with a shortlist of likely IPO candidates.

Can you guess who they are?

Not yet a subscriber?

As a woman, when Lorna Armitage founded her cyber skills startup CAPSLOCK she thought, just maybe, that being a founder would mark the end of the sexist microaggressions she had experienced in the past 15 years of her career.

That was not the case. Instead, she found herself and her female cofounder being excluded in external meetings whilst conversation was being directed to their male cofounder.

 

Here’s what they did about it.

Having held leadership positions at top companies like Dropbox, Google and McKinsey, Olivia Nottebohm, chief revenue officer at Notion, has learnt heaps about organic growth at scaleups.

Sifted’s Anisah Osman Britton took to the Slush stage last November to pick Olivia’s brains on the role of community in that growth. TLDR: don’t underestimate the power of your superfans.

Get seven golden insights here.

Crypto is no longer seen as a niche corner of the internet. Over 15k companies across the globe now accept bitcoin, including big brands like Lush and Whole Foods and luxury organisations like Christie’s.

 

But what do startups getting into crypto payments need to know? And where are the biggest opportunities?

 

Dive into the details here.

Ecommerce, supply chains and a whole lot of SaaS is on the agenda for our upcoming Sifted Talks. Learn more about them below and sign up:

 

A boom in ecommerce = a supply chain in crisis | Online | Tomorrow

The pandemic gave ecommerce a massive boost but restrictions have caused a nightmare in logistics. Can startups fix the formula? 

 

Ecommerce needs to innovate — here's how | Online | January 26

97% of ecommerce CEOs want to innovate their business models in the next 18 months. Join our Sifted Talks to find out how startup brands can keep up with their consumers. 

 

Why we’re in a golden age for SaaS | Online | February 9

SaaS startups are seeing hefty valuations and sky-rocketing growth, but what’s driving the boom? Hear from the experts, including Paddle's founder and CEO Christian Owens.

🤖 French warehouse robotics startup Exotec raises $335m. That makes it France's fourth unicorn in just two weeks (!) Chris O'Brien speaks to the founder and finds out why ecommerce businesses are now jumping at the opportunity to unleash some robots.

 

🌱 A new sustainability fund. Swedish VC firm Verdane has closed a €300m impact fund, towering over other Nordic sustainability funds like Pale Blue Dot’s €90m fund and Norrsken’s €120m fund. Its focus is on startups in a range of impact sectors like energy, sustainable consumption and healthtech. Tickets will range from €10m-15m.

 

💳 Klarna's next acquisition. The BNPL fintech has bought a subsidiary of savings company Dreams, Dreams Securities. It's a securities business that offers investments in investment funds. Klarna savers can use the platform to put their money directly into different stock funds.

There's still time to kick off the year landing your dream job — Sifted has got heaps of exciting roles up for grabs below:

 

🤝 Are you a sales guru who loves building strong relationships with clients? We’re on the hunt for a target-driven B2B subscriptions manager to help us expand our membership activities with new and existing clients.

 

🤑 If you’re a master at selling media products like digital advertising, reports and newsletters, apply for one of our business development roles.

 

📊 We’re looking for a commercial project manager to create an amazing experience for our advertising and sponsorship clients. Whether it’s creating project plans or monitoring a client’s critical success factors throughout a campaign, communication is at the heart of this position.

 

📈 As a finance and operations data analyst you’ll take a lead on Sifted’s financial reporting, using data to help the business understand risks and opportunities clearly.

💡 Love diving deep into an emerging sector and figuring out which are the companies to watch? Then take a look at our intelligence analyst role, where you’ll be whipping up sector briefings for our Pro members. 

🩺 Digital health exits 2021. Speedinvest has crunched the numbers to find out how many digital health startups exited last year. Where are they from and what are their focus areas? Find out here.

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