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Hi Sifted reader,

Only last week we reported that seed-stage funding in Europe went up in June, and the UK took a wedge of that for itself (€187m). But who are the seed-stage VCs driving that investment? Find out below. Plus:

• Europe’s first dedicated fund for quantum startups

• A new fund for deeptech startups

• How to better support menopausal people at work

— Sophie, writer & Tom, digital editor

The UK dominates Europe’s startup scene. It attracted $40.6bn worth of venture capital funding in 2021, boasts 48 unicorns and has more than 40k startups to its name.

But who's behind that investment? Using Dealroom data, Sifted's compiled a list of the top seed-stage VC firms investing in the UK.

Can you name them all?

In 2017 European unicorns were valued at a total of $395.5bn. Today they're valued at $1.6tn. Read Affinity's latest report to discover how unicorns are being funded, how they're growing and how they're dealing with today's market.

Europe has finally got its first dedicated quantum fund in Paris-based Quantonation. The €91m fund will be used to back startups from seed to Series A.

And it already has 19 companies in its portfolio, including spinouts from Oxford University, MIT and École Polytechnique.

So is it right to bet on a quantum future?

Elaia's new €77m deeptech fund will invest in 30 to 40 pre-seed and seed startups across Europe with a focus on sectors like AI, data science, digital health and cybersecurity.

And in a rare move for a traditional VC, it has partnered with Inria, a French public research institute focused on computer science that plans to create 100 deeptech startups per year by 2023.

So how will the partnership work?

1 in 10 women quit their job because of the menopause, according to a recent UK poll.

But founder of menopause supplements startup MPower, Rebekah Brown, thinks that figure is much higher, as many women don't tell their managers they're going through it.

So how can you better support menopausal people at work?

Sifted Summit 2022 | London | October 5-6

This autumn we’re filling three stellar stages with fresh content and the very best from the startup industry. Hear from Bloom & Wild, 1000 Black Voices, Sojo and many more.

Get your super early-bird ticket today.

What do Pale Blue Dot and World Fund think about gigacorns?

With investment in climate tech growing at 5x the rate of other sectors, should VCs be betting big? Join us on July 13 to find out what to look for when searching for the next gigacorn.

RSVP.

As recently as April London-based events startup Pollen raised $150m, having caught the attention of some Europe’s best-known VCs, including Northzone and Molten Ventures. But since then things have gone downhill fast, with the startup cutting more than one fifth of its staff and failing to refund customers for event cancellations. So what went wrong?

🐝 Inside Pollen: the startup that owes ‘thousands’ to customers

🧾 Pollen misses payroll amid acquisition talks

Elsewhere on Sifted:

💳 As payment fraud reaches ‘epidemic’ levels, what can we do to prevent it? (Sponsored by Truelayer.)

Sophie Zhang

Editorial Assistant

Get in touch with them at sophiezhang@sifted.eu

Tom Nugent

Digital Editor 

Get in touch with him at tomnugent@sifted.eu
Or tweeting at @TJNugent92

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