Hello Sifted reader,

For most of the last decade, fintech has been the undisputed champion of European tech. It’s attracted the most capital of any sector, and 37% of Europe’s unicorns are in fintech, including household names like Klarna and Revolut — more than any other sector.

But the global downturn in tech funding has forced a reshuffle of investor priorities. According to Dealroom data, fintech was overtaken by both climate tech and deeptech for funding in the first quarter of this year. While 2021 and 2022 saw a deluge of fintech deals, the press releases have now slowed to a trickle.

Of course, we have to take the data with a big grain of salt. Caveats about reporting lags and the generally not-great state of private market data apply. But it is an indication of direction of travel.

And don’t worry; the deeptech figures aren’t inflated by a lot of hype-y generative AI deals. Germany’s Isar Aerospace clinched the world’s largest space deal this year. And Singapore’s Temasek led a €100m round in French quantum company PASQAL in January.

The world has slightly lost faith in the ability of VCs to back anything a) with a sustainable business model or b) that really has the ability to change the world — just look at the hubris that fuelled dumpsterfire deals like FTX or Quibi.

But quantum computing and autonomous vehicles (like those built by Oxbotica, which bagged a $140m round in January) seem a bit less frivolous. It’s unlikely that fintech will help solve wealth inequality — despite claims of increasing inclusion — but deeptech and climate tech do at least have the chance to, say, stop the planet from catching on fire.

Part of the strength of both of climate and deeptech at the moment is down to the fact that lots of subsectors — such as quantum — are maturing, which is bringing cash in. Biological work is getting easier to do outside of big university and corporate labs. A lot of climate tech — like solar and wind — already exists, it just needs building at scale (hence the rise of infrastructure startups).

It’s enough to give even a hardened tech journalist a bit of hope.

But it’s also a chance for Europe to find a new brand for its tech scene: one as a climate and deeptech hub. There are, of course, very significant hurdles to that happening. But I’ve always thought that Europe’s USP should be in promoting tech that's trying to make the world a less broken place, rather than simply a more convenient one.

The chance is now — will founders, investors and policymakers take it?

— Eleanor Warnock, deputy editor

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💰 Series A+

Alentis Therapeutics, a Swiss startup developing treatment for liver diseases, has raised a $105m Series C featuring Bpifrance.
Neuromod Devices, an Irish tinnitus treatment startup, has raised a €15m Series B.
Thynk, a Paris-based operations platform for the hospitality sector, has raised a $13m Series A.
Kodiak Hub, a Swedish supplier relationship management software company, has raised a €4.8m Series A.
EXplain, a French startup helping political parties and businesses influence public opinion, has raised a €6m Series A.

💰 Pre-seed & seed

Intmax, a Swiss Web3 infrastructure platform, has raised $89.4m.
Natix, a German startup using AI to capture metadata from CCTV cameras, has raised $3.5m.
Helio, a London-based Web3 payments platform, has raised $3.3m.
Hemblem, a French social media management startup for catering and hotel businesses, has raised €2.5m.
Olleyy, a Turkish football pitch booking platform, has raised $2m.
Qontrol, a Paris-based cybersecurity startup, has raised €1.5m from investors including Bpifrance.
Sedeo, a French startup helping businesses organise events, has raised €1.3m.
SandGrain, an internet of things platform for manufacturers, has raised €1.3m.
Theramir, a Cypriot cancer therapeutics startups, has raised €1.2m.
MXR Technology, an Austrian training platform that uses mixed reality, has raised €1m.

💰 Undisclosed

HolidaySwap, a UK-based travel platform, has raised $15m.
Abatable, a British carbon offsetting startup, has raised $13.5m.
Grand-Attic, a Turkish games development startup, has raised $10.6m.
Next Gate Tech, a Luxembourgish SaaS for the asset management industry, has raised €8m.
Skarper, a UK-based ebike startup, has raised £4m.
Prestatech, a German underwriting platform for banks, has raised €4m.
Virtonomy, a German virtual patient-based clinical trials platform, has raised €3.5m.
KredFin, a business loan fintech, has raised $2.2m.
Alcyconie, a French communications crisis management startup, has raised €2m.

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