Revolut is Europe’s most valuable private tech company — and is set to become even more so soon, with a fundraise in the works which would see it valued at a reported $65m. The digital bank manages to churn out new features at breakneck speed — from pet insurance to travel bookings, and now mortgages and mobile plans — despite having over 50m customers around the world. The secret? Its “new bets team”: small, startup-like squads tasked with testing and scaling new products fast.On this episode of Startup Europe — the Sifted Podcast, fintech reporter Tom Matsuda joins host Amy Lewin to dig into how this team works — and whether the strategy is paying off. They also discuss the status of Revolut’s UK banking licence, the latest on its long-awaited IPO and what it’s like working with cofounders Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko.
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18:49
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18:49
Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen: "Europe doesn't need to become Silicon Valley"
Supercell is one of Europe's leading video game companies — with enduring hit titles like Clash of Clans and Brawl Stars under its belt. But, as CEO and cofounder Ilkka Paananen explains on this episode of Startup Europe — the Sifted Podcast, developing new and popular games is a tough business.He sits down with Amy Lewin to explain how Supercell tries to foster creativity by empowering its game development teams by giving them maximum autonomy, and by taking the fear out of failure through celebrating the lessons learnt with less successful game releases.Paananen also lays out why he's bullish on European tech, how AI will change gaming and how VCs can help his industry grow even more.
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33:59
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33:59
Is Mistral worth $6bn?
Once upon a time, Mistral was Europe’s buzziest tech company — raising a huge €105m seed round in 2023 to build GenAI models and compete with the likes of OpenAI.But as the sector's matured, and we’ve seen application-focused AI startups like app maker Lovable and defence tech Helsing rise to the top of the hype pile, how is the Paris-based startup living up to its early promise?The company has won some big clients, announced partnerships with giants like Nvidia and grown substantial annual revenues, but do they justify its $6bn valuation?On this episode of Startup Europe — the Sifted Podcast, senior reporter and French tech correspondent Daphné Leprince-Ringuet tells host Amy Lewin what the company is focused on today and whether she thinks it’s moving fast enough against ever-increasing competition.
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25:37
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25:37
The days of making easy money from coding are over, says former Stripe UK CTO turned founder Emma Burrows
If you work in tech, you’re likely in one of two camps: thinking about using AI agents, or already deploying tens of them.That’s why Emma Burrows cofounded Portia AI, a platform which helps businesses build and use AI agents securely, in-house — and which secured £4.4m in a seed round led by General Catalyst back in April.Emma's no stranger to a breakneck sector: before founding Portia, she was UK chief technology officer at payments giant Stripe, and previously built out the ecommerce stack at Charlotte Tilbury.In this week’s episode of the Sifted podcast, Emma joins editor Amy Lewin to talk about what AI agents can and cannot do, the very real risks they pose to junior engineering jobs — and why she doesn’t feel ‘mum guilt’.Key moments:0.00: Intro and about Portia AI3.00: How companies are using AI agents9.00: Impact of AI agents on junior engineers15.07: What AI Emma uses to code16.00: Transition from Stripe to founding a company19.15: Being a female founder in AI22.40: On 996 and hustle culture24.30: Emma's angel investing25.40: General Catalyst relationship27.30: The AI Act33.00: Quick fire questions and outro
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35:26
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35:26
Helsing: Challenges ahead for the defence tech unicorn
Defence tech unicorn Helsing — which raised a whopping €600m in June at a €12bn valuation — has swiftly become one of Europe's most intriguing and closely-watched startups. Defence is top of the agenda for many policymakers and investors at the moment, and four-year-old Helsing has been crowned the poster child for the rising European defence tech wave. But, despite all that, the Munich-based company is remarkably secret about what it actually does. On this episode of the Sifted podcast, defence tech and VC reporter Anne Sraders and editor Amy Lewin share what they know of the rather mysterious company's products and clients, what murmurings they've heard from defence experts and investors and discuss what they think Helsing will do with all that money in the bank.Key moments: 00:00: Intro to Helsing02:47: What does Helsing actually do?06:02: Shifting attitudes to defence tech08:49: Challenges and criticisms facing Helsing12:06: What will Helsing do with €600m?
Get to know the brightest and boldest names in European tech with Sifted’s weekly podcast, hosted by Amy Lewin. She interviews the founders, operators and investors building Europe’s most exciting startups and, in conversation with Sifted’s expert journalists, pulls back the curtain on the most intriguing companies they’ve been reporting on.
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