Steve O'Hear
TechCrunch
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Steve:
With two new funds, LocalGlobe has more latitude than ever –
“You wanted me to record this?” asks Saul Klein, LocalGlobe founding partner. “Just in case you say anything interesting,” I quip back. “I won’t be doing most of the talking, so maybe someone will say something interesting,” Klein replies poker-faced, before grinning. Once again, I’ve agreed to an ensemble-style interview with multiple members of the […] → Read More
Atomico’s talent partners share 6 tips for early-stage people ops success –
There are still a number of surefire measures any early-stage company can and should put in place to achieve "people ops" success as they begin scaling. → Read More
Butter is building an ‘all-in-one’ platform to run virtual workshops –
Butter, a startup registered in Denmark but operating fully remote, is building an “all-in-one” platform for planning and running virtual workshops. Offering video software and other features dedicated to workshopping, the idea is to pull people away from using more generic tools, such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, which, arguably, aren’t well suited to workshops. […] → Read More
TrueLayer raises $70M for its open banking platform –
TrueLayer, the London startup that offers a developer-friendly platform for companies, including other fintechs, to utilise open banking, is disclosing $70 million in new funding. The Series D round is led by new investor Addition. Existing investors, including Anthemis Group, Connect Ventures, Mou… → Read More
Bob W, the ‘tech-driven’ hospitality provider, raises €10M in seed funding –
Bob W, the self-described “tech-driven” hospitality provider that offers an alternative to traditional hotels and short-stay rentals, is disclosing €10 million in seed funding. Leading the round, which included a first tranche of €4 million last year, is byFounders VC and private equity firm Finnish Industry Investment (Tesi). Other European real estate and venture capitalist […] → Read More
Charles raises €6.4M seed to bring ‘conversational commerce’ to WhatsApp –
Charles, a Berlin-based startup that offers a “conversational-commerce” SaaS for businesses that want to sell on WhatsApp and other chat apps, has raised €6.4 million in funding. Led by Accel and HV Capital, the seed funding will be used by the company to scale and meet existing demand for its conversational commerce platform. Launched in […] → Read More
Zapp, the on-demand delivery and ‘dark’ store operator, picks up backing from Lightspeed and Atomico –
Zapp, one of a number of startups currently battling it out in London and beyond by promising to let you order everyday items on-demand from its own delivery-only stores, has quietly raised a new round of funding from leading VCs, TechCrunch has learned. According to multiple sources, Silicon Valley’s Lightspeed and Europe’s Atomico (the VC […] → Read More
Nested, the UK-based ‘modern’ estate agent, raises additional £5M to improve the home-selling experience –
Nested, the London-based startup that is using technology to build a “modern” estate agency and improve the home-selling experience, has raised an additional £5 million. Backing comes from Axel Springer, alongside previous backers Balderton Capital and Northzone. Described as a “strategic investment,” Nested co-founder and CEO Matt Robinson tells TechCrunch that the round brings the […] → Read More
MessageBird acquires 24sessions to bring video to its ‘omnichannel’ platform –
MessageBird, the omnichannel cloud communications platform recently valued at $3 billion, is continuing to ramp up its M&A activity. Following last year’s acquisition of Pusher, a company that provides real-time web technologies, it is announcing that it has acquired “video-first” customer engagement platform 24sessions, and customer data platform Hull. Terms of the two new deals […] → Read More
Finch Capital acquires Wirecard Turkey –
Finch Capital, the early-stage fintech VC with a presence in London and Amsterdam, is acquiring Wirecard Turkey, a subsidiary of Wirecard, the disgraced fintech out of Germany. The acquisition, for which terms remain undisclosed and is still subject to regulatory approval, sees Finch create a new Ireland-registered entity called Nomu Pay. After facing a huge […] → Read More
Everli, the European marketplace for online grocery shopping, bags $100M Series C –
Everli, the European marketplace for online grocery shopping that started in Italy but now also operates in Poland, Czech Republic and France, has raised a $100 million in Series C funding. The round is led by Verlinvest, with participation from new investors Luxor, DN Capital, C4 Ventures, and Convivialité Ventures. FITEC (part of Fondo Italiano […] → Read More
Gorillas, the on-demand grocery delivery startup, raises $290M and ‘surpasses’ $1B valuation –
Gorillas, the Berlin-HQ’d startup that promises to let you order groceries and other “every day” items for delivery in as little as ten minutes, has raised $290 million in Series B funding, at a valuation that surpasses $1 billion. The round is led by Coatue Management, DST Global, and Tencent, with participation from Green Oaks, […] → Read More
Ribbon wants to make it easier for product teams to interview users –
Everybody says they want to build user-centric companies and products, but how exactly is that achieved? Talking and listening to users, of course — a task that is both unnecessarily time-consuming and cumbersome to organise, according to Axel Thomson, a former product manager at U.K. recipe-box subscription unicorn Gousto. His burgeoning startup, dubbed Ribbon, wants […] → Read More
Digital banking solutions provider Meniga closes additional €10M investment –
Meniga, the London fintech that provides digital banking technology to leading banks, has closed €10 million in additional funding. The round is led by Velocity Capital and Frumtak Ventures. Also participating are Industrifonden, the U.K. Government’s Future Fund and existing customers UniCredit, Swedbank, Groupe BPCE and Íslandsbanki. Meniga says the funding will be used for […] → Read More
Clubhouse UX teardown: A closer look at homepage curation, follow hooks and other features –
UX expert Peter Ramsey and Treporter Steve O'Hear discuss some of Clubhouse's UX challenges as it continues to onboard new users at pace while it strives to create enough stickiness to keep them active. → Read More
Swedish fintech Zaver raises $5M to bring cardless payments and BNPL to ‘durables’ sector –
Zaver, a Swedish fintech that enable merchants to accept cardless payments and offer buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) as an option, has raised $5 million in new funding. The company, which began life focused on P2P payments for marketplace transactions, is now doubling down on the durables sector (think: automotive, health & beauty, craftmanship etc.) for both online […] → Read More
Saleor scores $2.5M seed round for its ‘headless’ e-commerce platform –
Saleor, a Poland and U.S.-based startup that offers a “headless” e-commerce platform to make it easier for developers to build better online shopping experiences, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding. The round is led by Berlin’s Cherry Ventures, with participation from various angels. They include Guillermo Rauch (Vercel CEO and inventor of Next.js), Chris […] → Read More
Fulfilment startup Cubyn raises €35M to expand across Europe –
Cubyn, the Paris-based logistics startup that lets e-merchants outsource fulfilment and delivery logistics, has raised another €35 million in funding. The round is led by Eurazeo and Bpifrance Large Venture, with participation from First Bridge Ventures and Fuse Venture Partners. Existing backers DN Capital, 360 Capital, Bpifrance Smart Cities fund and BNP Paribas Développement followed […] → Read More
Dija acquires Cambridge-based Genie to expand its 10 minute grocery service across UK –
Dija, the London-based grocery delivery startup backed by Blossom Capital, Creandum and Index Ventures, has acquired Cambridge, U.K.-based Genie, in what looks in part like an acqui-hire. The deal, for which terms remain undisclosed, will see Genie founders Tim Chan and Callum MacBeth join the Dija team and also includes company assets. Having launched Genie […] → Read More
Wise accuses former Brazil banking partner of smear campaign after ‘unfounded’ accusations of fraud –
Wise, the London headquartered company that made its name offering international money transfers and is reportedly planning an IPO, has accused its former banking partner in Brazil of a “smear campaign” after it was accused of fraud — claims that Wise says are “false and unfounded”. The war of words between Brazil’s MS Bank and […] → Read More