Mike Butcher
TechCrunch
United Kingdom
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Recent articles by Mike:
As the new year beckons European investors start moving into new roles –
As the Holiday Season approaches, new jobs for players in the tech ecosystem beckon. And this is no less true for investors. Two notable moves have recently happened that are worthy of note in the European scene. The first is that GR Capital, a pan-European VC, is opening an office in London and has lured […] → Read More
Three of the best tackle the thorny issue of Brexit for startups at Disrupt Berlin –
The turbulence of Brexit has left both UK and European startups alike wondering about the best path forward. From recruiting to acquiring investment to scaling into other parts of Europe, the challenges seem to be mounting. By December, who knows what will have happened on the Brexit landscape, such is the chaos. At Disrupt Berlin […] → Read More
Rahko raises £1.3M seed from Balderton for quantum machine learning tech –
There remains a problem with the race to create a quantum computer, which is that experiments in this area can be extremely error-prone. Rahko is a new UK startup that thinks is can address this problem with what’s known as ‘Quantum machine learning’. It’s now raised a £1.3M ($1.6M) in a seed round led by […] → Read More
YouTuber Caspar Lee co-founds Influencer marketing platform, raises £3M Series A –
Despite the inexorable rise of social media influencers, several problems remain when it comes to brands trying to use these stars to push their products. The marketing tools and processes are fragmented (read: chaotic). Attaining some level of authenticity, quality and creativity in influencer-driven campaigns is tough, to say the least. And the whole thing […] → Read More
Social care startup Lifted raises £1.5M for end-to-end elderly care platform –
The number of elderly adults requiring home care is set to grow at an alarming rate in most western countries as people live progressively longer. But underinvestment in technology and healthcare means society is at risk of vastly under-delivering. It’s very hard to scale these service and subsequently, no company has more than a low […] → Read More
ClimateTech is the new hot space for investors in a warming planet –
How do you attract the attention of a prince? Aside from being Meghan Markle, of course. One answer came recently in the form of Prince Harry’s backing of a new initiative designed to make offsetting the carbon from your airline flights a properly mainstream idea. For Harry, the initiative had a double whammy. It might […] → Read More
Customer marketing platform Ometria raises $21M Series B round led by Octopus Ventures –
Back in 2017 Ometria, an “AI-powered” customer marketing platform raised $6m in Series A funding to add to the $11m it had already raised. Its platform is all about allowing retailers to send individually personalized marketing messages across several brand touchpoints. Today it’s announced that it’s raised $21m in a Series B funding led by […] → Read More
Lookiero closes $19M led by MMC Ventures to be the Stitch Fix for Europe –
Lookiero, the online personal shopping service for clothes and accessories, has closed a $19 million funding round led by London-based VC MMC Ventures with support from existing investor All Iron Ventures, and new investors Bonsai Partners, 10x and Santander Smart. The company will use the backing to expand in its main markets of Spain, France […] → Read More
On-demand plant food startup Simple Feast raises $33M B round to push its climate credentials –
At Greta Thunberg heads back to Europe from the US after radicalizing a generation, entrepreneurs are quickly realizing that there is a zeitgeist to be gotten hold of here. With food production a major contributor to climate change, tt’s no surprise then that on-demand food startups are appearing to cater to this new audience. Simple […] → Read More
Remagine secures $35M fund backed by media giants to focus on entertainment and media tech –
Remagine Ventures is a relatively new European VC fund which focuses on investments in entertainment tech, including AI, gaming, sports & eSports, AR/VR, consumer and commerce. It’s now completed $35 million in funding from a number of entertainment and media corporations, including Axel Springer and ProsiebenSat1, Japanese Adways and American Liontree LLC. Last year global […] → Read More
Adarga closes £5M Series A funding for its Palantir-like AI platform –
AI startup Adarga has closed a £5 million Series A fundraising by Allectus Capital. But this news rather cloaks the fact that it’s been building up a head of steam since it’s founding in 2016, building up – what they say – is a £30 million-plus sales pipeline through strategic collaborations with a number of […] → Read More
Wikipedia blames malicious DDOS attack after site goes down across Europe, Middle East –
Wikipedia was forced offline in several countries Friday after a cyber attack hit the global encyclopedia. Users across Europe and parts of the Middle East experienced outages shortly before 7pm, BST, according to downdetector.com. Wikimedia’s German Twitter account posted: “The Wikimedia server…is currently being paralysed by a massive and very broad DDOS [distributed denial of […] → Read More
Uber has surveyed some drivers on small loans, suggesting financial products are coming –
Back in June Uber went on a hiring spree in New York, hiring at least 100 fintech-oriented tech workers to ostensibly look at creating products to increase loyalty and engagement among users and drivers, including things like banking. Cue a flurry of speculation. It now looks like Uber is taking baby-steps towards building such a […] → Read More
PrimaryBid closes $8.6M round for its platform aimed to help retail investors –
PrimaryBid, a UK-regulated platform connecting publicly listed companies with everyday investors for discounted share issuances has previously raised $3M. It’s now upped those stakes with an $8.6M funding round, led by UK VCs Pentech and Outward VC with participation from new and existing investors. Craig Anderson, a partner at Pentech, will join the PrimaryBidBoard of […] → Read More
Endurance events startup Let’s Do This raises seed cash from Serena Williams, Usain Bolt –
Let’s Do This is a YC alumni startup form 2018 which is a marketplace for endurance events, from a 5k fun run or an IronMan triathlon. It’s now raised a $5M seed round with Serena Williams and Usain Bolt participating. The round was led by Pete Flint (Partner at NFX, formerly Trulia, LastMinute). Other investors […] → Read More
Is Knotel poised to turn WeWork from a Unicorn into an Icarus? –
The day of reckoning for the “flexible office space as a startup” is coming, and it’s coming up fast. WeWork’s IPO filing has fired the starting gun on the race to become the game-changer both in the future of property and real estate but also the future of how we live and work. As Churchill […] → Read More
Workspace provider Knotel secures $400M, putting it in WeWork’s rear-view mirror –
While some analysts are calling WeWork’s IPO filing as a ‘masterpiece of obfuscation’ and the esteemed tech observer Professor Scott Galloway simply calls it “WeWTF” There is another company which is coming up fast in the “WeViewMirror” – if you will – and that’s Knotel. Also a ‘flexible workspace provider’ Knotel has reversed the WeWork […] → Read More
YC’s Earth AI closes funding for its platform to make mining less wasteful –
Discovering and drilling for the important minerals used for industry and the technology sector remains incredibly important as existing mines are becoming depleted. If the mining industry can’t become more efficient at finding these important deposits, then more unnecessary, harmful drilling and exploration takes place. Applying AI to this problem would seem like a no-brainer […] → Read More
How about earning crypto tokens to carbon-offset your Uber rides? –
Most of us, by now, are aware that all sorts of crazy stuff is happening to the planet’s climate, and the blame is pretty much universally recognized as lying with humans pumping more and more carbon into the atmosphere. Scientists are now saying tree planting, for instance, has to happen very, very quickly if we […] → Read More
New $47M fund, Fil Rouge Capital, is ready to boost Croatia’s growing startup scene –
Croatia has not exactly been known for a huge startup scene in the past, and probably the most famous tech company out of there in recent years has been Rimac Automobili, the startup out of Zagreb that created an electric supercar to rival anything Porsche might make. But the technical talent in the country remains […] → Read More