Mike Butcher
TechCrunch
United Kingdom
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Recent articles by Mike:
White-label SaaS shipping startup Outvio closes $3M round led by Change Ventures –
Outvio, an Estonian startup that provides a white-label SaaS fulfillment solution for medium-sized and large online retailers in Spain and Estonia, has closed a $3 million early-stage financing round led by Change Ventures. Also participating were TMT Investments (London), Fresco Capital (San Francisco), and Lemonade Stand (Tallinn). Several angels also joined the round including James […] → Read More
Cheltenham’s GCHQ to get a massive, cyber-oriented tech startup campus right next door –
Since the UK’s spying headquarters of GCHQ was established in the city in the 1950’s, Cheltenham has attracted large firms like IBM, Raytheon, Microsoft, BAE Systems to the region. However, startups like Truststamp, Bamboo Technologies, Ripjar, Hub8, CYNAM, have emerged out of the city, which draws on the talent that naturally gravitates to such a […] → Read More
European Investment Fund puts $30M in Fabric Ventures’ new $120M digital assets fund –
Despite their rich engineering talent, Blockchain entrepreneurs in the EU often struggle to find backing due to the dearth of large funds and investment expertise in the space. But a big move takes place at an EU level today, as the European Investment Fund makes a significant investment into a blockchain and digital assets venture […] → Read More
Connected car insurance startup Flock raises $17M Series A led by Chamath Palihapitiya –
Cast your mind back to that scene in Minority Report where all those autonomous cars are whizzing through the city. The more practically-minded of you may well have gone: “Yeah, but what about the insurance…?”. Among the startups building the on-demand, connected insurance world for the vehicles of tomorrow right now are UK-based Zego which […] → Read More
Personalized menopause platform Vira Health raises £1.5M from LocalGlobe, MMC Ventures –
A new trend is emerging in the world of startups and, to many, it couldn’t have come too soon. Why are there so few women in senior roles? Women going through menopause are commonly known to drop out of leadership roles, for instance. In the UK, menopause is responsible for about 14 million lost working […] → Read More
Customer engagement platform Dixa raises $105M Series C led by General Atlantic –
European customer engagement platform Dixa has raised a Series C funding round of $105 million, led by growth equity investor General Atlantic. Existing investors Notion Capital, Project A, and Seed Capital also participated. In February last year, it raised $36 million in Series B funding, led by Notion Capital, with support from existing investors Project […] → Read More
Patchwork Health raises £3.5M to fix the staff scheduling disaster inside stressed hospitals –
The tyranny of the Excel spreadsheet continues, and especially in rostering staff. Nowhere is this more acutely felt in today’s COVID-pressured hospital wards, which are now depleted not just by the disease but by staff burnout from patchy-over or under-scheduling of staff hours. Two doctors realized this and decided to create a startup. Patchwork Health […] → Read More
Colvin raises €45M Series C led by Eurazeo to disrupt the cosy flowers industry –
Something very interesting is going on with supply chains, and has been for a while. But it’s clear the pandemic has accelerated the trend. Tech startups are once again cutting out the middle man, but this time at the supply chain level. The opportunity is to replace supply chains with platforms – it’s the ‘platformization […] → Read More
Blossom Capital lures Alex Lim from Silicon Valley to join the European tech boom –
Alex Lim, a British-born VC based in the Bay Area who invested in Hopin, UiPath, Discord, and many other unicorns has decided to up sticks and leave Sand Hill Road behind for Blossom Capital in London. Blossom is fast making a name for itself both in Europe and internationally, having invested in breakout hits like […] → Read More
German startup Aleph Alpha raises $27M Series A round to build ‘Europe’s OpenAI’ –
With Microsoft now being an investor in OpenAI the field now more open for new insurgents into the open-source AI arena. Now a German company hopes to take on the next AI mantle and produce something akin to the success of the GPT-3 AI model. German AI startup Aleph Alpha has now raised €23 million […] → Read More
Peppy, a B2B health platform for menopause, fertility, raises $10M Series A led by Felix Capital –
When it comes to health issues like menopause, fertility, pregnancy, and even early parenthood, the data tells us that people typically turn to search engines and social media for advice to ask about symptoms or concerns they have. They tend not to go to a medical practitioner, in the first instance. The suggestion, therefore, is […] → Read More
UK’s Mindtech raises $3.25M from In-Q-Tel, among others, to train CCTV cameras on synthetic humans –
Imagine a world where no one’s privacy is breached, no faces are scanned into a gargantuan database, and no privacy laws are broken. This is a world that is fast approaching. Could companies simply dump the need for real-world CCTV footage, and switch to synthetic humans, acting out potential scenarios a million times over? That’s […] → Read More
Untitled Ventures joins the scramble for Russian & Eastern European startups with a $118M warchest –
Sorry Mr. Putin, but there’s a race on for Russian and Eastern European founders. And right now, those awful capitalists in the corrupt West are starting to out-gun the opposition! But seriously… only the other day a $100 million fund aimed at Russian speaking entrepreneurs appeared, and others are proliferating. Now, London-based Untitled Ventures plans […] → Read More
B2B social management platform Oktopost raises $20M growth round with Expedition –
With the pandemic forcing people online, social media use exploded, for obvious reasons. And with that, the opportunity to reach audiences and push messaging. More brand-oriented platforms such as Sprinkler, Sprout Social, and Hootsuite have obviously risen in use, but so did traffic to Oktopost, a much more B2B-oriented proposition. Founded in 2013, Oktopost has only […] → Read More
WhenThen’s no-code payments platform attracts $6M from European VCs Stride and Cavalry –
The payments space – amazingly – remains up for grabs for startups. Yes dear reader, despite the success of Stripe, there seems to be a new payments startup virtually every other day. It’s a mess out there! The accelerated growth of e-commerce due to the pandemic means payments are now a booming space. And here […] → Read More
Pink Floyd drummer invests in Disciple Media, a platform aimed at the creator economy –
Much has been made of the rise of the “creator economy” in the last year. With the Pandemic biting, millions flooded online, looking for a way to make money or promote themselves. The podcasting world has exploded, and with it platforms like Patreon, Clubhouse, and many others. But the thorny problem remains: Do you really […] → Read More
Employee mental health platform Oliva raises $2.2M pre-seed round led by Moonfire Ventures –
Just as many other employee services have gone digital, so too is mental health. In the consumer space there are growing startups like Equoo, but the race is now on for the employee. And since telemedicine has gone digital and video-based, so too is mental health provision. A number of companies are already playing in […] → Read More
Percent raises $5M, aiming to become the ‘Stripe for donations’ to good causes –
What with the planet collapsing and democracy under constant attack from all quarters – you know, just the usual – one or two members of the global population have, idly or not, wondered if the private sector might want to step up? I mean, as well as shooting billionaires into space. At the same time, […] → Read More
Brokrete wants to be the “Shopify of construction”, raises $3M Seed led by Xploration Capital –
With the pandemic affecting every aspect of life and industry, it’s no surprise that digitization is coming to construction fast. Construction suppliers are increasingly under the same pressure as other sectors to perform at a higher level. We’ve seen the rise of companies like Dozer, Reno Run, and Toolbox try to address this, but often […] → Read More
Powered by local stores, JOKR joins the 15 min grocery race with a $170M Series A –
“We are true believers in the fact that the world needs a new Amazon, a better one, a more sustainable one, one that appreciates local areas and products.” It’s quite one thing to claim you are out to replace Amazon (just as its founder goes into space), but Ralf Wenzel, Founder and CEO of JOKR, […] → Read More