Mike Butcher
TechCrunch
Contact Mike
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
Recent articles by Mike:
Agreena, a regenerative farming carbon market, raises $4.7M Seed from Giant VC –
Farming accounts for 24 percent of Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions, and this is largely due to the intensive, ‘industrial’ farming methods employed in the last few decades, together with the rise in the consumption of meat. However, a new approach has been taking the farming world by storm. ‘Regenerative Farming’ practices hand unproductive land back […] → Read More
Lunar Ventures launches technically-oriented, €40M fund, aimed at DeepTech startups –
Lunar Ventures, is a a new, technically-oriented VC fund aimed at early-stage DeepTech startups, that is now announcing the closing of its €40M first fund. Lunar was founded in Berlin in 2019 by Dr Elad Verbin, a computer science researcher; Mick Halsband, a CTO and software architect; and Luis Shemtov, a former entrepreneur. The launch […] → Read More
Company-builder VC Antler says it can back startups to Series C, but what are its terms? –
Emerging out of Singapore as primarily a “company builder” in 2017, Antler made its name as a runner of a global startup generator program and investing from a very early, pre-seed stage. It tended to throw teams together, mix in a tech stack and spit out startups at a prodigious rate. But things have progressed […] → Read More
2150 VC hits $312M for fund to build and run cities greener, and emit vastly less CO2 –
Back in February new European VC 2150 launched the first $240 million close of its fund to back technologies reducing carbon emissions via the medium of cities, which pump out CO2 at a prodigious rate as they develop and grow. This ‘Urban Sustainability Technology Fund’, as it’s dubbed, is now announcing the final close of its […] → Read More
Atlantic Labs spins-out FoodLabs, a €100m FoodTech fund addressing climate and health –
In the latest sign that that the tech industry is pivoting towards climate and sustainability, Atlantic Food Labs – an offshoot of the Berlin fund Atlantic Labs headed by long-time tech investor Christophe F. Maire – is relaunching as FoodLabs, with a dedicated €100m FoodTech fund to invest in food, health, and sustainability startups. Founded […] → Read More
Shooting for greater privacy in DeFi, Sienna Network launches SiennaSwap –
The rise of privacy-oriented financial blockchain projects are going to be crucial if “DeFi” (decentralized finance) is to have any kind of future. We have come to expect privacy in our “normal” financial lives, so we will expect it in the blockchain and Crypto world, whatever some might claim. We saw murmurs of that starting […] → Read More
Turkish tech publisher Webrazzi acquires Tech.eu, consolidating tech news across Europe –
Webrazzi, the main tech startup media title in Turkey, has acquired Tech.eu, the long-time tech startup site in Europe. The pooled entity of Webrazzi and Tech.eu will now offer combined editorial, data, and research platforms offering news and market intelligence. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Launched in 2006 by Arda Kutsal, Webrazzi […] → Read More
Tracking CO2 emissions for supply chains leads Normative to a €10M fund raise –
Increasingly, companies are being encouraged by governments to engage in carbon accounting, but of course, only a small number of companies actually do. Even those probably count only 10% of their emissions because they don’t account for the emissions of their supply chain, which, when looked at, probably accounts for 90% of their total emissions. […] → Read More
Pandemic-driven boom in e-commerce helps Huboo’s warehousing platform close $81M –
Many e-commerce businesses run their entire order fulfillment process in-house because outsourcing it can be expensive. But the COVID-19 pandemic has supercharged many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as consumers switched to home deliveries and ‘digitized’ their lifestyles to a far greater extent. It means this surge in e-commerce sales is subsequently leading to a […] → Read More
RepAir Carbon realised fuel cell tech could be applied to CO2 capture — now they plan to scale –
Existing technologies for direct air capture technologies require a lot of heat to remove the CO2, after it’s been absorbed into filters. The process to date has been laborious and often highly energy inefficient. What’s often been missing in the process has been a more efficient way of capturing CO2 in the first place. The […] → Read More
Podcastle raises $7M for its all-in-one platform for Podcast production and publishing –
Both Anchor and Descript have made their names as being among the most significant Podcast creation platforms of recent times, but hoving into the rear-view mirror recently has been Podcastle, an all-in-one platform that can cover off recording, production and publishing, all on the one platform. It’s now raised $7 million in an early-stage funding […] → Read More
Eight Roads launches its fourth fund: $450M aimed at European/Israeli scale-ups –
European VC Eight Roads is launching its fourth fund of $450 million for European and Israeli tech companies , aiming for another 15-20 across a broad range of consumer, software-as-a-service, fintech and healthtech areas. Cheque sizes wil range from around $5 million to $50 million per company, and as such, it tends to play more […] → Read More
Five Seasons Ventures pulls in €180M fund to tackle human health and climate via FoodTech –
FoodTech is booming in Europe has grown exponentially. In 2020, €3 billion went into European FoodTech companies (State of European Tech Report, March 2021), and the pandemic has accelerated demand as consumers have shifted to grocery delivery. The industry has also been affected by the rise of direct-to-consumer food brands. Finally, the pandemic created a […] → Read More
Al Gore puts $600M into UK Green energy-tech startup Octopus Energy Group –
Former Vice President Al Gore has invested $600 million of equity into UK energy startup Octopus Energy Group via his Generation Investment Management vehicle, taking a stake of approximately 13% in the business. The investment means Octopus has attained a valuation of around $4.6 billion. Octopus has made a name for itself in energy circles […] → Read More
Climate volatility helps AgTech platform Semios raise $100M round led by Morningside –
One of the greatest challenges for farmers today is the increasingly volatility in the climate, leading to unpredictable weather patterns, making growing conditions challenging. If farmers can’t grow crops, then our food security is as risk. Gradually, the field of AgTech is attempting to address this issue. There are increasing numbers of FaaS or ‘Farming […] → Read More
Toothfairy’s virtual dentist app raises £3M Seed round led by ADA Ventures and Slingshot –
Platforms for dentists are booming right now as many governments gradually make it harder to access dentistry via social care, especially in the UK. But the most lucrative market is cosmetic dentistry and this is where startups are often playing, such as aggregating private clinics under a simple booking platform. Toothfairy is a UK startup […] → Read More
Hospitals/clinics patient platform Heydoc raises $8.3M Series A led by Smedvig Capital –
Heydoc, a system for managing the medical data and admin tasks in medical practitioners, has closed a $8.3m Series A round led by Smedvig Capital with existing investors Hambro Perks, Triple Point Ventures and InHealth Ventures also participating. This brings the total amount raised to date by Heydoc to $12m. Heydoc mainly operates in the UK but plans to expand internationally. It competes… → Read More
Guardian owner invests in Unlock, an NFT protocol designed for subscriptions and memberships –
Monetization for the creator economy continues to be a huge issue and opportunity, but creators mostly have to lock themselves into platforms like Patreon to realize their value. A better method would be to have a membership system for creators which sat across several platforms. Now, GMG Ventures (parent company of The Guardian newspaper) has […] → Read More
Federated Genomic data startup Lifebit raises $60M round led by Tiger Global –
Genomic data is considered to be the key to unlocking so-called ‘precision medicine’. Some estimates suggest that by 2025, 500 million human genomes will have been sequenced, but only a fraction of it is being utilized for drug discovery and precision medicine. One of the key startups to emerge in the space is Lifebit, which […] → Read More
Heartcore Capital bets on Europe with a $200M fund for consumer tech startups –
Heartcore Capital, one of the few VCs to focus on consumer technology, has raised a $200 million early-stage fund for those kinds of startups across Europe. Heartcore IV, the firm’s flagship investment vehicle, will be supported by Heartcore Progression Beta, a $50 million ‘opportunity fund’ for follow on rounds in consumer tech. The firm said […] → Read More