Mike Butcher
TechCrunch
United Kingdom
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Recent articles by Mike:
Study finds most big open-source startups outside Bay Area, many European, and avoiding VC –
Over 90% of the fastest-growing open-source companies in 2020 were founded outside the San Francisco Bay Area, and 12 out of the top 20 originate in Europe, according to a new study. The “ROSS Index”, created by Runa Capital lists the fastest-growing open-source startups with public repositories on Github every quarter. Interestingly, the company judged […] → Read More
Pickle app puts on users, as millennials/Gen-Z latch onto location apps to fight Covid lockdowns –
As the coming of winter combined with the coronavirus continues to put new restrictions on peoples’ movements, location-based apps are on the rise again. People are looking to find out who is close to them. Who is in their community. People are understandably looking for new friends and resources close to them. Apps that connect […] → Read More
Stotles secures funding for platform which brings transparency to government tenders, contracts –
The public sector usually publishes its business opportunities in the form of ‘tenders,’ to increase transparency to the public. However, this data is scattered, and larger businesses have access to more information, giving them opportunities to grab contracts before official tenders are released. We have seen the controversy around UK government contracts going to a […] → Read More
Soleadify secures seed funding for database what tracks 40M business using machine learning –
Usually, databases about companies have to be painstakingly updated by humans. Soleadify is a startup that uses machine learning to create profiles for businesses in any industry. The first of the company’s products is a business search engine that keeps over 40 million business profiles updated, currently used by hundreds of companies in the USA, […] → Read More
Vectary, a design platform for 3D and AR, raises $7.3M from EQT and Blueyard –
Vectary, a design platform for 3D and Augmented Reality (AR), has raised a $7.3 million round led by European fund EQT Ventures. Existing investor BlueYard (Berlin) also participated. Vectary makes high-quality 3D design more accessible for consumers, garnering over one million creators worldwide, and has more than a thousand digital agencies and creative studios as […] → Read More
Math learning platform Knowledgehook raises £13.5M Series A to expand globally –
Given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of students have switched to online learning. So whereas EdTech used to be somewhat of an also-ran in the venture stakes, it has now become one fo the hottest spaces on the planet. It’s therefore of title surprise that funding rounds are following. Knowledgehook, a proprietary mathematics […] → Read More
As investors and founders mature, Vienna emerges as a European startup hub –
According to Austrian Startup Monitor, entrepreneurs have founded more than 2,200 startups in Austria since 2008, with the number of tech companies growing 12% per year since then, significantly faster than the 3% growth rate for traditional companies. Home to roughly 50% of Austria’s startups, Vienna has a plethora of VC, corporate and university investors. […] → Read More
Edge computing startup Edgify secures $6.5M Seed from Octopus, Mangrove and semiconductor –
Edgify, which builds AI for edge computing, has secured a $6.5m seed funding round backed by Octopus Ventures, Mangrove Capital Partners and an unnamed semiconductor giant. The name was not released but TechCrunch understands it nay be Intel Corp. or Qualcomm Inc. Edgify’s technology allows ‘edge devices’ (devices at the edge of the internet) to interpret […] → Read More
Men’s health subscription startup Numan closes £10M Series A funding round –
Launched almost 18 months ago, Numan joined the growing list of sites aiming at men’s health, such as Roman and Hims, for example. Numan launched aiming to promote accessible medical remedies for Erectile Dysfunction but has since expanded into other areas to building a brand around pharmaceuticals on subscription. It has now closed a £10M […] → Read More
London Business School and LocalGlobe launch new VC course aimed at women, Black and Asian candidates –
With the UK’s Black Tech Fest on this week it’s timely that a new executive education course aimed at those wanting to enter the venture capital industry has been launched to serve previously under-represented groups, especially women, Black, Asian and other minorities. London Business School and LocalGlobe, one of Europe’s leading seed investors, worked together […] → Read More
Landscape site launches with the aim of becoming the ‘Glassdoor for VC’ –
You’ve probably heard of Glassdoor, which exists to allow employees to rate companies anonymously. Now a UK entrepreneur has decided to address the thorny issue of rating venture capitalists. Landscape, a new review platform for tech startup founders to discover and find investment opportunities, officially launches today. Started by CompSci graduate Joe Perkins, the site […] → Read More
Seraphim Capital’s SpaceTech accelerator releases details of its newest SpaceCamp cohort –
The UK’s Seraphim Capital, the country’s only SpaceTech accelerator, has released details of its newest cohort as part of its SpaceCamp programme, timed with the end of World Space Week last week. 4pi Lab Raised so far: Undisclosed amount / Non-Equity Assistance from Creative Destruction Lab Description: “4pi Lab is developing a Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) […] → Read More
Calling Lisbon VCs: Be featured in The Great TechCrunch Survey of European VC –
TechCrunch is embarking on a major new project to survey the venture capital investors of Europe, and their cities. Our survey of VCs in Lisbon will capture how the city is faring, and what changes are being wrought amongst investors by the coronavirus pandemic. (Please note, if you have filled the survey out already, […] → Read More
Startups joining SK Telecom’s accelerator include AI-driven mapping and vision for delivery robots
We don’t often cover telecom technology startups, but it’s periodically worth checking in to see what’s happening in that space. We can get a good indication from the latest cohort to emerge from an accelerator associated with South Korea’s largest wireless carrier, SK Telecom. This group of startups will join the Telecom Infra Project accelerator […] → Read More
Helsinki rides the Slush wave toward a booming startup future
In September 2020, Helsinki’s City Council approved plans for an expansion of the existing “Maria 01 Campus,” a former downtown hospital complex. Even before it starts spreading its acreage, the facility is already home to 120 startups and 12 venture capital funds. The campus is owned by the biggest startup conference in the Nordics, Slush, […] → Read More
Calling Amsterdam VCs: Be featured in The Great TechCrunch Survey of European VC
TechCrunch is embarking on a major new project to survey the venture capital investors of Europe, and their cities. Our survey of VCs in Amsterdam will capture how the city is faring, and what changes are being wrought amongst investors by the coronavirus pandemic. (Please note, if you have filled the survey out already, […] → Read More
Quantum photonics startup Nu Quantum raises £2.1M from Amadeus Capital Partners
For Quantum cryptography and simulation to become real, the technology requires high-performance light-emitting and light-detecting components that operate at the single-photon level and at ambient temperature. One of the few companies operating in this rarified arena is Nu Quantum, the quantum photonics company, is a spin-out from the University of Cambridge. It’s now raised a […] → Read More
The Little Black Door app makes luxury wardrobes shareable, resalable, and sustainable
When Lexi Willetts and Marina Pengilly realized they could make as much as £30,000 a year reselling their luxury clothes and accessories online, they resolved to create a solution for modern women who are already well-versed in the behaviors of Instagram and the sharing economy. Their solution, Little Black Door, has just gone live on […] → Read More
Crowdcube and Seedrs agree to merge, creating a significant private equity marketplace
The two main crowd-equity fundraising platforms in the UK, Crowdcube and Seedrs, have agreed terms on a long-rumoured merger, thus creating one of the world’s largest private equity marketplaces. The merger is being structured as an acquisition by Crowdcube of all of the outstanding share capital of Seedrs, via scheme of arrangement. Existing Crowdcube shareholders […] → Read More
Propy, a blockchain-verified platform for selling houses, raises funding from Tim Draper
For several years, blockchain technology has been touted as a way to verify the sale of property. Any kind of property. And so entrepreneurs busily began the process of trying to create a startup that could complete a property deal on the blockchain. One that stood out from the start was Propy which was started […] → Read More