Mike Butcher
TechCrunch
United Kingdom
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Recent articles by Mike:
Belarusian regime’s thugs shut down Imaguru, the country’s key startup hub –
After visits by unnamed masked intruders and the cancellation of its lease, Imaguru – the country’s key startup hub, event, and co-working space in Minsk – has effectively been shut down by the Lukashenko regime, which has led a brutal crackdown on its own people in recent months. But the company behind the space says […] → Read More
Injective Protocol raises $10M from Pantera Capital, Mark Cuban for its ‘DeFi Robinhood’ –
Back in December last year Injective Protocol, launched the testnet for its DeFi protocols for cross-chain derivatives trading, with backing from giant crypto exchange Binance. It has now raised $10 million in a “party” funding round. Participating in the round was Pantera Capital, BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures (formerly BitMex Ventures), CMS, and QCP Capital. Billionaire […] → Read More
‘Bowl food’ startup Poke House closes $24M Series B led by Eulero Capital to expand in Europe –
The FoodTech industry is effectively now going into fast food. Sweetgreen in the US is a ‘fast-casual’ restaurant chain that serves healthy “bowl food”. It’s raised $478.6M. A similar firm is Sweetfin. Both employ a lot of tech in their back-end to improve efficiencies. Into this area has come European startup Poke House, which is […] → Read More
‘Pure’ nutritional supplements startup Feel closes $6.2M investment, led by Fuel Ventures –
Earlier this year we covered the launch of Heights, a new supplements startup in an increasingly hot category. Feel, is a year-old UK startup with another twist on this world: pure nutritional supplements. It’s now closed a $6.2 million investment, led by Fuel Ventures, with participation from TMT Investments, Sova VC, Richard Longhurst (founder of […] → Read More
Cusp Capital launches with a $361M fund for early stage startups in Germany and Europe –
In the past ten years, an investment team led by Christian Winter, Jan Sessenhausen, Helmut Klawitter and Wilken Engelbracht worked principally with German family offices, investing in startups such as Klarna, Zalando and Delivery Hero that went on to be worth around €80 billion in total. Today they are launching a VC firm of their own, Cusp Capital, with €300 million ($361m) […] → Read More
Gwyneth Paltrow invests in The Expert, a video marketplace for high-end interior designers –
The pandemic-induced lockdowns halted many a home decoration project, but the irony was that our homes became even more important. But where to get ideas to decorate? Home decor experts could no longer visit. Now an LA-based startup is addressing this digitization of the interior design market, but kicking off with a typically LA-oriented, high-end […] → Read More
Clubhouse closes an undisclosed $4Bn valuation Series C round, as tech giants’ clones circle –
Buzzy ‘social audio’ app Clubhouse has raised a Series C funding round, reportedly valuing the company at $4 billion. Clubhouse said the new round of financing was led by Andrew Chen of Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from DST Global, Tiger Global and Elad Gil. This round means Clubhouse has tripled the valuation it attained in […] → Read More
Sales scheduling platform Chili Piper raises $33M Series B funding led by Tiger Global –
Chili Piper, which has a sophisticated SaaS appointment scheduling platform for sales teams, has raised a $33 million B round led by Tiger Global. Existing investors Base10 Partners and Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI-focused VC) also participated. This brings the company’s total financing to $54 million. The company will use the capital raised to accelerate product […] → Read More
Deep fake video app Avatarify, which process on-phone, plans digital watermark for videos –
Making deep fake videos used to be hard. Now all you need is a smartphone. Avatarify, a startup that allows people to make deep-fake videos directly on their phone rather than in the Cloud, is soaring up the app charts after being used by celebrities such as Victoria Beckham. However, the problem with many deep […] → Read More
Large-scale CO2 removal startup Carbo Culture raises $6.2M Seed led by True Ventures –
Carbo Culture — a startup that has scaled an industrial process to create large-scale CO2 removal using woody waste from agriculture and forests — has raised $6.2 million in seed a financing round led by Silicon Valley VC True Ventures. The round was co-led by European early-stage venture firm Cherry Ventures. Swiss climate investor Übermorgen Ventures […] → Read More
The TechCrunch Survey of Tech Startup Hubs in England and Wales –
TechCrunch is embarking on a major new project to survey European founders and investors in cities outside the major European capitals. Over the next few weeks, we will ask entrepreneurs in these cities to talk about their ecosystems, in their own words. For this survey we are interested in startup hubs in England and Wales. […] → Read More
ConsenSys raises $65M from JP Morgan, Mastercard, UBS to build infrastructure for DeFi –
ConsenSys, a key player in crypto and a major proponent of the Ethereum blockchain, has raised a $65 million funding round from J.P. Morgan, Mastercard, and UBS AG, as well as major blockchain companies Protocol Labs, the Maker Foundation, Fenbushi, The LAO and Alameda Research. Additional investors include CMT Digital and the Greater Bay Area Homeland Development […] → Read More
Putting Gdańsk, Wroclaw, Krakow, Poznan on the TechCrunch map — TechCrunch’s Cities Survey –
TechCrunch is embarking on a major new project to survey European founders and investors in cities outside the larger European capitals. Over the next few weeks, we will ask entrepreneurs in these cities to talk about their ecosystems, in their own words. This is your chance to put Gdańsk, Wroclaw, Krakow and Poznan on the […] → Read More
Cybersecurity training startup Hack The Box raises $10.6M Series A led by Paladin Capital –
Cybersecurity training startup Hack The Box, which emerged originally from Greece, has raised a Series A investment round of $10.6 million, led by Paladin Capital Group and joined by Osage University Partners, Brighteye Ventures, and existing investors Marathon Venture Capital. It will use the funding to expand. Most recently it launched Hack The Box Academy. […] → Read More
Clim8 raises $8M from 7pc Ventures, launches climate-focused investing app for retail investors –
Ethical investing remains something of a confusing maze, with a great deal of ‘greenwashing’ going on. A new UK startup is hoping to fix that with the launch of its new app and platform for retail investors. Clim8 Investhas raised $8 million from 7pc Ventures (early backers of Oculus, acquired by Facebook), British Business Bank […] → Read More
European tech event mainstays Shift and TOA find new homes, new models, post-COVID –
Given the pandemic, huge changes are being wrought in tech events, something which used to be the lifeblood of the industry. Many a startup has pitched to win funding, and many a hackathon has formed teams that went on to greater things. It’s a sad fact that this era is over, at least until the […] → Read More
Private chef parties at home startup Yhangry raises $1.5M Seed from VC angels and Ollie Locke –
There’s an “uber for everything” these days and now there are “Ubers for personal chefs”. Just take a look at PopTop or 100 Pleats for instance. Now in London, there is Yhangry (which brands itself as the appropriately shouty YHANGRY). This is a “private chef parties at home” website, and no doubt an app at […] → Read More
Norwegian corporate training startup Attensi raises $26M from NYC’s Lugard Road, DX Ventures –
Corporate training startup Attensi — which originally emerged out of Oslo, Norway — has raised $26 million from New York-based Lugard Road Capital, DX Ventures (a VC fund backed by Delivery Hero), and existing shareholder Viking Venture. The new funding will be used to expand in North America and Europe. Attensi uses a ‘gamified approach […] → Read More
As working out goes virtual, Moxie raises $6.3M Seed+ round led by Resolute Ventures –
With the pandemic sending the planet indoors to workout, the at-home fitness market has boomed. It was only in October last year that three-year-old Future closed $24 million in Series B and Playbook (streaming for personal trainers) raised $9.3 million in a Series A. Into this market launched Moxie, a platform that allowed fitness instructors […] → Read More
Shilling Founders Fund is Portugal’s newest VC, with $35.6M to spend on early-stage startups –
Shilling, an early-stage VC in Portugal, has now launched a new €30M ($35.6M) early-stage fund called Shilling Founders Fund, which is backed just over 35 successful tech founders, as well as large European VC Atomico. The fund will run on a profit-sharing model, sharing fund returns with all of its portfolio founders. While the fund […] → Read More