This Week in London Startups

By London Startup Club

This Week in London Startups - Issue #28, 23rd November 2021

#28・ Nov 23, 2021

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This Week in London Startups - Issue #28, 23rd November 2021

By London Startup Club • Issue #28 • View online

Lights out for good at Bulb it seems. The energy sector has seen a lot of disruption (not the good kind) this year with other providers also going into administration.

The silver lining for Bulb is that this only seems to affect their UK operations, with existing operations in France, Spain and Texas operating as normal.

There is a lot the Bulb team can be proud of - having taken 6% of the total market share in just under 6 years and supporting the green energy revolution now accounting for 30% of all energy in the UK.

This does unfortunately mean for many of the hard-working team at Bulb, their jobs are at risk.

I wanted to use this space in this week’s newsletter to help the impacted team find new work. If you’re hiring or know anyone that is hiring - I would implore you to look through Bulb’s team on LinkedIn and help them find a new role!

Haris Qureshi, Editor & Founder @ London Startup Club

Top News

Ericsson to acquire cloud communications company Vonage for $6.2B, more here
Balderton Capital launches £450M fund focused on early-stage European startups, more here
FCC approves $6 billion Verizon-Tracfone acquisition, more here
European tech companies should be minting more millionaires, more here
Family locator service Life360 to acquire Tile for $205 million, more here
Energy startup Bulb collapses, more here
Goodbye London, hello New York: Why we moved our headquarters, more here
Facebook’s lead EU privacy supervisor hit with corruption complaint, more here
Weddings, festivals and in-person events are back — and investors are in on the party, more here

UK Funding Rounds

UK startup offering low-cost infra red diabetes screening bags £1.5M in over-subscribed raise, more here
London-based borderless DeFi trading platform Kibo Finance closes $1.5M seed funding, more here
London’s sustainable impact platform Greenspark raises £450K funding, more here
Apple device management solution helps Kandji bag £74M series C funding at £593 valuation, more here
Edinburgh augmented intelligence startup Brainnwave closes £6M funding, more here
Bristol-based Ultraleap that develops hand-tracking solution secures £60M funding, focuses on metaverse, more here
Former FanDuel executives raises £15.6M to launch BetDEX, decentralised betting venture, more here
London-based non-alcoholic spirits brand Lyre’s secures £20M at £270M valuation, more here
Tesla rival Tevva vrooms in with $57M to propel Britain’s electric truck revolution, more here

International Highlights

Niantic raises $300M at a $9B valuation to build the ‘real-world metaverse’, more here
NoBroker becomes India’s first proptech unicorn with fresh $210 million funding, more here
Payhawk raises $112M to better compete in the heated corporate card race, more here
Creator-driven marketplace LTK now valued at $2B after raising $300M from SoftBank, more here