The European startup ecosystem is full of interesting and exciting news, twists and turns. At EU-Startups, our aim is to keep you informed on everything that’s going on and share the inspiring entrepreneurial spirit this continent has to offer. From big funding announcements, duocorns picking up pace, to new partnerships and conscious collaborations – there’s never a dull day!

So, with this in mind, we decided to pull together all the big milestones that we saw this week into one place. It’s impossible for us to cover every announcement with an article, but perhaps this is one way we can continue to share as much as possible about up-and-coming innovators and ideas. Let us know what you think!

This week, there was lots going on in the world of podcasting, crowdfunding platform Seedrs got acquired and the micro-mobility space continues to see a lot of action!

Launches and Expansions

• Podcast and audiobook service Podimo launched in Finland and now operates in six markets in Europe. 
• Mindspace is set to open its sixth Berlin location, by renovating a former department store in the heart of the city into a flex office
• Outlier Ventures and Polygon have joined forces to launch another initiative to fund, scale, and grow promising Web3 startups –  BaseCamp v2.0.
• Open banking platform Tink announced the launch of Expense Check – a new product simplifying and streamlining affordability analysis for lenders, while providing an up-to-date and verified view of fixed and discretionary spending.

Acquisitions and Collaborations

• Podcast startup Auddy acquired podcast advertising company Audiomy
• Single.Earth, an EQT-backed startup tokenising nature, chose LHV UK as its banking partner to gain access to real-time euro payments and other banking services.
• Kaiku Health and Novartis expanded on their partnership, following on from last year’s collab which helped develop digital patient monitoring and management for melanoma patients.
• CrowdX and fintech Delio have joined forces to power an investment platform that connects professional and institutional investors with the fast growth companies of the future. 
• Mobility fintech Moove joined forces with Uber UK to bring thousands of electric vehicles to London 
• Parity Technologies, a decentralised infrastructure provider for Web 3 which enables blockchains to operate together at scale, announced it has joined forces with enterprise-grade blockchain Aventus Network to bring blockchain offerings to the enterprise sector. 
• Romanian digital identity verification startup Qoobiss has signed a partnership with RoCapital to use the interrogation and reporting services to NAFA (National Agency for Fiscal Administration) together with the anti-money laundering monitoring services offered by Qoobiss
•  Seedrs was acquired by Republic to create the first global private investment platform, expanding its European footprint
• Mobility super-app Bolt and Berlin-based green tech startup Swobbee announced a new partnership to revolutionise e-scooter charging in the German capital.
• HTEC Group a global consulting, software engineering and digital product development company based in San Francisco, announced that it has acquired Sarajevo-based Mistral Technologies. Joining forces with Mistral’s team of over 300 experts, HTEC is now the largest technology company in Bosnia and Herzegovina employing close to 600 experts in the country.

Other Milestones & Insights 

• Softline, the global IT and digital transformation solutions and services provider, announced the launch of its Innovation Growth Programme
• SnapDragon Monitoring, an online counterfeit detection and brand protection specialist, announced new features for its self-service brand protection solution, Swoop, which helps protect businesses of all sizes against counterfeits and brand infringements.
• EIT Food announced three new investments into high-performing agrifood startups – Fyteko, MaGie Creations and ConstellR
• YoungPlanet recorded high growth following its national awareness campaign. In the past 8 weeks, the circular economy app has experienced an unprecedented 45% increase in user downloads. 

Did we miss anything? Let us know!