When everyone is in the wrong: Telegram’s Durov must remain in France and post a €5M bail

Aug28
by on August 28, 2024 at 9:48 pm
Posted In: Social Media


This just in: French prosecutors have charged Telegram’s Russian-born founder Pavel Durov with a wide range of crimes and banned him from leaving the country. He’s now placed under a heavy judicial control with twice-a-week police check-ins and has to post a €5mn bail, according to a statement by Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau. This development marks a major milestone in what seems to be one of this year’s most important technology news stories that started less than a week ago when French authorities arrested Durov at Le Bourget airport outside Paris. Soon after, the prosecutor’s office released a list…

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Europe’s unicorns have risen to €447.4B in total value, report finds

Aug27
by on August 27, 2024 at 3:00 pm
Posted In: Uncategorized


The cumulative value of Europe’s active unicorns now sits at €447.4bn — 3% higher than in 2023, according to a new report from Pitchbook. The report also found that unicorn deal value continued to show signs of recovery during the second quarter of 2024. Specifically, it jumped from €1bn in Q1 to €2.4bn in Q2. The continuous valuation growth of 2024 implies a 12.3% increase for the full year from 2023. Deal count is following the same upward trend. The first half of the year has already seen 28 unicorn deals compared to 39 for the whole of 2023. The medial…

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New €2M fund launches for Dutch early-stage tech startups

Aug26
by on August 26, 2024 at 2:19 pm
Posted In: Insider


A group of six entrepreneurs and angel investors have announced today the launch of their first fund, aiming to support Dutch early-stage tech startups. Named the Dutch Operator Fund I, it has raised €2mn in capital. The amount is provided by the team itself, as well as a loan from the Seed Business Angel scheme of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). Investments will range between €75K and €200K, with the possibility of follow-up funding. The fund targets startups in the (pre-)seed phase. “There is a need for this in our country, because for many institutional investors, investing in this stage…

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Independence Day: how Ukraine’s tech sector is fuelling the fight for freedom

Aug24
by on August 24, 2024 at 7:06 am
Posted In: Uncategorized


What’s your work from home situation like these days? For Andriy Klen, co-founder and CFO of smart device startup Petcube, it is not only email notifications popping up on his laptop screen, but also incoming missile alerts. He pauses our conversation to follow the rocket’s calculated trajectory, before being notified that it has disappeared from the radar. We continue our call, he from Kyiv, and I from our office in Amsterdam, where the biggest conflict of the year broke out a couple of weeks ago over a change in catering. Klen’s laughter at the absurdity of it all as he…

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This autonomous yacht is a mobile green hydrogen factory

Aug23
by on August 23, 2024 at 2:35 pm
Posted In: Insider


In recent years, there have been several attempts at building a hydrogen boat. But UK startup Drift is navigating new territory with a vessel that isn’t hydrogen-powered, but hydrogen-producing.  Drift is developing an autonomous yacht capable of making green hydrogen at sea. It could offer a quicker, more efficient way to produce and transport the fuel, especially in remote regions. “One of our main advantages is that we can service the hard-to-reach places,” Drift’s founder and CEO, Ben Medland, told TNW. “This is a huge benefit when compared to having a fixed installation.” Wind pushes the sailboat, spinning a turbine…

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