Tech News: 17th Jan

SoSafe the Cologne-based cybersecurity awareness and testing platform has now raised a $73 million Series B funding round led by growth-capital fund Highland Europe. Existing investors Acton Capital and Global Founders Capital were joined by SAP Hybris founder and Celonis Advisory Board member Carsten Thoma, together with La Famiglia as well as Adjust founder Christian Henschel as participants. SoSafe competes with platforms like Knowbe4 (that went public in 2021) and Cofense, which has raised $58 million to date. SoSafe says it takes a user-centered approach to cybersecurity, using insights from behavioral science to nudge users in the right, and safer, direction, using gamified methods to teach end-users what to look out for in a cyber attack. 

Digital investment services provider WealthKernel has raised $7m, as it looks to expand its API-driven technology across Europe and set up a new European headquarters in Spain. The $7m Series A+ fundraise is in addition to a $6m Series A raise it carried out in 2020. WealthKernel, which has offices in London and Nottingham, supplies infrastructure for companies looking to offer digital wealth investment services. It says that its API platform equates to a one-stop-shop for firms looking to make hay in digital wealth. Its infrastructure helps with areas such as client onboarding, brokerage and trading. WealthKernel's clients include Claro Money, the financial planning app and Wahed, the ethical investment platform. The funds will be used to expand into new European markets, bolster its team, and support the integration of intraday trading into its offering. 

Using artificial intelligence to help businesses transform their supply chains, London-based 7bridges has raised $17 million in a Series A funding round. The new capital is slated to help the company increase the size of its commercial team, and thus client base. Likewise, 7bridges intends to continue the development of its offer, bringing more and improved flexible, sustainable and cost-effective logistics solutions to both customers and consumers. To date, 7bridges has raised $20.4 million. 

London's markets have been accused of being “toxic to tech companies” by an investor in Darktrace and Deliveroo, two of last year's biggest digital floats. Hussein Kanji, a partner at London-based venture capital fund Hoxton Ventures, said that the City was dominated by an “old world mentality” that prevented listed technology companies from being valued at the same levels as those in the US. London enjoyed a bumper year for tech floats in 2021, with Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, hailing the listings as a sign that Britain was luring more high-growth tech start-ups, but companies including Deliveroo, Darktrace and money transfer service Wise have slumped in recent months. British companies including used car marketplace Cazoo and medical app Babylon went public in the US last year, and several UK-listed companies have said they are considering switching to New York. 

The warehouse robotics startup has announced that it has raised $335m at a $2bn valuation, making it the fourth French company to leap past the much-hyped benchmark in 2022. With the first month of the year barely begun, Exotec follows PayFit, Ankorstore and Qonto into the unicorn stable.Throw in Back Market, which raised $510m to become France’s most valuable startup last week, and the ecosystem may be experiencing a severe case of vertigo. Exotec is emblematic of how rapidly Europe’s startup expectations are being upended, including creating new challenges for early-stage investors.