Last week, the German-based VC firm Earlybird Health announced it closed a €173 million ($185.4 million) fund to finance companies in Europe across the healthcare sector including digital health, diagnostics, medical devices and biopharma. With the new health fund, Earlybird is planning to strategically tie financing activity to companies between the A and B series rounds where there is not a tremendous amount of financing. So far, the fund has made several investments in the biotech sector, including in Grey Wolf Therapeutics and Arecium Therapeutics, which were preclinical when Earlybird invested in them but are now seeing more significant activity and starting clinical trials, Nasrallah noted While Earlybird has focused on oncology companies, it is looking to potentially invest in cancer- based startups. The firm is also interested in future investments in other biopharma sectors, such as fibrosis and the central nervous system. https://www.biospace.com/article/earlybird-health-hopes-to-get-the-worm-with-new-186m-vc-fund/

Yendou, a Berlin-based startup that self-bills as Salesforce for R&D teams in life sciences, has secured $1.3 million in a pre-seed funding round. The investment will allow the startup to scale its clinical operations automation platform and meet a growing demand from pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The pre-seed investment round was led by b2venture with support from Heartfelt, Infinita Fund, and several angel investors hailing from the pharmaceutical industry including Meri Beckwith, co- founder of Peter Thiel-backed startup Lindus Health. https://tech.eu/2024/02/28/berlin-based-startup-yendou-the-salesforce-for-life-sciences-rd-teams/

Ukrainian and American companies in the field of leading defense technologies have launched a program to support Ukrainian technology startups in the defense field called MITS (“Power”). The program aims to help young technology companies find the best partners and to scale, and it allows the Ukraine’s military to gain access to the best defense technology products for its use as soon as possible. The accelerator offers $200,000 in support to startups. Of this, $100,000 is a direct investment in the company and $100,000 for an examination conducted by MITS together with American University Kyiv (a partner of Arizona State University). MITS will help categories of startups such as ground robotic systems, drones of various types, means of electronic warfare, means of communication, optical and acoustic intelligence, military transport, demining, software, and AI, ammunition, and equipment for the “soldier of the future”. https://ubn.news/ukrainian-defense-startups-are-eligible-for-200000-in-development-investments/

Mastercard launched its Strive EU Innovation Fund on January 23, making €4.5 million available in grants for startups and innovative companies who are actively working on digital and data-first solutions for small businesses. Applications are open until March 11, 12 noon Central European Time. Up to twenty winners, based and operating in the EU, have the opportunity to receive an equity- free grant up to €500,000, given their solutions can support European small businesses with fewer than 10 employees to: Unlock working capital and credit through embedded finance. Go digital safely by bolstering cybersecurity. Navigate evolving consumer preferences and regulatory expectations around environmental sustainability. Harness artificial intelligence (AI) to save time and make more money. Empowering European small businesses with digital solutions Solutions must be at least at the product definition stage. Winners will then have the opportunity to test and validate their solutions over a period of 12-18 months.The selection of winners will be based on the significance and innovativeness of the solution along with the impact it can achieve with the grant; the applicability and transferability of the solution and the learnings and insights it generates; scalability and financial viability beyond the grant period and other criteria outlined on the Selection page of the Strive EU Innovation Fund website. https://tech.eu/2024/02/28/funding-opportunity-for-b2b-solutions-from-mastercard-strive/

For the past three years, VC firm Notion Capital has published a top 100 list of Europe’s up-and- coming business-to-business software startups, most of them at the Series A Stage. Along with the ranking itself, the firm also crunches numbers from Pitchbook and others to provide an overview of the funding climate for a sector that has been seen as relatively robust in the face of economic headwinds. And while the report finds reasons to be optimistic about the coming months, it seems that 2023 was a year in which VC investment in B2B software began to falter. Findings include: In 2023 Investment in tech startups across all sectors continuing to fall - it was down 39% - business software experienced a decline of 59%, The downturn in investment last year didn’t hit all B2B software businesses equally. The later stages were affected most, a trend that reflects a parallel downturn in IPOs. The money released through exits went up. In terms of the number of exit events, there was little difference between 2022 and 2023 - 828 and 780 respectively. Cloud market will continue to grow by 19% this year - far outpacing the overall tech market at 3%. So, the generational shift of computing from the premise to the cloud continues. Plus, AI opens up an entirely new platform of computing. The growth potential of b2b software companies is more predictable, something that allows VCs to assess the risk. This bodes well for the future once economic confidence begins to pick up. Much of the opportunity now lies in automating the work of employees in the SME and medium- sized sector. Growing interest of investors in green solutions. This in turn provides a new market for B2B software startups. https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevorclawson/2024/02/29/cloudy-weather-2023-was-a-tough-year- for-europes-saas-startups/?sh=19d216ed1eec

Jamil Ahmad, previously known for co-founding the successful B2B marketplace Fashinza, has embarked on a new venture with the launch of Marrfa, a Dubai-based proptech startup. This innovative platform has recently closed an undisclosed amount in a pre-seed funding round, led by Berlin's Foundamental VC and supported by angel investor Prashant Malik from Tykhe Block Ventures. Marrfa is set to transform the real estate investment landscape by offering easy access to high-yield opportunities worldwide. https://bnnbreaking.com/bnn-newsroom/proptech-startup-marrfa-led-by-fashinza-co-founder- secures-funding-for-global-real-estate-innovation

Jamil Ahmad, previously known for co-founding the successful B2B marketplace Fashinza, has embarked on a new venture with the launch of Marrfa, a Dubai-based proptech startup. This innovative platform has recently closed an undisclosed amount in a pre-seed funding round, led by Berlin's Foundamental VC and supported by angel investor Prashant Malik from Tykhe Block Ventures. Marrfa is set to transform the real estate investment landscape by offering easy access to high-yield opportunities worldwide. https://bnnbreaking.com/bnn-newsroom/proptech-startup-marrfa-led-by-fashinza-co-founder- secures-funding-for-global-real-estate-innovation