Startups in Tartu and the surrounding area enjoyed a 4 percent rise in revenues on year to 2023, to a total of €226.7 million, Tartu Postimees reports, citing data from Startup Estonia and the Tax and Customs Board (MTA). A total of 119 registered start-up companies operate in Tartu and Tartu County, including payment provider Boku Network Services Estonia, which had the highest revenue of all at €53.5 million in 2023, followed by gaming tech producer Playtech (€51.6 million). New startups raised €2.1 million in capital last year across six transactions, the largest relating to law firms CRM provider Crespect (€600,000) while startups employed 844 staff part-time or full- time (14 percent of the total being foreign nationals), Playtech by far the largest of them at 644 people employed in the year, and startup staff took in an average gross wage of €3,026 per month. https://news.err.ee/1609266609/tartu-start-up-sector-took-in-nearly-230-million-in-2023-revenues

The family-focused fintech Bling and Telekom partner to launch Bling Mobile. 18 months after its launch, the Berlin-based Fintech counts over 50,000 families on its platform. In the midst of the ‘funding winter’ a year ago, Bling raised millions from renowned investors such as La Famiglia (General Catalyst), PEAK, and Ben Tellings, former CEO of the German ING branch. Bling is designed as a family platform, allowing children and parents to manage and invest their money with the Bling Card and App, as well as organize their household. The partnership with Telekom, the largest telco provider in Europe, showcases the potential for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), highlighting the intersection of fintech and telecommunications for a lucrative business proposition with comparatively higher margins than in the B2C fintech sector. Bling’s venture into mobile communications taps into the rising popularity of e-SIMs, providing users with seamless connectivity options. This strategic shift also addresses the changing dynamics within the fintech sector. Bling benefits from serving the first touch points that parents get for their children: the first bank account, the first investment and now the first SIM card, implying a multi-billion TAM. https://fintechnews.ch/fintechgermany/a-wealthtech-startup-in-germany-to-offer-mobile-phone- plans/69574/

The Ukrainian Startup Fund and the Western NIS Enterprise Fund are grant programs that support Ukrainian technology companies, with a total budget of $2.5M. The program will provide opportunities to receive grants of up to $25,000 for projects at the pre-seed stage and up to $50,000 at the seed stage. At one time, startups such as Esper Bionics, Upswot, Finmap, Zeely, Mate Academy, and Harmix all took advantage of similar opportunities, and today, these companies are known worldwide. It is tentatively planned to finance 74 teams, where 48 are at the pre-seed stage, and 26 are at the seed stage. Applicants who have not had any investment, grant funds, or government assistance exceeding a $500,000 equivalent during its entire period of activity can apply for the grants. The program lasts until December 31, 2025. https://ubn.news/new-ukrainian-it-startups-are-being-offered-grants-of-up-to-50000-for- development/

Deutsche Telekom, O2 Telefónica and Vodafone are launching SIM Swap and Number Verify APIs on the Vonage platform tackling online fraud and are also working with Siemens Energy on Augmented Reality Quality-On-Demand tests. As part of the global GSMA Open Gateway initiative, Germany's three main mobile operators – Deutsche Telekom, O2 Telefónica and Vodafone – today announced the commercial launch of a new service designed to help app developers and enterprises tackle online fraud and protect the digital identities of mobile customers. The network APIs represent a new business model for the German operators by bringing these network capabilities to developers and enterprises to improve existing services or create new services. The German mobile industry expects today's announcement to accelerate the growth of digital services and apps, by ensuring they integrate seamlessly with national mobile networks, as well as hundreds of others around the world. The three operators are working with technology partner Vonage, part of Ericsson, to make the APIs available to enterprise developers. Vonage is already working together with its customer, Vinted, Europe's leading international online C2C marketplace dedicated to second-hand fashion, to integrate these new APIs. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gsma-open-gateway-launch-in-germany--mobile- operators-open-up-new-business-models-with-network-api-launch-302070499.html

Venture capital (VC) funding in the United Kingdom dropped 41.3% year-on-year to US$615.4 million in January, as investors maintained a cautious approach amid macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical tensions. The UK remains a prominent player in the global VC market, though facing increased competition from other European counterparts, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData. Deal volume fell 40.2% to 70 in January, from 117 a year ago, while the disclosed value decreased from US$1 billion to US$615.4 million. The UK, which traditionally has been the top European market in both deal value and volume, managed to retain its leadership position by volume only in January 2024 while Germany led by value. In fact, not a single VC deal valued at more than US$100 million was announced in the UK during the month. Nonetheless, the UK accounted for 6.1% of the total number of VC deals in January while its share in terms of deal value stood at 4.4%, thus remaining among the top five markets globally for VC funding activity. https://www.theasset.com/article/51010/uk-venture-capital-funding-plunges-on-macro-jitters

Technology giant Google launched the second fund within the Startup Ukraine Support Fund initiative with a budget of $10M to support Ukrainian startups during 2024 and 2025. As in the first stage, the selected Ukrainian startups will be announced gradually during the year. They will receive up to $200,000 in equity-free funding, as well as Google mentorship, product support, and $300,000 in Google Cloud credits. It is noted that since the beginning of the devastating war in Ukraine, Google has allocated more than $45M in direct aid and $7M to support humanitarian efforts to benefit people in Ukraine. In March 2022, Google created the Support Fund for startups in Ukraine (Google for Startups Ukraine Support Fund), which has provided 58 recipients with financial support for $5M in the form of grants without raising capital,” Google emphasized. https://ubn.news/google-allocates-another-10m-to-support-ukrainian-startups/

Munich-based RobCo, a provider of affordable and connected robotics automation solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has secured $42.5M (approximately €39.17M) in a Series B round of funding.