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Surging homegrown talent and VC spark Italy’s tech renaissance

TechCrunch

However, while many startups exist in cities like Turin, Bologna, Naples and Rome, Milan is generally seen as a bigger ecosystem because of its mercantile culture and a significant share of VC funds. The good news: VC funding in Italy has grown. It has an estimated 67 VC funds, with 18 of them started since 2015. More than 50%?

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VUZ raises $20 million to scale its immersive social app

TechCrunch

Investors in the round include Caruso Ventures, Vision VC Fund, e& capital, investment pillar of e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group), DFDF (Dubai Future District Fund), WIN (Webit Investment Network), SRMG, Elbert Capital, and Yasta Partners, Faith Capital, Panthera Capital. Seven existing investors participated as well.

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Varjo, an early mover in building XR headsets and software for enterprises, taps $40M

TechCrunch

Applications in the metaverse often feel like more of a marketing gimmick than something that a critical mass of consumers would use, let alone pay for. To meet these expectations, both technology that is easy to use and accurate as well as high-quality software and content are needed. Image Credits: Varjo.

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Deep tech startups in need of funding should consider federal grants

TechCrunch

The VC world is attracted to the low-investment/high-returns model deep tech tends to offer, but it can also be impatient with the time it takes to get there. According to PitchBook, the VC world is also trending toward the megadeal ($100 million+), which doesn’t generally apply to early-stage startups with a handful of employees.

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UK report spotlights the huge investment gap facing diverse founders

TechCrunch

VC has been invested over the past decade according to race, gender and educational background makes for grim reading — with all-ethnic teams and female entrepreneurs receiving just a fraction of available funding versus all-white teams and male founders. female entrepreneurs face in accessing VC funding versus male counterparts. .”

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StudentFinance nabs $41M to help Europeans upskill for in-demand jobs

TechCrunch

“We also use data from analyzing systemic and market changes such as government incentives for companies to become ‘greener.’ ’ This gives us data on future growth — or declining — sectors.” The Series A round constitutes a mix of equity and debt, though the company declined to disclose the split.

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TravelPerk adds $115M to equity and debt Series D, discloses unicorn valuation

TechCrunch

That said, it’s not clear how much of the $115 million tranche is equity versus debt — a spokeswoman for the startup declined to provide a break down or a clear answer when we asked, saying only: “This round is a mix of equity and debt funding.” The final tranche of the D round was led by U.S. based rival NexTravel.

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