Spotify's planned direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange skips underwriters and is being called the non IPO IPO, with valuation at least $19bn.
Revolut founder Nik Storonsky says the fintech processes $1.5bn monthly, grows 10x yearly, and will offer its services for free, contrasting with Monzo.
France threatens to fine Apple and Google over app store practices, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire promising legal action and fines of about €2m per company.
Spotify Prepares Direct Listing at a $19 Billion Valuation
Funding and deals
Spotify. Music streamer plans a direct New York Stock Exchange listing without underwriters, at a valuation of at least $19bn, with 70m paying subscribers.
GTT Communications. GTT agreed to buy Interoute for €1.9bn in an all-cash deal.
Experian. Experian is acquiring ClearScore, which offers credit scores and product suggestions to about 6m users, for about $385m plus an earnout.
Atom. UK digital bank raised £149m in a round led by BBVA, with Tosca Funds, lifting BBVA's stake to 39%.
UiPath. The robotic process automation software maker, now headquartered in New York, raised a $153m Series B.
solarisBank. The banking platform, with nearly 60 business clients, raised about €56.6m from a consortium of BBVA, Visa, Relaystar and ABN AMRO.
Moovit. The urban mobility app, used by 120m people, raised about $50m in a Series D led by Intel Capital.
Capitolis. London capital markets services firm raised $29m, with $20m from Index Ventures and $9m from Sequoia Capital.
made.com. Furniture retailer raised £40m from Partech Ventures and others to expand across Europe.
Guest interviews
Nik Storonsky, co-founder and CEO of Revolut. Revolut handles $1.5bn in transactions a month, grows 10 times a year and adds five to 10,000 users daily, mainly by word of mouth. He says it does more than TransferWise and will do it for free, with expansion planned into the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and India. Next come an ETF wealth product, a platinum plan with a metal card and business lending.
Sandis Kondrats, co-founder and CEO of Anatomy Next. His virtual reality body simulator for medical training has worked with almost 70 institutions, and Massachusetts General Hospital is the first paying customer. He is closing a $500,000 round to scale sales, and plans neurosurgery and orthopedic simulators.
News
France threatens Apple and Google with app store fines. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire says legal action will follow, with fines of about €2m per company. Regulators may also investigate Facebook and Google over online advertising.
Facebook signs music licensing deals with ICE Services and Warner. ICE Services covers music on Facebook, Instagram, Oculus and Messenger. Warner is the last major label not yet working with the social network.
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On this episode 3
Show 1
Microsoft opens two German cloud data centers. The facilities cost more than €100m and let customers keep data in Germany, which has strict privacy laws, as Microsoft competes with Amazon and Google.
Finland's state arm buys 3.3% of Nokia. The stake cost about €844m. Nokia remains Finland's largest company and employs 6,300 people there.