Kai Nicol-Schwarz
@kainicolschwarz.bsky.social
Senior reporter at the Financial Times' Sifted | UK tech and healthtech | kai@sifted.eu | he/him
DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs has poached a significant chunk of its headcount from rivals Exscientia and BenevolentAI, after they struggled to retain a foothold in a challenging drug discovery market.
sifted.eu/articles/iso...
sifted.eu/articles/iso...
DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs poaches talent from embattled AI rivals
The Demis Hassabis-founded company raised a $600m round from Thrive Capital on Monday
sifted.eu
April 1, 2025 at 8:37 AM
DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs has poached a significant chunk of its headcount from rivals Exscientia and BenevolentAI, after they struggled to retain a foothold in a challenging drug discovery market.
sifted.eu/articles/iso...
sifted.eu/articles/iso...
DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs has raised $600m from OpenAI and Stripe-backer Thrive Capital, as it looks to advance its AI-designed drug candidates to clinical trials by the end of the year.
sifted.eu/articles/iso...
sifted.eu/articles/iso...
DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs raises $600m from Thrive Capital
Google Ventures and Alphabet also participated in the company's first external round
sifted.eu
March 31, 2025 at 12:11 PM
DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs has raised $600m from OpenAI and Stripe-backer Thrive Capital, as it looks to advance its AI-designed drug candidates to clinical trials by the end of the year.
sifted.eu/articles/iso...
sifted.eu/articles/iso...
US defence tech Anduril will open a factory and R&D facility in the UK, as it looks to establish a European presence in the face of rising geopolitical tensions and increased defence spending in the region
sifted.eu/articles/and...
sifted.eu/articles/and...
Anduril to open UK factory and R&D centre
The US tech giant’s expansion follows recent moves from Germany’s Helsing and France’s Mistral to court UK armed forces
sifted.eu
March 19, 2025 at 9:40 AM
US defence tech Anduril will open a factory and R&D facility in the UK, as it looks to establish a European presence in the face of rising geopolitical tensions and increased defence spending in the region
sifted.eu/articles/and...
sifted.eu/articles/and...
Automation software giant UiPath has acquired SoftBank-backed data analytics startup Peak, as it looks to use the UK company's tech to roll out a suite of AI agents.
sifted.eu/articles/uip...
sifted.eu/articles/uip...
sifted.eu
March 13, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Automation software giant UiPath has acquired SoftBank-backed data analytics startup Peak, as it looks to use the UK company's tech to roll out a suite of AI agents.
sifted.eu/articles/uip...
sifted.eu/articles/uip...
Deliveroo reported its first full year of profit on Thursday, following a bruising few years for the food delivery sector that’s seen many make layoffs and exit international markets.
sifted.eu/articles/del...
sifted.eu/articles/del...
Deliveroo reports first full-year of profit following layoffs and market exits
The food delivery giant announced it was shutting its Hong Kong business earlier this week
sifted.eu
March 13, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Deliveroo reported its first full year of profit on Thursday, following a bruising few years for the food delivery sector that’s seen many make layoffs and exit international markets.
sifted.eu/articles/del...
sifted.eu/articles/del...
AI erotic companion startup Oh has plans to roll out agents that can market themselves on social media and direct message users with spicy conversation starters.
But first it's got to convince enough users it’s not that weird turning to AI for romance.
sifted.eu/articles/ai-...
But first it's got to convince enough users it’s not that weird turning to AI for romance.
sifted.eu/articles/ai-...
Meet the AI OnlyFans: How one startup raised millions to build an ‘erotic companions’ platform
London-based Oh has won the backing of less risk-averse investors
sifted.eu
March 13, 2025 at 9:06 AM
AI erotic companion startup Oh has plans to roll out agents that can market themselves on social media and direct message users with spicy conversation starters.
But first it's got to convince enough users it’s not that weird turning to AI for romance.
sifted.eu/articles/ai-...
But first it's got to convince enough users it’s not that weird turning to AI for romance.
sifted.eu/articles/ai-...
Electric vehicle startup Arrival has shut down operations and made all but one member of staff redundant after a planned sale of the beleaguered company collapsed.
sifted.eu/articles/arr...
sifted.eu/articles/arr...
EV startup Arrival shuts down operations, lays off staff after sale plan collapses
Once valued at $13bn, the UK electric van maker fell into administration in early 2024
sifted.eu
March 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Electric vehicle startup Arrival has shut down operations and made all but one member of staff redundant after a planned sale of the beleaguered company collapsed.
sifted.eu/articles/arr...
sifted.eu/articles/arr...
Europe’s AI startups are being forced to ramp up creative recruiting tactics as they sweat over a talent shortage among AI workers and try to outcompete each other for the best hires
sifted.eu/articles/ai-...
sifted.eu/articles/ai-...
AI talent crisis: How European startups are looking to outcompete rivals for tech workers
Execs at Europe's AI darlings are cosying up to researchers, upskilling employees and turning to AI agents to overcome the worker shortage.
sifted.eu
March 6, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Europe’s AI startups are being forced to ramp up creative recruiting tactics as they sweat over a talent shortage among AI workers and try to outcompete each other for the best hires
sifted.eu/articles/ai-...
sifted.eu/articles/ai-...
AI analytics startup Quantexa has raised $175m as it looks to deepen its presence in the US and hunts for startups to acquire
sifted.eu/articles/qua...
sifted.eu/articles/qua...
AI analytics startup Quantexa hunts for acquisitions as it raises $175m
The Series F round sees the UK company hit a $2.6bn valuation
sifted.eu
March 5, 2025 at 9:51 AM
AI analytics startup Quantexa has raised $175m as it looks to deepen its presence in the US and hunts for startups to acquire
sifted.eu/articles/qua...
sifted.eu/articles/qua...
Autonomous driving startup Wayve has announced plans for a new site in Germany, as the company steps up global expansion in a bid to secure its first commercial deals following a record $1bn round in 2024
sifted.eu/articles/way...
sifted.eu/articles/way...
AI self-driving car startup Wayve eyes global expansion with Germany launch
The SoftBank, Nvidia and Microsoft-backed company raised a record $1bn round in 2024
sifted.eu
March 3, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Autonomous driving startup Wayve has announced plans for a new site in Germany, as the company steps up global expansion in a bid to secure its first commercial deals following a record $1bn round in 2024
sifted.eu/articles/way...
sifted.eu/articles/way...
Unicorn femtech Flo is on the hunt for startups to acquire, as it looks to expand into new health verticals and ramp up revenue in the wake of a record 2024 fundraise.
sifted.eu/articles/flo...
sifted.eu/articles/flo...
Unicorn Flo Health eyeing startup acquisitions following $200m fundraise
Period-tracking app Flo last year won the backing of US investor General Atlantic, and is on the hunt for other startups to buy.
sifted.eu
March 3, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Unicorn femtech Flo is on the hunt for startups to acquire, as it looks to expand into new health verticals and ramp up revenue in the wake of a record 2024 fundraise.
sifted.eu/articles/flo...
sifted.eu/articles/flo...
ElevenLabs releases new AI model it says outperforms rivals at Google and OpenAI
sifted.eu/articles/ele...
sifted.eu/articles/ele...
ElevenLabs releases new AI model it says outperforms rivals at Google and OpenAI
The launch of the startup’s first speech-to-text model comes weeks on from its $180m raise
sifted.eu
February 27, 2025 at 5:34 PM
ElevenLabs releases new AI model it says outperforms rivals at Google and OpenAI
sifted.eu/articles/ele...
sifted.eu/articles/ele...
NEW: Luminance raises $75m as it doubles down on AI agents for legal sector
sifted.eu/articles/lum...
sifted.eu/articles/lum...
Luminance raises $75m as it doubles down on AI agents for legal sector
The round comes less than a year on from the startup's $40m Series B
sifted.eu
February 18, 2025 at 9:50 AM
NEW: Luminance raises $75m as it doubles down on AI agents for legal sector
sifted.eu/articles/lum...
sifted.eu/articles/lum...
NEW: AI compute provider Ori raises $140m to roll out access to Nvidia superchips
sifted.eu/articles/ori...
sifted.eu/articles/ori...
AI compute provider Ori raises $140m to roll out access to Nvidia superchips
The startup says a larger raise is currently underway and expected to close in 2025
sifted.eu
February 18, 2025 at 9:18 AM
NEW: AI compute provider Ori raises $140m to roll out access to Nvidia superchips
sifted.eu/articles/ori...
sifted.eu/articles/ori...
NaturalX, the VC arm of German pharmaceutical giant Schwabe Group, has unveiled a new €100m fund to back early-stage consumer health startups in Europe, amid a flurry of big money investments in the sector.
sifted.eu/articles/nat...
sifted.eu/articles/nat...
Pharma giant Schwabe unveils €100m fund for European consumer health startups
The announcement of the new fund comes on the back of some big money rounds for the region's D2C healthtechs.
sifted.eu
February 17, 2025 at 9:18 AM
NaturalX, the VC arm of German pharmaceutical giant Schwabe Group, has unveiled a new €100m fund to back early-stage consumer health startups in Europe, amid a flurry of big money investments in the sector.
sifted.eu/articles/nat...
sifted.eu/articles/nat...
NEW: Keir Starmer wooed AI leaders at an invite-only Downing Street party on Tuesday.
Not invited? I spoke to those on the guestlist to find out what all the fuss was about.
sifted.eu/articles/kei...
Not invited? I spoke to those on the guestlist to find out what all the fuss was about.
sifted.eu/articles/kei...
Keir Starmer woos AI leaders at invite-only Downing Street party
The Labour leader launched a charm offensive after months of rocky relations with business leaders
sifted.eu
February 6, 2025 at 12:19 PM
NEW: Keir Starmer wooed AI leaders at an invite-only Downing Street party on Tuesday.
Not invited? I spoke to those on the guestlist to find out what all the fuss was about.
sifted.eu/articles/kei...
Not invited? I spoke to those on the guestlist to find out what all the fuss was about.
sifted.eu/articles/kei...