Freya Pratty
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freyapratty.bsky.social
Freya Pratty
@freyapratty.bsky.social
720 followers 270 following 34 posts
Senior Reporter and Investigations Lead at the FT's Sifted.

🔎 Tips: freya@sifted.eu / fpw100@protonmail.com / Signal: +447742651828
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freyapratty.bsky.social
Freya Pratty @freyapratty.bsky.social · Nov 18
👋 Hi Bluesky — I'm a reporter at Sifted covering tech across Europe, with a focus on 🌱 climate tech and 🔍 investigations into the wider tech world.

I love when people get in touch with tips on what to look into next: freya@sifted.eu / fpw100@protonmail.com / DM me!
freyapratty.bsky.social
Exclusive: Orral Nadjari, the founder of collapsed gigafactory Britishvolt, is working on a new battery project in the Gulf, he tells Sifted.

sifted.eu/articles/bri...
Britishvolt founder Orral Nadjari plots new battery factories in the Gulf
Orral Nadjari, the founder of collapsed gigafactory Britishvolt, is working on a new battery project in the Gulf, he tells Sifted.
sifted.eu
August 8, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Reposted by Freya Pratty
henrymance.ft.com
It is remarkable that the west is committing to spending 5% of GDP on defence, and almost no one has made the case that the most pressing threat to our security this century is climate change and we should be spending more on tackling that.
June 27, 2025 at 8:36 AM
freyapratty.bsky.social
Scoop: The European Anti-Fraud Office has found "serious irregularities" at EIT Manufacturing, an EU body tasked with upscaling manufacturing capacity in the region.

W/ @mimibilling.bsky.social:

sifted.eu/articles/eit...
Exclusive: EU body freezes payments to startups following fraud investigation
The European Anti-Fraud Office found “serious irregularities” in an audit of a subdivision of the EU’s EIT, leading to suspended payments to startups.
sifted.eu
June 4, 2025 at 1:59 PM
freyapratty.bsky.social
Carbon removal company Climeworks is plotting an international expansion despite a recent round of layoffs and uncertainty over funding from the US government.

The company tells me that Canada, Saudi Arabia, Norway and the UK fit its criteria.

More here 👇

sifted.eu/articles/cli...
Climeworks eyes expansion despite planned layoffs
Climeworks is plotting an international expansion despite a recent round of layoffs and uncertainty over funding from the US government.
sifted.eu
May 20, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Reposted by Freya Pratty
thegavinsheehan.bsky.social
That's one of my newfound journalism friends @freyapratty.bsky.social, interviewing the President of #Iceland, Halla Tómasdóttir. She's kind of a big deal. #IIW25 🇮🇸
May 15, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by Freya Pratty
sifted.eu
Target Global has seen two of its five partners depart in the last six months.
Target Global restructures senior team and ramps up sale of secondaries
sifted.eu
April 28, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Reposted by Freya Pratty
saritharai.bsky.social
Researchers from AI startup Ziroh Labs and leading engineering school, IIT Madras, design new system that runs large AI models without high-end chips (like GPUs from Nvidia)

New framework helps run LLMs from the likes of Meta, Alibaba on every day laptop/desktop processors
tinyurl.com/4hmsbxvn
#AI
April 10, 2025 at 6:13 AM
freyapratty.bsky.social
Scoop: Buzzy German AI startup Black Forest Labs is no longer working with Elon Musk’s xAI, Sifted has learned.

w/ @mpartington.bsky.social 👇

sifted.eu/articles/xai...
Elon Musk’s xAI no longer working with German startup Black Forest Labs
Buzzy German AI startup Black Forest Labs is no longer working with Elon Musk’s xAI to power its Grok chatbot, Sifted has learned.
sifted.eu
April 3, 2025 at 3:21 PM
freyapratty.bsky.social
Scoop: AI language startup DeepL could IPO in 2026, sources say

w/ @annesraders.bsky.social @tommatsuda.bsky.social

sifted.eu/articles/dee...
AI language startup DeepL could IPO in 2026, sources say
German AI translation startup DeepL, last valued at $2bn, is looking closely at a public listing, sources tell Sifted.
sifted.eu
April 3, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Reposted by Freya Pratty
sifted.eu
Embattled Swedish battery-maker Northvolt has laid off more than half of its staff, weeks after filing for bankruptcy. ⚡️

#Northvolt
Northvolt lays off half of staff as bankrupt battery-maker seeks buyer
sifted.eu
April 1, 2025 at 10:23 AM
freyapratty.bsky.social
NEW: An ongoing lawsuit threatens to dredge up Checkout.com's relationship to 'vice' industries.

The lawsuit links the fintech to a mysterious Cypriot entity historically listed on a mail-order bride website and once a client of Paxum bank.

W/ @tommatsuda.bsky.social

sifted.eu/articles/law...
Lawsuit puts Checkout.com's ties to adult entertainment industry in spotlight
An ongoing lawsuit threatens to dredge up Checkout.com's relationship to ‘vice’ industries, by linking it to a mysterious Cypriot entity.
sifted.eu
March 7, 2025 at 9:11 AM
freyapratty.bsky.social
NEW: Since 2021, London-based VC firm Future Planet Capital has secured more than £100m in public funds without any competitive bidding process.

Sources tell Sifted that government officials have raised questions over its suitability for the project.

sifted.eu/articles/fut...
VC firm faces questions over £110m of UK public money acquired without competitive process
London-based VC firm Future Planet Capital (FPC) was awarded over £100m in public funds without any competitive bidding process.
sifted.eu
March 3, 2025 at 11:21 AM
freyapratty.bsky.social
New: Bpifrance, the French public sector investment bank, has over $30m of public money on the line after Ÿnsect filed for insolvency.

sifted.eu/articles/bpi...
Bpifrance has over $30m on the line in Ÿnsect collapse
Bpifrance, the French public sector investment bank, has over $30m of public money on the line after Ynsect filed for insolvency.
sifted.eu
February 27, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by Freya Pratty
madisonmarriage.bsky.social
I wrote about my brother Charlie’s final 48 hours, and his increasingly desperate attempts to track down an emergency supply of medication from the NHS. It’s an upsetting read but one I’m proud of. He’d be delighted to have made the @financialtimes.com magazine front cover: on.ft.com/434zZqn
February 23, 2025 at 9:10 AM
freyapratty.bsky.social
New: BlackRock-backed Amazon aggregator SellerX cuts its workforce by 20%, affecting 170 people.

sifted.eu/articles/sel...
Embattled Amazon aggregator SellerX cuts workforce by 20%
SellerX, which buys and helps e-commerce businesses grow, is laying off 20% of staff as it seeks to streamline its operations.
sifted.eu
February 18, 2025 at 11:09 AM
freyapratty.bsky.social
Scoop: An ex-Mistral employee is raising $80m for his new company, sources tell Sifted.

"Genesis Robotics is the big round happening in Paris at the moment,” says one investor.

sifted.eu/articles/ex-...
Ex-Mistral employee seeks $80m for stealth AI startup
A former Mistral employee is seeking $80m for his new company, Genesis Robotics, which is developing an AI-powered simulation platform.
sifted.eu
February 17, 2025 at 9:32 AM
freyapratty.bsky.social
🔋 When Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in November, it said it would run out of cash in January.

It says it's now extended its runway (but won't say by how much) and it's still in need of long term funding.

sifted.eu/articles/nor...
Northvolt extends runway but says it needs more capital to survive
When Northvolt filed for bankruptcy, it had enough capital to last them to the end of January. The company now says its cash runway has been extended.
sifted.eu
February 12, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Freya Pratty
mimibilling.bsky.social
Bankrupt battery factory Northvolt was supposedly running out of cash two weeks ago. Now the company tells @sifted.eu
it has extended its cash runway.

W. @freyapratty.bsky.social

More here: sifted.eu/articles/nor...
Northvolt extends runway but says it needs more capital to survive
When Northvolt filed for bankruptcy, it had enough capital to last them to the end of January. The company now says its cash runway has been extended.
sifted.eu
February 12, 2025 at 2:06 PM
freyapratty.bsky.social
Someone recently described Octopus Energy to me as an opportunity for equity investors to get in on "an expensive utility company or a cheap tech company."

The tech company, Kraken, is growing fast and looks set to one day spin out entirely from Octopus.

sifted.eu/articles/oct...
Octopus Energy’s tech arm can be bigger than UiPath, says CEO
Kraken, Octopus Energy's tech arm, grew significantly across 2024, while the group as a whole saw a dip in profits.
sifted.eu
February 6, 2025 at 12:00 PM
freyapratty.bsky.social
New: Octopus Energy has recorded its second year of profitability, despite a dip in revenues. Its tech arm, Kraken (which files separate accounts) saw profits increase 480%.

sifted.eu/articles/oct...
Octopus Energy turns profit for second year running as its tech arm surges
London-based energy supplier Octopus Energy recorded its second year of profit. company’s tech arm, Kraken, saw significant growth in 2024.
sifted.eu
February 4, 2025 at 11:06 AM
freyapratty.bsky.social
"Knowing what I know now, I would have never taken Mubadala as an investor.”

Getir vs Mubadala continues to rage on, after a Dutch court on Friday sided with the sovereign wealth fund.

sifted.eu/articles/get...
Inside the bitter courtroom drama between Getir founders and lead investor Mubadala: ‘It’s a coup’
A Dutch court found on Friday that Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala had acted in the interests of speedy grocery giant Getir.
sifted.eu
January 29, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Reposted by Freya Pratty
sifted.eu
'It's an open game for us, if the money's not going to the US,' says one VC.

#US #VentureCapital #News
UK VCs want to mop up Chinese capital leaving the US. Should they?
sifted.eu
January 16, 2025 at 1:02 PM
freyapratty.bsky.social
UK VCs want to mop up Chinese capital leaving the US. Should they? 🤔

sifted.eu/articles/uk-...
UK VCs want to mop up Chinese capital leaving the US. Should they?
With growing anti-China sentiment in the US, UK VCs could capitalise off the Chinese LPs leaving the country.
sifted.eu
January 16, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Freya Pratty
nytimes.com
The Biden administration said on Tuesday that it would block imports from more than three dozen Chinese companies, citing their alleged ties to forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China.
Biden Administration Adds 37 Chinese Companies to Forced Labor List
The administration announced it would penalize its largest-ever batch of companies linked to Xinjiang, including major suppliers of critical minerals and textiles.
www.nytimes.com
January 14, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Freya Pratty
henrymance.ft.com
Thanks to the FT Magazine for running these two climate cover stories - one on wildfires (July 2023), one on a possible collapse of Atlantic currents (January 2025). And thanks to everyone who read each piece, showing there is an audience for climate features www.ft.com/content/7711...
January 13, 2025 at 4:09 PM