Dear hustlers, founders, operators and visionaries,

Revolut’s co-founder and chief executive Nikolay Storonsky reportedly received at least $200m in a secondary share sale last month, with total employee share sales hitting $500M — champagne showers for some Revolut employees! We asked OpenAI’s latest model o1 how to spend that money, and in its best Darth Vader voice*, it declared: “Buy an island, name it “Procrastination”, and never return calls.” 🌴 
May the Force be with you! Follow the Gradient and stay tuned!

*James Earl Jones, who passed away last week, gave his blessing for AI to use his voice after his death. 👀

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Your talk track for this week’s cocktail party

Is AI eating SaaS or did we just find a great PR trick?

Klarna is cancelling contracts with two of its key software vendors, Salesforce and Workday, saying it will leverage internally-built AI instead. Earlier this year it already announced internal AI tools doing the work of 700 service agents, this seems ripe for AI-eating-SaaS-fears becoming true. Rumours have it though, Klarna is in fact just replacing the two systems with two other tools. AI-“enhanced”, not “replaced” seems the story here. If the objective was to get Klarna into headlines, goal achieved. How much of this was just a PR stunt?

A dramatic fall - startups in China

China’s startup ecosystem has collapsed dramatically, with only 1’202 startups beings founded last year, compared to 51’302 in 2018, and VC investments breaking down nearly completely. The country’s entrepreneurs have been hit by a government crackdown on the Tech sector being suspected out of step with the Communist Party. The crackdown kicked off with the high profile and sudden vanishing of Jack Ma from public appearance in 2020. Investment funds originally dedicated for China now need to find targets in other regions. Will Europe benefit from this?

France is having another AI moment

Paris-based AI startup Poolside, co-founded by Jason Warner (ex-CTO of GitHub) and software entrepreneur Eiso Kant, is closing in on a $3B valuation—despite not yet releasing a product. The company is in talks to raise $500M, led by Bain Capital Ventures, signalling strong investor confidence in the AI space. Poolside aims to build AI tools for software coding, joining the race alongside heavyweights like Microsoft’s Copilot and local competitors Mistral AI and Cognition AI. France continues to establish itself as the European answer to American AI dominance, after German star Aleph Alpha has presumably left the LLM race.

What do you meme?

Food for thought

Industries to find your AI startup idea

Many white-collar jobs will have an AI co-pilot, then an AI agent. Who is most likely to be impacted? See here. A list that reads as the ultimate sign of doom - yet it also presents opportunities. For those of you seeking to build an AI startup, this is your starting point.

When did tech miracles become routine?

The new mantra in health tech: platform, not stand-alone product

Finnish health tech Oura just acquired metabolic startup Veri, and it’s more than just a headline. With the global digital health market set to hit almost $550 billion by 2028, big players like Apple are betting big—turning AirPods into hearing aids and Apple Watches into sleep apnea detectors. Oura, once just a sleep tracker, is now making its bold move to compete with the giants, evolving into a full health platform and grabbing a bigger slice of the health-tracking pie. Who will you trust to track your health?

Mark your calendar

Croatia

Infobip Shift in Zadar, 15-17 September, for developers [Program]

France

France Digitale FDD Wednesday in Paris, 18 September, for founders and investors [Program]

Media opportunity: Sifted French tech reporter Daphné Leprince-Ringuet is at France Digitale’s FDDAY Wednesday. If you’re also there, get in touch.

Germany

DMEXCO in Cologne, 18-19 September, for digital marketers [Program]
Re:publica in Hamburg, 19-21 September, for startups at the the intersection of digital policy, climate protection, sustainability, participation, and social cohesion [Program]

UK

Frame conference in London, 19 September, for VCs and LPs [Program]
RealTech conference in London, 20 September, for climate, supply chain and national security founders [Apply here]

Media opportunity: Sifted Senior reporter Freya Pratty is at the Frame conference for VCs and LPs Thursday, and the RealTech conference Friday. If you’re at either of those, drop here a line. 

Online 

SiftedTalks: Tapping into the Gulf: What are Middle Eastern investors looking for in Europe?, 18 September 13-14 CEST [Register here]

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Smart advice

for climate tech startups on How to build the perfect FOAK cap table

When building first-of-a-kind (FOAK) climate tech, it’s key to move beyond traditional VC funding. The ideal cap table? A mix of equity, debt financing, and non-dilutive grants to minimize dilution. Debt often comes from venture debt providers, as banks won’t back early-stage companies. To secure debt, founders need to get comfortable discussing risks, showing how their assets hold value even in a worst-case scenario. Once the FOAK is proven, startups can move to project finance—unlocking large-scale funding from institutional investors. Aim for de-risking, not revenue maximization. Check out Sifted’s playbook here.

One good read

Mario Draghi outlines his plan to make Europe more competitive

Join the entrepreneurial journey

Are you ready to take your first steps into the startup ecosystem or seeking an exciting new opportunity? Below is a curated list of startup job openings across Europe for you to explore.

Internships

International Business Development Representative - Intern [📍Paris], MarTech, PlayPlay [Apply]
Operations Intern [📍Düsseldorf or Cologne], eCommerce, Upway [Apply]
Founders Associate / Business Development Internship [📍Zurich], FoodTech, GoNiña [Apply]
Paid Ad Media Intern [📍Zurich], EdTech, Studyflash [Apply]
Working student in Energy Operations [📍Berlin], Climate Tech, 1KOMMA5 [Apply]
Founder Associate [📍München, Münster, Remote], FinTech, Vickii [Apply]

Customer Success

Customer Success Manager - Comptabilité [📍Paris], FinTech, pennylane [Apply]
(Junior) Customer Success Manager in SaaS [📍Berlin], FinTech, Miss Moneypenny Technologies [Apply]

HR & Ops

Senior Technical Recruiter [📍Zurich], AI, Lakera [Apply]
Payroll Operations GP Country Lead - France [📍Paris], HR Tech, Remote [Apply]
Supply Chain Planner, FoodTech, Formo [Apply]

Marketing & Comms

VP Communication & Brand [📍Berlin or London], VC, Cherry Ventures [Apply]
News Editor [📍London], Media, Sifted [Apply]
Influencer & PR Manager [📍London], Cosmetics, eCommerce, Beauty Pie [Apply]
Product Marketing Manager - maternity cover [📍Amsterdam], AI, DeepL [Apply]
Designer (Web & Brand) [📍Europe Remote], SaaS, Linear [Apply]

Want to climb the marketing ladder in a startup? Here are three tips from a CMO

Product & Strategy

Product Manager - Search [📍Paris], SaaS, Front [Apply]
Senior Product Manager [📍Berlin], Fitness Tech, Beat81 [Apply, Hiring manager]
Project Manager [📍UK, Remote], Security, Wiz [Apply, Hiring manager]
Director of Strategy & Operations [📍Europe Remote], Crypto, Argent [Apply]

Sales

Inside Sales Representative [📍Paris], FinTech, GoCardless [Apply]
Business Development Manager [📍Madrid], FinTech, Klarna [Apply]
Senior Business Development Manager [📍Berlin], Transport, Omio [Apply]

Talk to you next week! In the meantime, we see you on LinkedIn, X, Insta and YouTube!

🫶 Melanie & Christian

Each week, a lot of work goes into the Follow the Gradient project to help you navigate this crazy jungle called entrepreneurship. Help us grow this community and we’ll make sure that you or your project gets a shoutout in the weekly newsletter!