Instant grocery delivery continues to be a very frothy market, but today comes news of a major funding round for one player in it that investors believe will still be standing after the hype has died down. Flink, the Berlin-based startup that sells food and other essentials at supermarket prices and aims to deliver them […]
Lydia grabs another $100 million for its European financial super app
Just a few weeks after announcing stock and crypto trading, French fintech startup Lydia is announcing that it has raised a $100 million Series C round. With this funding round, the startup has reached a unicorn valuation, which means that it is currently valued at more than $1 billion. Dragoneer and Echo Street are investing […]
Covid news live: Omicron likely to become dominant variant, Harvard researcher says; France to close nightclubs
The Omicron Covid variant is likely to ‘outcompete Delta’ in many, if not all, regions, an infectious disease researcher says; nightclubs in France will be ordered to close for four weeks to counter a Covid surgeNew York City sets Covid vaccine mandate…
Dunkirk’s camps – in pictures
Guardian photographer David Levene visited northern France after twenty-seven people drowned in the Channel last week as they attempted to make the perilous crossing from France to Britain across busy shipping lanes in a dinghy that deflated in the ope…
Jump brings stability to freelancers by giving French permanent contracts
French startup Jump wants to disrupt the industry of umbrella companies. Those companies provide an alternative to traditional freelancing jobs. They can hire workers on permanent contracts so that they get the stability and the benefits that come with a full-time contract. But workers remain independent — they can work with multiple clients and they […]
Upway is building an online marketplace to buy and sell used electric bikes
Meet Upway, a French startup that is building a marketplace for second-hand electric bikes. The startup just raised a $5.7 million (€5 million) seed round from Sequoia Capital and Global Founders Capital. If you’re familiar with the world of online marketplaces for cars, Upway will sound familiar to you as well. The company buys electric […]
Paris asks scooter sharing services to restrict speed to 10km/h
Riding a scooter in Paris will soon feel incredibly… slow. The City of Paris has announced that scooter sharing services should restrict the maximum top speed to 10km/h (that’s 6.2mph). That decision comes following a number of pedestrian injuries that involved a scooter. Paris has been an important market for scooter sharing companies. It’s a […]
French fishers to block Channel tunnel in Brexit licences row
Members of industry association say large number of vehicles will be used to block key artery between nationsFrench fishers are threatening to block access to the Eurotunnel and the ferry port in Calais on Friday as part of an ongoing dispute over acce…
Twenty-seven dead in the icy Channel. This must be the spur for change | Gaby Hinsliff
No one would attempt a crossing in the flimsiest of boats if they had a better option. Now our job is to provide them with oneIt was the kind of boat, a French politician said, that you blow up like a paddling pool.Not much more than a toy, of the kind…
Stopping dangerous Channel crossings: what experts and campaigners say
Analysis: From overhauling the asylum system to simply taking what refugees say seriously, some ideas to stop the small boatsAmid a rising number of small boats crossing the Channel, culminating in tragedy on Wednesday, campaigners and experts have pro…