As the Spanish telecom juggernaut prepares for a comprehensive strategy overhaul in November, Telefónica is thinking of laying off up to 7,000 employees. Although the business has not yet finalised the details, a Reuters official and internal sources both say that staff reductions are being considered.
On November 4, Executive Chair Marc Murtra is anticipated to present a new strategic direction. The majority of the proposed cuts are aimed at Spanish operations, including IT, broadband, and mobile services, and they may even make their way to Telefonica’s central offices for the first time.
After the next negotiations with unions, any employment actions would begin. The company hopes to reach an agreement by December 31 so that associated expenses can be included in the financials for the next year.
Layoffs Can Prove Profitable for Telefónica
In the midst of continuous digital changes, telecom companies’ attempts to optimise operations have been constantly monitored by investors. Given that Telefónica’s net debt is currently close to €27 billion, implementing layoffs could increase profit margins and free up money for much-needed network upgrades or debt reduction.
If the cuts appear credible, shares might respond favourably, but the true effect will rely on the final magnitude, voluntary adoption, and the rate at which the savings are converted into profits.
The Spanish corporation and its subsidiaries, Telefonica Moviles (the company’s mobile and broadband subsidiary in Spain) and Telefonica Soluciones (which provides outsourced IT services), are expected to account for the majority of the impacted employees, up to 5,000, according to the media reports. Employees at the corporate centre, who were previously exempt from redundancy plans, could also be impacted.
Troublesome Time for Europe’s Telecom Sector
Due to stagnant revenue and growing infrastructure expenses, major telecom companies in Europe are reevaluating everything from strategy to workforce. The sector as a whole is moving towards leaner, more tech-driven companies, as seen by Telefonica’s possible layoffs and extensive restructuring.
Such actions might set the tone for future employment cuts and investment strategies throughout the continent, as traditional revenue streams are under strain and competition is intensifying.
Quick Shots
•Telefónica plans to lay off up to 7,000 employees
in 2025 amid a major strategic overhaul.
•Executive Chair Marc Murtra to present new strategy
on Nov 4; layoffs may start after union negotiations.
•Majority of cuts expected in Spain, impacting IT,
broadband, mobile services, and possibly corporate offices.
•Layoffs aim to improve profit margins, reduce debt
(€27B net debt), and free funds for network upgrades.
•Potential positive market reaction depends on final
cut size, voluntary adoption, and savings-to-profit conversion.
•Subsidiaries Telefónica Moviles and Telefónica
Soluciones expected to bear up to 5,000 layoffs.
In recent years, European fintech startups have expanded exponentially. Open banking is one of the main drivers of this development. This will lead to financial services and fintech partners supplying customers throughout Europe with more creative and user-friendly solutions. Government support for the banking and financial industries (fintech) is enormous, not just because of its scale (global funding = $111,8 billion), but also because of technology in part and, in particular, a growth in smartphone connectivity at a pace that remains unimaginable. The survey shows that Fintech adoption is well above the global average of 64% across Europe and has no indicators of slowing down, particularly in the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Revolut is a British financial technology company that offers banking services. Send money or divide expenses with families or friends immediately, whether they are on the table or worldwide. With Revolut you can send money overseas in 30+ interbank exchange currencies at a small 0.5% discount per month on anything exceeding £1,000. You can also save money every day by getting rewards. Set goals, receive immediate updates on expenses, and view weekly insights to keep track of your expenses.
Adyen is a Dutch payment firm that helps firms to collect payments on e-commerce, smartphone and point of sale. Foreign credit cards, local cash methods, such as the Brazilian Boleto, and Online banking activities, such as perfect in the Netherlands, are part of the payment mechanism. The use of cards, digital payments, and more are supported on every digital platform or device. Each checkout is completely configured and designed for additional conversions.
Many of the most forward-looking organizations in the world use Checkout’s unified system to shape their plans. They have a provision for a quicker, smoother, and more connected payment experience across countries with their linked payment technologies and payment options. In order to maximize payment flows and release complete value from any process, they give companies the data to identify patterns and make wise decisions.
Transferwise was set up in 2010, in order to achieve inexpensive, equal, and quick foreign money transfers. However, there is more to the story, as in numerous pioneering companies bank accounts exist worldwide, TransferWise gives the same services and also there is no extra overseas processing fees. Through Transferwise you can transfer or recieve money locally or internationally.
With a value of 2.8 billion USD OakNorth is the precious fintech in Europe. Without a credit default, it has lent $4 trillion to British firms. With its collaborators, OakNorth Analytical Intelligence has launched its data and technology network successfully in 8 new foreign markets. OakNorth has a good variety of savings accounts and has featured consistently in the top transactions since its introduction. In a brief amount of time, they are priced to adjust so that they can advise savers always to act fast to obtain a product if they see the appealing cost.
The N26 bank account is a free “deposit account,” opened directly from your phone or tablet in less than eight minutes. You can deposit cash or transfer cash from a separate account as many times as you want. You can store and spend money in your daily bank account as well.
Founder: Ric Larcheveque, Nicolas Bacca, Joel Pobeda, and Thomas France
Ledger Logo
At Ledger, they establish the highest degree of security for crypto-assets in hardware wallet technology. Their products integrate a Protected Element with a proprietary OS to protect your property. Ledger wallets allow you to own and manage your private info.
Rapyd lets corporations to give services with currency exchange round the world. They are designing a technology that reduces cross-boundary trading history complications while offering experience in local payments. Their fintech software for processing, billing and issuing, regional fintech, and payments capabilities is used by multinational e-commerce organizations, tech companies, industries, and financial institutions to easy integrable with their applications.
Qonto is a strategic solution for corporate finance. Qonto offers all the resources needed to handle the finances of a company. The tools range from dedicated accounting entry, integrations with over 80 accounting applications, and cost and reception management in real-time with categorized and personalized transactions. This involves custom marks. By linking your funds to your deposits, you can focus on your core business. For quick and stable payments you can link your Qonto wallet with Apple Pay. You can also send and receive international payments with Qonto.
Nexi
Founded: 2017
Nexi Logo
Nexi is a leading company in Italy, which involves issuing, selling, automation, interbank corporate banking, confirmation and payment services in a range of sectors. In the form of card payment acceptance technologies, cash transactions between businesses and private entities, and the management of increasingly complex technological facilities, including corporate banking, Nexi offers the most innovative payment options for banks and insurance agencies.
Conclusion
Since smaller and younger firms are not running at all, they are willing to adapt at an unparalleled price to the consumers’ wants and needs, which existing banks are battling for. The coordination of these emerging innovations, existing business and industry regulators (politicians) will in future decide landscape health overall. The landscape and digital experience that we have now will be very diverse.
FAQs
what are the best fintech companies in Europe?
Nexi
Revolut
Adyen
Checkout
Transferwise
N26
Qonto
OakNorth
Ledger
Rapyd
Which place is most attractive for a fintech startup in Europe?
The UK is one of the most attractive destinations for FinTech startups in Europe, and investments in the sector grew by 9.1 billion this year, a 24% increase from the same period in 2021.
How many fintech startups are there in the UK?
The FinTech sector in the UK is comprised of over 1,600 firms, a number that is projected to double by 2030.
Paris is famous for being one of the most popular fashion cities. It is often regarded as the fashion capital of the world. The moment we hear about Paris, the first things that come to mind are Eiffel Tower and Persian fashion. But this beautiful city has much more to offer.
Paris is home to many flourishing startups. It has the most innovative ideas, creative people, and technology. The tech sector in Paris is super dynamic and has a great spot in Europe’s entire tech ecosystem.
Among Europe’s best startup hubs, Paris stands among the top three cities. Be it advertising, financial, logistics, food, Paris has now a variety of startups.
In the earlier times, it was quite difficult to set up a business in Paris. But the times have changed now. Today great attention is being paid towards building an advanced technology startup hub.
The development of a great tech sector needs three things. These are great-minded specialists, investment, and a growth-supporting ecosystem. The city of Paris has shown great progress in all these over the years.
The educational system of Paris is one of the most demanding. It offers many entrepreneurial programs. The environment of the city is more progress-oriented than ever before.
More and more startups are now establishing in Paris due to favourable conditions. This has made a great contribution to the economy of France. Thus, over the year, Paris had made great progress in many fields apart from being known as a fashion capital.
Paris Startup Ecosystem
Top 10 Startups in Paris
Paris is now a budding home for many startups. Not only the natives but the people from outside are also interested in establishing startups here. The following are some of the top startups in Paris:
PayFit
Founder: Florian Fournier, Firmin Zocchetto and Ghislain de Fontenay Founded: 2016
PayFit – Top Startups in Paris
It is one of the most popular startups in Paris, launched in 2016. Florian Fournier, Firmin Zocchetto and Ghislain de Fontenay are the founders. It is a cloud-based software for the management of payrolls. This makes the process easy and efficient and thus, increases the productivity of human resource managers.
PayFit is not based on a fancy concept. But it is a great deal as it helps with the efficiency of the work ecosystem. The startups deal with all the activities of HR. It has its customers in France, UK, Germany, and Spain.
Alan
Founder: Charles Gorintin and Jean Charles Samuelian Founded: 2016
Alan – Top Startups in Paris
It is a digital health insurance startup, founded in the year 2016. Charles Gorintin and Jean Charles Samuelian are the founders. This Persian startup focuses on user experience by providing great quality health plans at reasonable prices.
After 1986, this is the first independent company to get its insurance licensed by the French Prudential Supervisory Authority in France.
Alan has made healthcare in France better and more resourceful. It has even got the status of a unicorn startup.
Founder: Aziza Chaouachi, Yassine Ben Romdhane and Mario Moinet Founded: 2017
Leavy – Top Startups in Paris
Leavy is a startup established in Paris in the year 2017. Aziza Chaouachi, Yassine Ben Romdhane and Mario Moinet are the founders. It is a travelling community and marketplace. It aims to make travelling easy and affordable.
With this app, people can rent their spaces while they are travelling. In this way, they can earn money while being away from home. This Persian startup has made great progress and is an attractive catch for millennials.
Heetch
Founder: Jacob Mathieu and Teddy Pellerin Founded: 2013
Heetch – Top Startups in Paris
Heetch is a ride-sharing company based in Paris, founded in the year 2013. Jacob Mathieu and Teddy Pellerin are the founders of the startup. The main target is the late-night transportation seekers. It is like an alternative to regular taxis.
The drivers of Heetch are available 24/7. So, when public transport lets you down in the middle of the night, Heetch is there to help. One can know about the price before taking the ride and can select the payment method of their choice. With great progress over the years, the company has expanded its services to Belgium, Italy, and more.
Memo Bank
Founder: Michel Galibert and Jean-Daniel Guyot Founded: 2017
Memo Bank – Top Startups in Paris
Memo Bank is a French fintech startup founded in the year 2017. Michel Galibert and Jean-Daniel Guyot are the founders. It is an independent bank for medium and small-sized companies.
This startup helps businesses with banking services and managing their financial flows. This aims to support the growing businesses with their finances in the best possible way. Memo Bank is one of the most popular fintech startups in France.
Kard
Founder: Amine Bounjou and Scott Gordon Founded: 2018
Kard – Top Startups in Paris
Kard is another Persian banking startup, founded in 2018. Amine Bounjou and Scott Gordon are their founders. This startup focuses on teenagers. They believe that most teenagers deal in card payments and for that, they have to borrow their parent’s cards. So, Kard enables teenagers to have their debit cards and enjoy banking services.
Kard enables teenagers to have their bank accounts. Parents can add money for children and let them spend accordingly. This empowers the youngsters with banking experience according to their needs and gives them control over it.
Yubo
Founder: Sacha Lazimi, Jeremie Aouate, and Arthur Patora Founded: 2016
Yubo – Top Startups in Paris
Yubo is a social networking app based in Paris, founded in 2016. Sacha Lazimi, Jeremie Aouate, and Arthur Patora are the founders. The app focuses on youngsters aged between 13 to 17. This enables them to make new friends and create a healthy community.
It allows the users to chat, play games, and also live stream with up to ten friends. The app enables users to make friends all around the world.
ManoMano
Founder: Christian Raisson and Philippe de Chanville Founded: 2012
ManoMano – Top Startups in Paris
ManoMano is a startup founded in 2012 in Paris, France. Christian Raisson and Philippe de Chanville are the founders of the startup. It is an online platform for home, gardening, and DIY products.
It might sound small but the company has made great progress and earned huge profits over the years.
Meero
Founder: Thomas Rebaud Founded: 2016
Meero – Top Startups in Paris
Meero is a Paris-based startup founded in 2016. Thomas Rebaud is the founder of the platform. It provides photography services using algorithms of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Meero helps photographers to follow their passion and establish their profession. It provides a platform for photographers to get clients. In this way, the photographers get work and clients get their work done in an easy manner.
Ledger
Founder: Eric Larchevêque, Joel Pobeda, Nicolas Bacca, Thomas France Founded: 2014
Ledger – Top Startups in Paris
Ledger is a provider of security solutions for digital wealth. The company was launched in the year in 2014 by Eric Larchevêque, Joel Pobeda, Nicolas Bacca, and Thomas France. The company provides infrastructure and security to the consumers and investors of digital assets.
With the rise in the concept of cryptocurrency and other digital assets, Ledger has become super popular.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned startups show the growth of the startup industry in Paris, France. Paris has great advantages in its pockets. These are exquisite food and wine, great history, beautiful views, exclusive fashion, and more.
Now, Paris is not only known as a fashion capital but also a great hub for technology. It has startups for banking, HR, social networking, finances, healthcare, and more. Thus, Paris has flourished well in technology and has more to offer in the future.
You might be wondering, which countries are known to have the highest number of unicorns around? Well, answering simple, countries in Europe have been known to have these numbers rising more by each year. Startups are majorly recognised by their valuation. And, in Europe, around 10 new unicorns have been recognised in the year 2020.
Likewise, many more startups are on their way to join the billion dollars valuation list. Over the past years, the startups around Europe have grown in a wide number. And among these, many have made their way to the unicorn list of Europe.
According to the database of 2021, many funding deals, M&A and IPOs are recorded to the mint condition of unicorns in Europe by the rising numbers. And many startups that reached the 1 billion valuation were found.
That’s why we have made things quite easy for you and brought the list of unicorns in Europe. Stay tuned!
Global Switch is known to be the most valuable unicorn in Europe that regulates the data centres in Asia and Europe. By the year 2018, the company’s 25% stake worth $2.8 Billion, was sold to some consortium investors. This brought the company with the help of its expansion plans.
Klarna
Klarna Website
The very prominent company offering online payment services, Klarna, has recently made a great number of acquisitions. These have been recorded as the purchase of cart and checkout browser expansion Shop.co and then, its Germany based expenditure company Billpay worth $75 Million. Klarna is a very well established unicorn of Sweden, Europe.
Revolut
Revoult Website
The fastest and the broadest growing digital banking company, Revolut is known widely across Europe. Revolut has broadly expanded its business from a mere travel currency card company to a well-established full-time range of digital banking services.
Revolut has quite a tough competition with the N26 and it’s moving all the way out to beat its competitors.
Hopin
Hopin Website
Hopin is a very well known Virtual events platform in Europe that made its fastest way towards the list of unicorns; within 8 months of its launch. And, by the end of 2020, it became the fastest-growing company in Europe.
The well-established biopharmaceutical company works with the usage of mRNA for various medical purposes but, most importantly for the development of vaccines. CureVac is a unicorn established in Germany worth $1.7 billion.
Nucom Group
NuCom Group Website
The Germany-based startup, Nucom Group holds a portfolio of consumer & lifestyle brands. This also includes the Parship, Eharmony, Amoreli and Falconi.
Nucom Group has a valuation of $2.2 billion with the prominent investment by General Atlantic, which holds around 30% of the company’s stake.
Monzo
Monzo Website
Monzo is a startup established in the United Kingdom as a challenger bank. The valuation of Monzo is estimated at $2.5 billion. Monzo has raised a $144 million series F from its potential investors such as Stripe, Accel, Y Combinator and General Catalyst.
Greensill
Greensill is a supply chain finance company that carries the position of the third party between the solid suppliers and the businesses. They offer early supplier payment and business funding. Greensill has the investments of General Atlantic, SoftBank Group and many others.
Bolt
Bolt Website
The leading transportation platform, Bolt is one of the European developing companies. Bolt was initially launched as Taxify which was an environmental influence fund along with a €10 million seed capital. It took the initiative of manufacturing such products that suit the global science and environmental advantages.
With all means, Bolt now operates around 13,000 electrical Scooters and bikes.
Shift Technology
The company with a valuation of $1 billion, Shift Technology is known to be Europe’s largest insurance funding round which raised to $220 million Series D within a week. Shift Technology is a France based company that aimed the expansion of its casualty insurance market and its property along with health security.
Shift Technology gained its unicorn status in May 2021 with total funding of €289 million.
Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound was launched in 2009 but, recently, in march 2021, it found its way to the unicorn list of Europe. It was raised with equity from fhe EQT Group and Blackstone, worth $450 million. Moreover, it also has its alignment with the Kichi Invest, SEB, Creandum and DS Asset Management.
AtoM Bank is the first-ever app bank in the United Kingdom. It provides the offering of a wide range of personal and business banking products in a mobile banking application which can be protected by the voice of face lock. Atom Bank gained its unicorn status in 2018 when it raised $514 million and extended its valuation of $1.25 billion.
Auto1 Group
Auto1 Group is a European company that provides a marketplace where you can conveniently sell or buy a car. It’s a platform that connects the buyers and sellers to crack a potential deal.
In the January of 2018, Auto1 Group received an investment worth €460 million from Softbank which led its way to the unicorn list.
Darktrace
Darktrace is a billion dollars tech company that works against cybercrime through machine learning and artificial intelligence that helps it to detect the assailant through its Enterprise Immune System. In May 2018, the country gained a valuation of $1.25 billion and made its way to the unicorn list.
Dfinity
Dfinity is a well-established company in Switzerland. It is a software company that designs to host the next level of services and technology through blockchain, decentralised networking.
Dfinity was founded in 2015 and now, it aimed to develop the “Internet Computer”, prominently.
Conclusion
There are plenty of unicorns in the region of Europe and many are on their way to gain the status of one. Unicorns contribute an enormous role in the globalization of VC as well as the economy. Among the countries of Europe, Israel has the most number of unicorns, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany in line.
Through this article, you would know some of the fastest-growing and developing unicorns of Europe.
FAQ
How many unicorns are there in Europe?
There are approximately 70 unicorns in Europe as of 2021.
How many unicorns are there in the world?
There are around 700 unicorns in the world as of July, 2021.
Which country has the most number of unicorns?
United States tops the list of most number of unicorns with 288 unicorns.
