European tech news site Sifted, backed by FT, receives investment

ScaleUp Capital, which specializes in investing in and supporting scaling B2B digital businesses with revenues of £1 million to £10 million, announced Monday the closing of a £4 million investment round in tech news site Sifted.

Sifted will use the capital raised to expand its existing team of 40 employees to double that number next year, adding to its editorial, commercial, marketing and tech and data teams.

The editorial team already consists of 15 journalists in London, Stockholm, Paris, Berlin and Barcelona, with plans to expand its presence across the region.

Sifted started three years ago, founded by John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times, and serial entrepreneur Caspar Woolley. Since its launch, Sifted has grown from its one journalist and one newsletter, to a team of 40 with an editorial team that brings experience from the FT, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Dagens Industri and Courier Magazine.

Backed by the Financial Times, Sifted has 10 million unique visitors since launch, and has built up a newsletter readership of more than 100,000 across the region.

The FT remains a shareholder and Sifted continues to license the FT brand.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.