Hello and Happy New Year,

This week’s main headlines:

• 💸 Gate2Brain score €2.5M

• 🌎 3 BCN startups expanding

• 📈 Glovo to be profitable in 2-3y

🚚 Barcinno is moving (away from Revue)

As we mentioned in our previous edition, we’re moving our newsletter to another provider in the wake of Revue closing down (thanks Elon!). It’ll happen next week – this really is the final one! So, please check your spam or promotion folders if you can’t find us in your regular mailbox on Monday morning next week.

🥂 BCN FinTech announces plans for 2023

BCN FinTech kicks-off 2023 in style, announcing their plans & sponsor packs for this year:

• 6 after work events; next one is this month on Wed 25 Jan about “FinTech Winter” (stay tuned for sign up links)

• 1 networking party during MWC/4YFN week

If you're interested in collaborating - or know somebody who may be interested, check out 👉 this BCN FinTech presentation to find out more and how to get in touch.

Looking forward to all collaborators willing to join us on the mission to help BCN FinTech's become unicorns 🦄 .

🎓 The European Tech School’s 6th cohort is about to start!

⛓️📚 This first-of-its-kind online blockchain & crypto school is set to disrupt the way we learn about blockchain, offering immersive learning experiences to highly motivated professionals.

You will learn directly from world-class practitioners 🌟 working at Consensys, IBM, Bosch, and Circle amongst other top crypto-native companies during the 5- and 10-week blockchain courses.

🗓️ The upcoming cohort starts January 18th!

Save 25% with the code ✨BARCINNO✨ – valid for enrollments until January 10th.

For more information, click here.

(Read Clemens from Barcinno's full and genuine review of the school's blockchain program here.)

Have a great year!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• IRB University biomed startup Gate2Brain get €2.5M

• Cleantech WtEnergy receive (undisclosed) investment from Cemex’s VC arm

Barcelona startup news

• Delivery Hero CEO Niklas Östberg says Glovo will be profitable within two or three years

• Heura’s plant-based meat launches in high-end UK supermarket Waitrose

• Millennial aesthetic medicine startup Bloome launches in Madrid

• Freshly Cosmetics to open its 9th location, in Granada

• Nuclio & Tempel Group win La Razón awards for best incubator & international expansion respectively

• Flock Drone Art lit up Camp Nou with its 100-team ‘Night of Drones’

• Art community Moool launches NFT collection with popular singer Alejandro Sanz

Spanish investment news

• Madrid energy efficiency firm IEQSY get €10M from Moira Capita for 30% stake

• Spanish Alzheimer's-focused biotech Tetraneuron raises €5M 

• Madrid-based solar energy startup Samara land €4.5M

• Madrid digital mobility platform Eccocar close €1.9M 

• Galician drone producer and school Aerocámaras receive €850K

• Valencian co-living startup Muppy raise €650K

• Madrid digital gift card firm Click&Gift acquired by European leader Wonderbox

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• AXIS resolves 15th call of Fond-ICO Global with the selection of 7 funds, in which it will invest €410M

• INCIBE promotes Spanish cybersecurity entrepreneurship with a €30M investment from European funds

• Spain’s alternative protein sector stands out among food tech investments in 2022

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Free Electrons has launched its 7th open innovation energy program; apply until Jan 28

• Social Nest & Danone launch Scale the Impact, an acceleration program with social and environmental impact; apply until Jan 30

• BIND 4.0 launches new challenges for disruptive startups in the intelligent industry, clean energy & sustainability, health, and food sectors; apply until Feb 3

• Meet & vote for EBC’s Top Early-Stage Blockchain Startups in Europe

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Enkitek: Industrializing the indoor farming sector with digital twins & AI

• Kream: Shaking up sun lotion with a young, digital brand aimed at Millenials

• Glovo: Everything you need to know, from Delivery Hero to how it makes money & how much it pays staff

• Sabway: The Sabadell startup edging into the electric scooter market

• Barcelona architect Ton Salvadó: Out With The Car, In With The Urban "Super-Island"

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• Barcelona saw over €395M of foreign investment in 2022, led by the UK

• Barcelona led deeptech startup funding in southern Europe

• FS Italiane aims to launch Paris-Barcelona high-speed trains by 2024

• Artificial intelligence to be reliably introduced into all municipal services

• The 12 big businesses that opened in Catalonia in 2002 & why

Tech & big company news in Spain:

• Valencia-based Voicemod launches world’s first generative AI text-to-song tool

• Big data: Microsoft follows Amazon in massive investments in Spain

• EIF and Banco Sabadell provide over €300M to support high-growth small businesses and green companies

Politics, legal & economics

• Spain closes 2022 with lowest unemployment level since 2007

• Spain connected almost 6.2 GW of wind & solar energy in 2022, nearly double that of 2021

Good Reads

• Spanish tech in review: The key moments of 2022 (Sifted)

• What’s in store for Spanish tech in 2023 — the experts give their predictions (Sifted)

• What to expect from Spanish startups in 2023, according to experts (BI)

• M&A and Private Equity in Spain in 2022 and forecasts for 2023

• Are these the most bizarre tech stories from 2022?

• There’s now an open source alternative to ChatGPT, but good luck running it (TC)

• The start-ups seeking a cure for old age (FT)

• New members of the Unicorn Club: 10 European unicorn stories from 2022

• World’s best tourist villages: Spain tops it with 3 awards & 1 is Rupit, Catalonia

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Building a Multimillion Dollar Business…By Yourself; Solopreneurship (The Crazy Podcast by Morning Brew, EN)

• José del Barrio: From undertaking with La Nevera Roja to investing with Samaipata (Hablando con líderes podcast, ES)

• Investment Thesis in Startups with Marc Olmedillo, Director of DealFlow at Dozen (YouTube video, ES+EN subs)

Great Events

This week:

• Thu, 12 Jan @17:00: Cloud&Drinks by Scaleway & Demium Barcelona

• Thu, 12 Jan @18:30: Codebar Free Coding Workshop at Extia

Upcoming:

• Wed, 18 Jan @18:00: Tech Barcelona: Tech Up Nights Vol. 5

• Thu, 19 Jan @18:00: Digital Marketing and Growth Day

• Thu, 19 Jan @19:00: Ironhack Panel: Tech Recruitment Scene 2023

• Mon, 23 Jan @18:30: Tech Dating BCN - Meet hiring technical teams & engineers

• Wed, 25 Jan @18:30: #005 BCN FinTech: FinTech Winter (registration link TBC)

• Tue, 31 Jan–Fri, 3 Feb: Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2023

• Wed, 15 Feb–Fri, 17 Feb: European Blockchain Convention

• Mon, 27 Feb–Thu, 2 Mar: Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023

See the full event calendar here & add your event here.

Startup Jobs:

• Qonto is hiring a Head of Business Intelligence

• eDreams is recruiting a SEO Content Marketing Specialist

• Heura Foods is hiring a International Accounts Payable and Receivable Technician

• Opticks is looking for a Frontend Developer, Sales Development Representative & Head of Customer Success

• Eurosearch Consulting is recruiting a Startup fundraising consultant

• Bourbon Creative is hiring:

• - Freelance Content Writers and/or Project Managers (German, 100% remote)

• - Freelance Content Writers (English, 100% remote)

• Cognizant Netcentric has various open Tech roles