Hello & happy Monday! Let's get right to it.

Today's headlines:

• TravelPerk raises €160M

• Catalan firm launches EV sports car

• Barcelona launches solar pavement pilot

Have a great week and see you out there!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Business travel startup TravelPerk raises €160M to boost US expansion

• Independent music community startup Acqustic secures a €425K funding round

• Tourism startup Atravo raises a €100K seed round

• Chatbot startup Landbot raises funding from the CDTI

• Contextual assistant SaaS startup Honest looking to raise a €300K funding round

Barcelona Startup news

• E-signature startup Signaturit and UK digital transaction startup Invosys to join forces under the ownership of Boston-based PE firm PSG

• Glovo and Lanzadera join forces to drive innovation in the food sector

• Last-mile delivery startup Beeasy expands to Madrid

• Kraving Kitchens' 'ghost kitchen' leaves Barcelona

• GOMEEP launches top of the line electric bike subscription service in addition to existing e-scooters

• Silt develops AI-based system that verifies a user's identity in less than 6 seconds

Spanish investment news

• Madrid and US-based startup Returnly acquired by Silicon Valley-based FinTech Affirm in €250M cash and stock deal

• Madrid-based immunology startup Leadartis raises €1.6M

• Madrid-based satellite startup Ienai Space secures a €1M funding round

• Murcia-based food production startup Agrosingularity lands €1M

• Asturias-based fintech startup Okticket gets €700K

• Andalucía-based HR startup Filmijob raises funding round

• UAX acquires the Marid-based Valley Digital Business School

VC, investment & crowdfunding news:

• The Basque Government’s entrepreneurship program will see investments of around €390M

• Barcelona-based VC Ysios Capital lead a €51M investment in Copenhagen-based biotech company Adcendo

• Madrid-based Seaya Ventures leads Lisbon-based autonomous store startup Sensei’s €5.4M funding round

• Madrid-based VC Faraday Venture Partners to begin investing in Benelux ventures after a successful decade in the Spanish market

• Madrid-based entrepreneurship platform Ufounders launches its own startup investor training program

• Pascual Ventures forms corporate VC arm to promote innovation in the agri-food sector

• Madrid-based VC firm Kapita launches Retail Innovation Lab program   

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories:

• Connector and the Chamber of Commerce of Catalan city Sabadell team up to launch an acceleration program for tech startups

• The Minerva Program hosts a second investor day with more than 100 attendees

• F10 Spain opens call for batch1 of its acceleration program; WealthTech and RegTech startups can apply by 28 May

• The Collider opens Call 4 Talent to find CEOs and COOs for the startups of its 2021 program; apply by 2 June

• EIT seeks innovative Spanish solutions to water scarcity

• Madrid-based digital health accelerator Kunsen launches an initiative to identify the 10 best digital health startups in Spain

• European companies launch 50 challenges in search of disruptive solutions

• 24 startups join Andalucía’s Open Future accelerator program

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• AlwaysPeopleFirst: the HR startup prioritizing mental well-being

• Exheus: tech to optimize physical performance and health

• Worldcoo: new way to fund social, cooperative and development projects

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• Catalan firm announces new EV sports car Baltasar Revolt

• Barcelona municipality authorities launch solar pavement pilot on historic square

• Primavera Sound festival to resume in Barcelona in 2022 over two weekends

• Foreign investment in Catalonia increased by 31% to reach €480M in 2020

• Political party hopes to move the CNMV's 'sandbox' control unit to Barcelona to promote the city’s place as a fintech hub

Tech news in Spain:

• Spanish telcos welcome 40-year 5G license windfall

• Telefonica Spain selects Nokia to complete its IP network transformation

• Endesa will close all its coal plants by 2027

• BP, Iberdrola and Enagás join forces on Spain’s largest green hydrogen project to date

• Alberto Granados replaces Pilar López as president of Microsoft Spain

• Asterion signs an agreement with Barter Energy for the creation of solar communities in Spain

Politics, Legal & Economics

• New agreement between China and Spain will promote economic exchange

• Spain’s GDP falls 0.5% in the first quarter due to the third wave of covid

• Spain also increases its deficit forecast for this year by 0.7 percentage points to 8.4% 

Good Reads

• A modern go-to-market primer for SaaS startups

• Mensch-Maschine: the double-edged link between e-commerce and automation

• By the grace of Gaudí: the reinvention of Barcelona’s Casa Batlló

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Interview with Enrique Tombas, founder and CEO of Suma Capital [ES]

• Ubisoft, developing AAA video games from Barcelona

• Why invest in Industry 4.0 in Barcelona-Catalonia: the experiences of HP, Almato, ERNI, and ABB

• How does an accelerator manage its portfolio? (Part I: Archipelago Next, Archipelago Next & Sabadell Venture Capital; Part II: StartupLabs, Lanzadera)

Great Events

This week:

• Thu, 6 May @ 12:00: eSports, the recreation of sport in a parallel world [ES]

• Thu, 6 May @ 17:30: Focus in a world of distractions

• 6-7 May: Automobile Barcelona

Upcoming:

• 17-21 May: European Health Tech Innovation Week 2021

• 28 Jun - 1 Jul: MWC 2021

• 7-8 Jul: Affiliate World Europe

• 8-18 Jul: Automobile Barcelona

• 16-18 Nov: Smart City Expo World Congress

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

Jobs

• Kantox is hiring a Head of Marketing

• Nestlé Nespresso is recruiting a Global Marketing Technology Product Owner

• Adevinta is looking for a Head of Sustainability

• Opticks is hiring a Product Designer

• Netcentric is recruiting a Marketing and Communications Manager

• Wallbox is recruiting a Product Owner OCPP products

• Outbound People is looking for a Senior Account Executive- German Market

• Almirall is hiring a Marketing Director Spain

• Factorial is looking for a Customer Engagement Executive

• TripAdvisor is looking for a Global Operations Strategy Director

• Glovo is recruiting a Brand Marketing Services Director