Hello and happy Monday!

Only two weeks to go until the crazy Mobile World Congress kicks off. Keep tracking our MWC2020 Parties & Events Guide as we add new events daily. Of course, do let us know if we missed any important event.

Ok, that's it from me. Have a great week and see you out there!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Barcelona-based business travel platform BizAway gets €2.5M

• Barcelona-based Scaled Robotics closes €2M investment round

• Catalan customer data platform Loyal Guru lands €2M

• Barcelona & Boston-based biotech startup Onceheroes nets €1.1M and prepares a €4.5M investment round

• Barcelona startups Broomx, Biapower, Citibeats, Optimus Price, and Reloadly receive funding from Wayra Espana

• Barcelona startup Immfly sells minority stake to Boeing

Spanish investment news

• Cordoba content creation tech startup Genial.ly raises €4.4M

• Madrid software startup Schaman receives €1M

• Navarre firms Genbioma Aplicaciones & Nadetech Innovation secures investment from Navarra Tech Transfer fund

Startup news

• eDreams acquires US hotel booking platform Waylo for an undisclosed fee

• eDreams opens to new technology centers in Porto & Milan

• HolaLuz records €208M in sales, 212K clients and €800K in losses in 2019

• Cooltra grows revenues by 50% to reach €39M in 2019

• Badi unveils Badi Homes, a new service to rent and manage homes from property management firms

• Overview of startups that took part in Ship2B's programs last year, featuring a lot of Barcelona-based social impact firms

• Spain records one of the highest numbers of fintech startups in Europe

• 40% of ENISA loans to startups are not being paid back fully

VC, investment & crowdfunding news:

• 84% of private equity firms in Spain consider environmental, social and governance criteria in management and investment decisions according to a PWC & Ascri report

• GPF Capital completes fundraising for its €300M fund aimed Spanish SMEs

• Sabadell Asset Management launches €60M fund aimed at startups

• Catalan Finance Institute & Avalis create new €60M financing line to promote sustainability firms in Catalonia

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories:

• Ship2B accelerated 76 startups that raised a total of €40M so far

• Ship2B & Rezinkers launch Rezinkers4Impact, a new acceleration and financing program for high impact firms focused on helping with social inclusion of vulnerable groups

• CRAASH Barcelona seeks innovative healthtech technologies to accelerate time to patients; apply until 16th of March

• Ingenia Energy Challenge 2020 opens call for projects that promote energy transition and decarbonization; apply until 22 of March

• Tech Startups Booster opens call for ecommerce and retail tech startups to join its accelerator; apply until 13th of April

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Neuroelectrics: the company helping Facebook read your brainwaves

• Pep Gómez: the 'enfant terrible' of the Spanish startup Reby

Tech News

• ABB opens its first European robotics innovation centre in Barcelona

• Grupo Castellví invests €80M to create new offices in 22@

• Barcelona City Councils is considering the suspension of building licenses in 22@ amidst gentrification concerns

• FC Barcelona presents its new digital strategy which includes, amongst other initiatives, the creation of an OTT Barça TV+

• Ericsson & LG pull out of Mobile World Congress over coronavirus concerns

• Plaza Espanya tunnel to debut 5G technology

• Barcelona gives green light to start work on the extension of the Diagonal tram line

• The Port of Barcelona closes 2019 with a net profit of €44M, 18% less than the previous year

• Parking polluting cars in Barcelona is now more expensive in certain areas, while zero emission cars can park free of charge

Tech news in Spain:

• WhatsApp is set to introduce a payment service in Spain similar to Bizm and WeChat

• Huawei to open its own ecommerce store in Spain this month

• Telefónica to launch new lab in Málaga aimed at 5G and connected car technology development

• El Corte Ingles & Deliveroo join forces to compete against Mercadona

• Enrollments in STEM degrees in Spain fell by 6.1% between 2013 and 2017 according to latest report

Politics & Economics

• The Catalan economy continues to slow down for the fifth year in a row & records a 2% GDP growth in 2019

• The Government of Spain commits €11.5M to the Diputación de Barcelona to boost renewables

• Interest rates on bank deposits in Spain edger even closer to 0%

• Spain’s central bank urges government to stick with labour reform (FT)

• Spain's PM meets Catalan separatist leader, sets out roadmap for talks (Reuters)

• Spain and Italy ready joint migration policy proposal for EU (NYT)

• Spain abandoning the poor despite economic recovery according to UN envoy

Good Reads

• How Spain Attracts Latin American Startups Looking For Growth

• The battle between regulators and e-scooters is about to heat up

• Overview of UX/UI salaries in Spain

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Interview with Francesc Riverola, Founder of FXStreet

• Interview with Rosa Suñé and Jordi García, Founders of Bicicleta Studio

• Interview with Eva and Maria Martin, Co-Foudners of Tiendeo (by Lunes Inspiradores)

• Interview with Francesc Font, CEO & Founder of Nubelo (by Itnig)

Great Events

This Week

• Tue, 11 Feb @19:00: Workshop - Introduction to Product Management (ESP)

• Wed, 12 Feb @10:00: Trends and projection of the real estate sector in 2020 (ESP)

• Thu, 13 Feb @18:00: Become a Digital Nomad: How to work remotely and make a living of it

• Thu, 13 Feb @18:30: The Strength of Agile Methodologies in Intercultural Teams

• Thu, 13 Feb @18:30: Inspirational Talks : How I started my career as a Product Manager

• Fri, 14 Feb: Valentine's Day (spend time with the people you love!)

Next Week

• Tue, 18 Feb @08:30: Finance Breakfast: International Series-A From The Perspective of A Lawyer (CAT)

• Tue, 18 Feb @18:30: How to use Push Notifications on your website as a Growth Channel

• Wed, 19 Feb @14:00: Money Makers - Pitch Your Startups To Investors

• Wed, 19 Feb @18:00: 22@EMPRÈN (ESP)

• Thu, 20 Feb @19:00: Financing Growth Without Losing Equity (ESP)

• Sat, 22 Feb @10:00: Pitch to WIN: Practical Tools to help you build the winning pitch

• Sun, 23 Feb @18:00: Tech.eu Mobile Sunday 2020

2020 Q1 Key Events:

• Mon-Thu, 24-27 Feb: Mobile World Congress

• Mon-Wed, 24-26 Feb: 4YFN

See the full event calendar here.

See the full MWC2020 Parties & Events Guide here.

Startup Jobs In Barcelona

• Unnax is looking for a VP Sales - B2B SaaS

• Agile Content is hiring a Senior Java Software Engineer

See the full job board here.