Good morning, we hope you had a nice weekend and got to spend at least a brief moment outside. There are several regional and national initiatives to support the business sector during the lockdown, such as:

• Catalonia Trade & Invest shares COVID-19 update for international companies in Catalonia

• A statement from the Minister of Business and Knowledge of Catalonia

• Guide: aid for productive activity and employment to counter the effects of coronavirus

• Overview of regional support for startups in Spain

However, to date, no clear and specific measures have been outlined by the Spanish governement to support the startup ecosystem. Meanwhile, other European countries have already confirmed their support for local startups:

• France is bailing out its startups with €4 billion

• Germany pledges €2 billion to help startups

• UK government pledges £1B to support startups

• Portugal announces €25M plan to support startups

We want to take advantage of our platform to share this message so that more support will arrive for our startup ecosystem.

Have a great week and take care of yourselves.

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Barcelona-based HR platform Factorial has secured a €15M financing round

• Barcelona software startup CounterGrogWise closes a €400K investment round

• Barcelona logistics startup Kubbo raises €266K

Barcelona Startup news

• Barcelona startup Broomx completes brand redesign & secures US patent

• Catalan startup FlexiDAO selected amongst 15 finalists for international energy innovation program from Free Electrons

Spanish investment news

• Madrid startup Frontity gets €1M

• Madrid-based startup TaxDown lands €700K

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories:

• Big Ban angels, Capital Cell and BioHub VLC launch COVID-19 challenge; apply until 3rd of May 

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Kantox: interview with CEO Philippe Gelis about FX risk management

Tech News

• Catalonia leads a European project to diagnose the COVID-19 disease in 30 minutes

• Catalan consortium to develop antibodies, drugs and a vaccine against coronavirus

• New 3D printed respirators made in Catalonia are already being used in ICUs

• The Port of Barcelona reduces import container fees to help ease the economic impact of COVID-19

• Video game company IGG donates 250,000 masks to Barcelona’s Hospital Clínic

• GSMA extends Mobile World Congress Barcelona agreement until 2024

Tech news in Spain:

• Idealista to perform ERTE (temporary redudancy) that will affect all its team

• Banco Santander launches PagoFX in the UK, a money transfer app to take on TransferWise and co

• Alantra donates COVID-19 testing equipment to the Spanish National Research Council

Politics & Economics

• The government of Catalonia will allocate €4M to fund 19 reserach projecs to fight COVID-19

Good Reads

• Spanish startups well-positioned for the Remote tech era

• The Best Tools for Startups

• 10 Ways to Manage Your Coronavirus Stress in Lockdown

• No investors, no office, no problem - lessons learned by the MarsBased team

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Interview with Samuel Gil of JME (by En.digital)

• Interview with Jorge Dobon, co-founder and CEO of Demium (by K Fund)

Great Events

• Tue, 28 Apr @18:00: Stepping down as the CEO of your company, with David Okuniev (Co-founder & Head of R&D at Typeform)

• Thu, 30 Apr @11:00: 4 libros para pasar la crisis: Mar Galtés, Ferran Martínez, David Tomàs y Àlex Rodríguez

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

Startup Jobs In Barcelona

• Vocdoni is hiring a remote Front-End Developer (Flutter Development)

• Wallbox is recruiting a Content Writer

• Hector Kitchen is hiring a Senior Full-Stack Developer

• Unnax is recruiting a Digital Designer

See the full job board here & add your job post here.