Hello and happy Monday,

Today's main headlines:

• Scooter startup Reby sold for €96M 💸

• Proptech firm Housfy secures €30M Series B funding 💰

• Blockchain startup Freeverse.io get €9.9M 🤑

BCN FinTech Afterwork on May 25: last-minute call 🔔

Despite increasing the capacity and amount of tickets courtesy of the lovely hosts OneCoWork due to popular demand, only less than a dozen tickets remain for BCN FinTech Afterwork.

So don’t miss out on the free inaugural event to connect with leading innovators, bond with the community & learn from the best - this edition features Kristoffer Hanson, CEO & Co-founder of Prestalo, as guest speaker.

Grab your free ticket now here.

Have a great week! 🌻

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Proptech firm Housfy secures €30M in Series B funding, eyes IT & PT growth

• Living assets startup Freeverse.io raises €9.9M for its NFTs that can change over time

• Plant-based fat cultivators Cubiq Foods get €4.8M – including from US meat giants

• Neobank Unibo opens €525K crowdfunding round after raising €600K

• DeFi startup CommonSense Finance close a €510K round

• Micromobility startup Reby acquired by Canadian private equity firm House of Lithium for €96M

• Flower delivery leader Colvin acquires its Italian rival Bloovery

• Edtech startup Emagister acquired by Miura Partners & its portfolio company Educaedu

Barcelona startup news

• Wallbox triples revenue to reach €28.3M in Q, but loses €19M due to expansion costs

• Fintech startup Novicap triples volume of activity in 2021 vs pre-pandemic levels

• Catalan decor & artisan furniture company Hannun to ​​list on the BME growth 

• Social commerce startup Onlive.site partners with PrestaShop to offer live shopping software in France, Spain & Italy

• Go Zero Waste, an app for local networks of zero-waste shops, launches in Australia

• Glovo changes invoicing system to have riders directly bill restaurants or stores, potentially causing a legal mess

• Ethical AI firm Citibeats recognized as top 100 tech pioneers by World Economic Forum

• SIL's Startup Innovation Hub selects the 10 most disruptive companies in the sector

• Nuage Therapeutics appoints new CEO, biotech entrepreneur Judit Anido Folgueira

Spanish investment news

• Spain's startup ecosystem has more than tripled in value since 2017

• Madrid hiring platform Jobandtalent get €237M debt financing from US investment banks 

• Madrid-based life insurance startup Getlife raise €6M

• Madrid-founded pro fitness app Dudyfit collect €2.5M 

• San Sebastian next-gen data company Datadope close €1M round

• Donostia-based magnet powder spin-off Ecomagnet bags €838K

• Madrid foodtech innovators Arroces la Bomba get €437K

• Seville-based mobile gaming firm Axes in Motion acquired by German company MGI 

• Estrella Galicia brewery owners Hijos de Rivera acquire Madrid startup AUARA to boost its social impact 

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Seaya launches €300M fund Andromeda, the largest sustainability-focused VC fund in Southern Europe

• BCN-based Dozen Investments closes first 2022 quarter with investments worth over €3.9M & up to a 228% return for its partners

• Catalan pro football player Cesc Fàbregas participated in German metaverse platform The Football Company’s €2.5M round

• Crowdcube reports it may not only focus on emerging companies as it’s currently “in talks with unicorns”

• Renfe says it will invest in an emerging startup for the first time before the summer

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• PCcomponentes’s venture builder is open for e-commerce pre-seed startups; apply until May 20th 

• F10’s next incubation program is open in Madrid, for founders in the FinTech, InsurTech and RegTech space; apply until May 22nd 

• Catalonia council is offering €4M through their Public Innovation Purchase Program, aimed at startups breakng down admin access barriers for SMEs; apply until May 23 

• AECOC’s Pia challenge call for projects focusing on innovation in sustainability and circular economy; apply until May 27th

• Stage2, the first Industry Tech Acceleration Program in Spain, opens call for projects

• Catalan TecnoCampus helps companies to internationalize with its Go Global program

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Albert Bosch (Housfy): "There is a lack of sufficient digital talent in Barcelona”

• BRIUS Adventuremakers: brand new startup making motorcycle travel bags

• Glovo: the birth and evolution of the Spanish home delivery unicorn

• Javi Creus (Ideas for Change): “Data is the energy of the 21st century, we produce it and we have the right to manage it”

• Pepe Borrell: VP International at Crowdcube

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• ​​Microsoft continues to strengthen commitment to Barcelona by expanding staff in its AI R&D center

• European HR firm Prosperity (used by Wallbox, Microsoft, Google & Wallapop) open HQ in Barcelona

• French HR unicorn PayFit to open tech hub in BCN 

• Sant Cugat del Vallès coined the ‘birthplace of pharmaceutical tech leadership’

• Barcelona Health Hub president says the pandemic has multiplied the local health startup ecosystem

• Social & business transformation initiative Barcelona+B is born to promote a more sustainable city

Tech & big company news in Spain:

• Volkswagen & SEAT to mobilize €10B to electrify Spain – the single largest industrial investment in Spain's history

• Telefonica says it will increase investments in Israel's high-tech sector in 2022

• Mercadona is opening a new tech hub in Madrid & is seeking engineers

Politics, Legal & Economics

• National securities regulator CNMV prohibits Binance from selling cryptocurrency derivatives in Spain

Good Reads

• The Spanish startups and scaleups to watch in 2022

• The ballad of the Spanish Search Fund: a fast-growing sector to look out for in 2022

• eDreams co-founder Mauricio Prieto’s Travel Tech Essentialist #81: Radical Open-Mindedness

• Why neurodiverse talent can have a meaningful impact on companies

• Apple, Google, and Microsoft team up to end passwords

• Should people abroad invest in NFTs? Probably not

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Glovo Tech Talks: Frontend at Glovo (EN)

• Maximising the chances of a good exit with BCN’s Mike Counihan (Transcent Partners) (EN)

• The Big Tech Show: What you need to know about buying an electric car (EN)

• Nicolas Julia (Sorare) on how to build a Web3 company (EN)

• Video interview with Javi Creus (Ideas for Change): “Data is the energy of the 21st century, we citizens produce it and we have the right to manage it” (ES)

• Masterclass for entrepreneurs with Emilio Márquez, CEO of La Latina Valley (ES)

Great Events

This week:

• Tue, 17 May @18:30: Startup Grind Mataró hosts Victoria Gago (Co-founder @ European Blockchain Convention)

• Wed, 18 May @18:00: Tech Up Nights talks with Tech Barcelona & Ocado Technology 

• Thu, 19 May @ 19:30: How can I finance my tech education? All you need to know in 30 minutes with Le Wagon

• Thu, 19 May @19:00: VueJS Barcelona | Nuxt and AWS and Typescript and Vue giving each other Pinia

Upcoming:

• Mon, 23 May @18:00: SaaStock Barcelona: Meet & connect with SaaS founders and influencers

• Wed, 25 May @18:30: BCN FinTech Afterwork #001 - Feat. Kristoffer Hanson, CEO & Co-founder at Prestalo

• Thu, 26 May @14:00: Le Wagon Coding School Open Day

• Thu, 26 May @18:00: The food that promises to change the world with Christophe Pais and Cristina Querol

• 26-28 Jun: European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona

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

Jobs

• Bourbon Creative is hiring a Freelance German Content Writer (100% remote)

• OneCoWork is recruiting a Community Associate

• Opticks is recruiting a:

• - Sales Development Representative - French Market

• - Sales Development Representative - Spanish Market

• - Customer Engineer

• Aflorithmic is looking for an:

•  AI/ML Tech Lead

• Creative Writer

• Caravelo is hiring a:

• Senior Data Engineer

• Senior DevOps Engineer

• Colvin is after a:

•  Product Designer

•  Senior NodeJS Software Engineer - Remote

• GoodNews is recruiting a Human Resources Technician

• Wallbox is hiring a Senior Content Writer

• Netcentric is looking for several IT positions