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

Today's headlines:

• Digital brain health firm Neuroelectrics nets €14.5M

• Telcom startup Parlem explores IPO

• Barcelona to get a new €50M health care innovation center

Barcelona - TechBuddy’s global launchpad

In this week’s Barcinno exclusive, we feature an in-depth look at TechBuddy, an on-demand personal tech-support provider. We spoke with Sina Balzhäuser, Global Head of Marketing, to find out more about how the firm brings tech support into the hearts and homes of people, as well as why they selected Barcelona as a global launchpad. Read the full article here.

*TechBuddy is also running a great promo at the moment, so if you want to smart up your home, just check the banner below.

Have a great week and see you out there!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Neuroelectrics raises €14.5M to transform epilepsy treatment

• MagicBell raises €1.56M to build a plug-and-play notification platform for product teams

• Industrial automation startup Classpack raises a €1M investment

• MedTech and analytics startup Predictheon raises an €840K funding round

• AI-powered job interview platform Mockmate joins the Techstars portfolio and receives pre-seed funding

• Telecoms startup Parlem considers an IPO next June

Barcelona Startup news

• GenCat unveils new report on Barcelona & Catalan startups: there are 1.708 startups in the region, a 13.5% YOY growth; they create 17,5K jobs; ⅕ of entrepreneurs are foreign; 85% of local startups expect to grow this year

• Glovo to launch 100 new dark stores in the EMEA region

• Glovo was also hit by a cyber attack; while it’s not clear if or what information was seized, the firms says no client card details have been accessed since it doesn’t store them in the first place

• Southern Europe’s first Amazon seller aggregator platform YABA is incorporated and expects to do €20M in annual sales

• X1 Wind has successfully concluded the assembly and load-out of a fully-functional prototype of its PivotBuoy floating wind platform

• Submer designs liquid-cooled data center in a box for high-power edge computing sites

• Heura sees Spanish meat industry’s attempt to file lawsuit against its plant-based advert rejected by courts

Spanish investment news

• Madrid-based mental healthcare startup ifeel raises a €5.5M funding round

• Madrid-based Real Estate crowdfunding startup Urbanitae raises a €2.5M funding round

• Murcia-based sustainable packaging company Plasbel acquired by the Finnish Walki Group

• Lugo-based engineering firm Indutec acquired by the IDP Engineering Group

VC, investment & crowdfunding news:

• San Sebastián-based VC fund Ysios Capital participates in Danish biotech firm Cytoki Pharma’s €45M funding round

• Madrid-based VC fund Samaipata participates in Parisian FinTech startup Fintecture’s €6.1M funding round

• London-based VC Crowdcube launches Cubex enabling retail investors to acquires shares in private companies including Glovo   

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories:

• Barcelona Activa launches Sport-Up program to promote sports tech startups; apply until 30 May

• Ship2B announces 10 new startups selected for its Tech4Climate & S2B Health & Care programs

• Lanzadera focuses on sustainability and tech as it selects 70 startups in its May open call

• Spanish VC Kapita launches the Retail Innovation Lab incubator project

• Granada-based AcexHealth is a new accelerator for healthcare companies

• The Minerva Program is voted the best accelerator program in Andalucía

• Galicia’s Startup Congress celebrates its decade-long anniversary

• Alhambra Ventures 2021 reveals its finalists

• Madrid Polytechnic University launches an accelerator for startups committed to tackling climate change in cities

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Colvin: the online florist that is sweeping Barcelona

• Deporvillage: the online sports store that was created in the founders’ free time and now makes €120M per year

• Evolve Healthcare: the mid-market PE fund looking to invest €300M in European healthcare SMEs

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• Barcelona ranked amongst top 3 European cities in terms of internet speed

• Hospital Clínic in Barcelona and Leitat create Clinical Advanced Technologies Institute (CATI), a €50M EU-funding backed center dedicated to healthcare innovation

• Catalan-based Seat Mó reaches 70 points of sale in Spain for its line of electric scooters and kickscooters

Tech news in Spain:

• Spain ranks highly on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor index in 2020-2021

• Bizum reduces the limit for free transaction from 150 to 60 per month starting on 15 June

• BBVA set to net up to €250M thanks to its investment in cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase following its recent IPO

• New canary-based airline rebrands to Lattitude Hub, aims to kick-off this summer and ensure stable flight connections from the islands to Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, and Glasgow

• MasMovil sells majority stake in rural fibre network for €390M

• Spain, Germany & France reach general agreement over fighter jet

Politics, Legal & Economics

• Spain pours billions into fight for slice of European electric vehicle sector

• Spain to put more tolls on roads in bid for EU funds

• Spain’s new tax hikes: six key changes that affect you

Good Reads

• Barcinno Exclusive: Barcelona - TechBuddy’s global launchpad

• GenCat unveils new report on Barcelona & Catalan startups

• Eduardo Manchon has published an interesting view on innovation in the Spanish banking sector

• - This sparked an interesting tweet storm from Kantox CEO Philippe Gelis

• Ten years after Spain’s indignados protests

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Interview with Jonàs Sala, co-founder & partner at Verkami, at Startup Grind Mataró [ES]

• Interview with Mar Galtés, journalist and author of the book “Barcelona Startup. History and stories of the largest digital and technological ecosystem in southern Europe” [ES]

• Interview with Ramon Martinez, CEO at Dentaltix [ES]

Great Events

This week:

• Wed, 12 May @ 11:00: Measure to Manage: the impact on social entities & public procurement [ES]

• Thu, 13 May @ 18:00: Impact Evenings with Abono Km. 0, Mayordomo Smart Points & Orpheus [ES]

• Thu, 13 May @ 19:00: Pitch to Investors by Itnig (ONLINE)

Upcoming:

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

• 20 May: Startup Grind Mataró hosts Rebeca Pérez (CEO & Founder @ Inviertis)

• 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

• Agencia Jaimito is hiring an Account Executive

• Kantox is hiring a Head of Marketing

• 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