Hello & happy Monday!

Today's main headlines:

• Pangea Aerospace gets €3M

• Glovo acquires European competitor

• Amazon sets up 3 new logistics centres in BCN

Tech companies are hiring!

As you might have noticed, tech firms have recently started to scale up recruiting. Shout-out in particular to our friends at Touchstream, Homelike, Riverbed, Algofy & Outbound People who all have various positions to fill. So if you're looking for a new gig, head to our job section at the end of this newsletter to find the latest vacancies. 

Have a great week and see you out there!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Aerospace startup Pangea Aerospace raises a €3M seed funding round

• Deeptech startup BitMetrics closes a seed funding round

• Sustainable furniture company Hannun receives investment from Ship2B

• Proptech startup Prontopiso launches €1M crowdfunding round on Fellow Funders

Barcelona Startup news

• Glovo acquires Slovenian competitor Ehrana

• Car subscription startup Swipcar claims it has 500 monthly subscribers

• Health tech company First Derm, which is based in US & Barcelona, launched Autoderm, an AI engine on dermatology that works as an "API as Service”

• AllRead & Port of Barcelona team up to use AI for the identification of containers and wagons

• Kubik Data, a startup that allows users monetise their data, is off to a slow start according to El Confidencial

Spanish investment news

• Málaga-based healthcare platform Orgoa lands €10M

• Madrid-based FinTech startup Student Finance raises €4.5M

• Madrid-based digital marketing agency Making Science gets €4.2M in JV loans from COFIDES

• Madrid-based renewable energy SaaS startup Green Eagle Solutions closes a €2.5M funding round

• Álava-based washing machine startup Dryfing raises a €400K funding round

• Murcia-based fishing app WeFish nets €225K

• Córdoba-based transportation startup Transeop receives €200K

• Madrid-based tech consultancy firm Syntonize acquires Moovity as the Spanish E-commerce market grows

VC, investment & crowdfunding news:

• Madrid-based VC Adara Ventures leads Dublin-based API Security startup’s €17M Series A funding round

• Barcelona-based VC Lanai Partners commits €2.5M to invest in disruptive and scalable startups over the next 3 years

• Gran Canaria-based VC Archipiélago Next invests €400K in 5 Spanish startups 

• Valencia-based financial services platform Bit2Me launches a cryptocurrency investment vehicle

• Enagás’ corporate VC initiative Enagás Emprende joins the CDTI’s co-investment Innvierte program

• Madrid-based asset management firm Impact Bridge launches an impact investment fund

• Valencia-based Zubi Capital launches the first European Venture Debt Impact Fund

• Madrid-based dairy company Pascual’s innovation arm launches Mylkcubator the world’s first dairy incubator

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories:

• The CDTI opens the NEOTEC call offering €36.5M in grants for technology companies

• Barcelona Activa launches Sport-Up, a program aimed at sports startups; apply until 30 May

• Smart Catalonia Challenge eyes SMEs & tech startups to solve 5 challenges in the public road transport ecosystem; apply until 23 July

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Uniq Ventures: The fintech venture builder looking to promote 20 fintech projects in the next 20 years

• Profe.com: The edtech subscription platform looking to improve students grades

• Agustín Gómez, founder of Wallapop: "My big role was begging for money"

• RepScan: The digital reputation management startup which enables its users to remove negative content about them from the internet

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• Amazon sets up 3 new logistics centers in Barcelona creating 270 new jobs

• Danone invests €12M in Barcelona for its first base for plant-based products in Europe

• Barcelona's Mobile World Congress cleared to go ahead in person

• Barcelona’s TMB to test new long range electric bus

• Catalan travel tech giant Amadeus recorded a €95M loss and 50% sales drop-off in Q1 2020 as the pandemic kicked off & slowed travel

• Barcelona launches campaign to win back US tourists

Tech news in Spain:

• La Liga teams up with Microsoft to lift revenues as TV rights market cools

• Spanish stock exchange BME to roll out regulatory sandbox for blockchain-based financing of SMEs

• Airbus to close Spanish plant but reviews parts selloff

• Orange to lay offs 485 people, 15% of its staff, in Spain

• Telefonica grows profit by 118% & sees revenue fall by 9% in Q1 2021 compared to Q1 2020

• Amazon's proposal to improve labour conditions in Spain was approved its distribution centre labour unions & employees

• Global renewables investment platform Q-Energy re-finances 3 Spanish solar plants for €732M

Politics, Legal & Economics

• Spain’s market regulator CNMV to gives funds permission to make crypto investments, but only under specific conditions

• The Port of Barcelona sees steady growth and financial performance exceeds pre-pandemic levels

Good Reads

• Looking at the Spanish tech ecosystem from an international perspective in 2021

• The young Spanish entrepreneurs who have conquered Silicon Valley

• A power player in Europe's green transition - Spain is reclaiming its dominance from a decade ago

• Open source ​is eating Europe

• A look at our neighbours: 8 investors & founders highlight Valencia’s potential as a fintech and cybersecurity hub (by TechCrunch)

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Interview with Albert Castellana, CEO at StakeHound

• Interview with Manu Gamero, Co-founder at Sensa

• Interview with Diego Ballesteros, CEO at Bewe

• Interview with Alberto Arenaza, Co-founder at Trascend Network

• Interview with Irene Prieto, product manager at Ikea

Great Events

This week:

• Tue, 25 May @15:00: WOMENTECH21 Technology and Health Congress [ES]

• Thu, 27 May @12:00: Rethink Advertising: la experiencia disruptiva con las marcas [ES]

Upcoming:

• 1 Jun: Community building around a VC, with Samuel Gil (Partner @ JME Ventures)

• 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

• Touchstream is hiring a Marketing Lead

• Homelike is looking for a Key Account Manager Supply Spain

• ProtoPixel is recruiting a Head of Marketing

• Algofy is looking for a Paid Ads Specialist

• Riverbed Technology is hiring a Senior Inside Sales Representative - META

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