Hello and happy Monday!

Today's main headlines:

• New Barcelona-based €55M social impact fund 

• Catalan startup acquired for €30M

• Local startups raise €12M+

🦃 Thanksgiving is around the corner so it’s a good time to say thanks to those that try creating a better world. In that sense, a huge thank-you to Ship2B 👏. The Barcelona-based foundation’s mission is to boost the Impact Economy and they do it effectively. To date, it accelerated 190 startups, transformed 42 social organizations a mobilized €84M+ in funding. Amongst its success stories, you’ll find caregiver marketplace Qida, mental health startup Psious & medtech MJN Neuroserveis.

So what do they do exactly? They support corporates in impact innovation, empower social organizations as well as accelerate and invest in startups. And the latter just got better with the announcement of a new €55M social impact fund called BSocialImpactFund. That’s good news for the social impact startup ecosystem in Catalonia, but also the world. So from our end a massive THANK YOU💕!

And since we’re on the topic, you might want to check our post on 10 Inspiring Social Startups From Barcelona!

So that’s it. Do good, be grateful & enjoy yourselves!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Motor vehicle subscription platform Swipcar has been acquired by UK car retailer Cazoo for €30M

• Insurtech startup Cleverea lands €5M

• Proptech firm Zazume raises €2.5M

• MagicBell, a notification inbox for web & mobile apps, gets €2.21M

• Ecommerce logistics startup Amphora closes a €1M round

• IFAE technology spin-out Deep Detection raises €1M

• Biopharmaceutical company Kintsugi Therapeutics raises €986K via Capital Cell 

• Unibo Neobank closes €500K seed round & set to launch operations in 2022

• Car lease broker Swipcar acquired by Cazoo

Barcelona startup news

• TravelPerk partners with European night train start-up

• Wallbox introduces Home Energy Management Solutions for EV Drivers in the US

• Healthtech firm EIT Health Spain, launches Beyond Rheum, a program to improve the care of patients with axial spondyloarthritis

• Fintech Unnax was awarded the Sello PYME Innovadora (a seal for being an innovative SME) by the Ministry of Science and Innovation

• Business innovation service Blue Room Innovation among 15 European startups reaching final at the Circular Urban Challenge

Spanish investment news

• Leida-based Lleida.net acquired Valencia-based tech consulting firm inDenova for €7.1M

• Madrid based eSports platform eGoGames gets €5M

• Valencia Saas marketplace Delitbee nets €400K

• Valencia-based biotech firm Prospera Biotech obtains €200K

• Madrid-based JoinHome gets €120K

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Ship2B to invest €55M in social impact companies via BSocialImpactFund

• Real Madrid launch Grymes Invest, a €4.5M sports startup fund

• Madrid private equity firm Magnum Capital launches APICES, a contract research organization provider

• Spanish VC Mundi Ventures invested in French insurtech startup Shift Technologies

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• SportBoost, the accelerator of Iker Casillas, is looking for projects to improve talent spotting in football; apply until 17 Nov

• La Fundación Cellnex selects three startups for their accelerator program aimed at accompanying the firm in the development of their social impact project

• Pais Vasco accelerator program choose 79 startups for final of sixth edition

• 750 ICT entrepreneurs applied to participate in the 9th call of the Minerva Program

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Digital Garden: Almirall's incubator and digital transformation program

• Naturpod: keeps your fruits and vegetables naturally fresh up to twice as long

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• Thieves rob a Bitcoin ATM in Barcelona

• Chinese company PXI Automotive opens its first European plant in Catalonia

• eDreams Q2 figures show bookings 22% above pre-Covid-19 levels

Tech news in Spain:

• Insurtech Community Hub inaugurates its physical headquarters in the heart of Madrid

• Spain pioneers 5G smart meter for water

• Spain’s regional broadcasters support UHD

Politics, Legal & Economics

• Spain loosens visa rules, ushering back UK artists

• New Housing Law might not necessarily be good news to all small property owners

• The gas crisis already has a clear winner: Europe's large coal plants

Good Reads

• Why Catalonia is the top destination for life science companies

• How hubs make Barcelona a European benchmark in tech innovation

• The 100 most active Spanish business angels of 2021

• Women In Tech: Interview with Jael Freixanet, Junior Solution Architect at Emark

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Video: StartupGrind Mataro with Ricard Bonastre, CEO & Co-founder at ByRatings

• Interview with Laura Gil, Digital Transformation Director at Damm

• Interview with Landbot about its new podcast, around the topics of digital marketing and growth

• Interview with Diego Ballesteros of Bewe and Ancla.life

• Interview with Joaquín Cuenca, CEO at Freepik

Great Events

This wek:

• Wed, 24 Nov @18:00: MASTEAM-MATT talk: Alejandro Llorens Carrodeguas (UPC): An Energy-Friendly Scheduler for Edge Computing Systems

• 22-23 Nov: Tech Spirit Barcelona 2021

• 24-26 Nov: VIII S2B Impact Forum

• 25 Nov: How to scale a business to €30M per year using the CRO; feat. Cuideo CMO

Upcoming:

• Thu, 2 Dec: Reinforcement Learning Workshop

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

Jobs

• Blockchain startup Freeverse.io is hiring a Head of Marketing

• Factorial is looking for a Head of Product Partnerships

• Opticks is hiring a Sales Development Representative

• Caravelo is recruiting a Backend Engineer (Java) & Intermediate Frontend Engineer

• Riverbed Technology is hiring a Digital Sales Representative (fluent in German)

• Touchstream is recruiting a Marketing Manager

• Honest Greens is looking for an Honest Beans Director & Partnerships Intern

• Unnax is recruiting several tech & marketing positions

• Netcentric is looking for several IT positions