Hello & happy Monday!

Today's main headlines:

• Belvo raises €35M; Twitter cofounder joins board

• Red Points gets €15M in debt-financing

• Heura lands €4M via equity crowdfunding

Have a great week and see you out there!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Fintech startup Belvo raises €35M & sees Twitter cofounder join board

• Brand protection platform Red Points secures up to €15M in debt financing

• AI startup Abzu closes an investment round of €6M

• Vegan startup Heura raised €4M in less than 24 hours through CrowdCube

• Bike subscription startup Kleta closes a €400K investment round led by FC Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen

• Short-term rentals provider Friendly Rentals brand gets acquired by Cosi Group for an undisclosed sum

Barcelona Startup news

• ByHours and US firm Sabre team up to distribute microstays

• Iberdrola acquires the first 1,000 Supernova fast chargers from Wallbox

• Rentals United is now partnering with Evolve, the sixth-largest property management company in the world with approximately 15,000 rentals across the US.

• Food tech startup Libre Foods becomes one of the first startups to tap into fermentation technology

Spanish investment news

• Spanish startups raised a combined €103M across 31 rounds in May

• Crowdfunding raised a total of almost €170M in Spain in 2020

• Madrid-based fertility startup Overture Life raised a €12M Series B round led by Octopus Ventures

• Salamanca-based startup Beonprice raises €2M 

• Logroño-based startup Idoneo closes €550K round deal

• FlyWire becomes first tech-startup with Spanish origins to debut on the US stock exchange

VC, investment & crowdfunding news:

• CDIT contributes €64M for 116 new business R&D projects

• Spanish firm Creas and two other European investment funds have closed €7M deal with sustainable-fashion company Patatam

• Spanish VC Altamar and German VC CAM Alternatives have agreed to combine their businesses to create a pan-European manager specializing in private assets 

• Madrid and Cologne-based firms have agreed to combine their businesses to create a pan-European manager specializing in private assets 

• Antai Venture Builder and Riva & García SGIIC announce launch of the tech-based Extension Fund

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories:

• The BCN Health Booster program is born

• Sabadell’s Chamber of Commerce & Conector team up to launch an acceleration program for innovative startups with technological potential, recently created in the Sabadell region; apply until 4 August

• Càtedra del Món Rural launches the first edition of ‘Innovation in the Rural World’ awards

• SHOP4CF launches, seeks a balance between automation and repetitive tasks and involving workers in areas to create greater added value; relevant projects can apply until 11 June

• More than 300 startups and 1,000 entrepreneurs get in line for first call of Telefonica’s Open Future

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Blok: te 10-minute grocery delivery startup that aims invoice €25M in its first year

• Kubbo: reducing order delivery time by employing small distribution centers in cities

• Oimo: the ecological and sustainable alternative to plastic [CAT]

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• Barcelona-Catalonia showcases its audiovisual sector at Integrated Systems Europe

• Desigual tests out MishiPay mobile shopping tech in Spain

• Germark plant in Catalonia becomes first in Spain to use EcoLeaf technology, which helps to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 80% 

• TravelPerk shared a list of best taxi apps in Europe’s biggest cities, including Barcelona

• A British startup wants you to go from Barcelona to Mallorca by airship to reduce CO2 emissions

Tech news in Spain:

• CaixaBank rolls out new ATM tech platform

• Indra aims to revolutionise transport payments in Paris

• Hispasat positions Spain as the fifth world power in satellites

• European Commission approves the sale of Telefónica's fiber in Chile to KKR

• Abac Solutions sells Spain’s main construction material distributor Isolana to BME Group

Politics, Legal & Economics

• Spain says it seeks a fair tech tax, after U.S. tariff move

• Spanish government to launch a public-private investment arm

• Spain experiences record falls in unemployment following the COVID-19 pandemic

• Europe’s biggest economies, including Spain, push for a deal to restrict corporate tax violations

Good Reads

• What types of employees should I hire to make my startup a success?, by Bloobirds Head of People Cristina Ferreres

• Technology Transfer or Technology Campus [ES], by Pere Condom

• Accelerators, the key ally to boost your startup [ES], by Ship2B

• Startups are grappling with the cost of carbon footprinting

• Guide on the most common ad fraud techniques used by fraudsters to scam digital marketing campaigns, by Opticks

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Interview with Rocio Alcocer, CEO of ecommerce startup Tapp Water [ES]

• Interview with Elena Betés, founder at Rastreator [ES]

Great Events

This week:

• Tue, 8 Jun @19:00: HardwareCon 2021

• Wed, 9 Jun @18:00: Tech Mentors Speed Dating with Demium | Lidr

• Wed, 9 Jun @19:00: W Startup Community, Presentación del Chapter de Andalucía

• Thu, 10 Jun @18:00: Silicon Valley Spain Venture Summit

Upcoming:

• 14-17 Jun: camino al impacto

• 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

• Factorial is hiring a Head of People

• Amadeus is looking for a Strategic Account Manager

• Gorillas is recruiting a Partnerships Manager

• Touchstream is hiring a Marketing Lead

• 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