Hello & happy Monday!

Here's a brief tease of today's edition:

• Barcelona fintech Unnax raises €7M

• TravelPerk acquires a US competitor

• Catalan startup NGL gets acquired by a US firm

Ok let's get right into it! Have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Fintech startup Unnax raises €7M to consolidate Open Banking in LATAM & EU

• Fintech Paymefy closes a €1.2M funding round

• Barcelona & London-based fintech Nebeus gets €955K

• Edtech startup Classlife Education secures an €800K funding round

• New Born Solutions closes a round of €600,000 for clinical validation

• DIVE Medical closes a €300K funding round

• Enso Coliving opens €450K funding round on The Crowd Angel

• Speech analysis platform AcceXible opens €450K funding round

Barcelona M&As news

• TravelPerk acquires US rival NexTravel

• Barcelona startup National Gaming League gets acquired by US firm WIN

• Parkimeter gets acquired by Swedish fir EasyPark

• Acciona acquires a controlling stake in e-mobility startup Scutum Logistic

• The insight story behind Typs' acquisition by Hastee

• Glovo may apparently turn to Alibaba to offset Delivery Hero's growing power in its shareholding, as the German group already holds a 40% share in the company

Barcelona Startup news

• Shared electric mobility startup Reby expands and now operates in 12 cities

• Hotel app James&Rita signs agreement with 4 digital key providers to reach 14 million rooms

• Logistics startups Paack to close 2020 with €56M in sales & hopes to break €100M this year

• Braingaze selected for PepsiCo’s Greenhouse Accelerator

• Oryzon Genomics featured on list of "21 European Biotech Companies to Watch in 2021"

Spanish investment news

• Seville-based biotech firm Universal DX receives €14M

• Madrid-based mobility startup Meep closes a €4M funding round led by Liil Ventures

• Madrid biotech startup A4Cell gets €1.2M

• Malaga-based CRM software startup Froged closes a €400K investment round

• Galician startup Ancora receives €250K

VC, investment & crowdfunding news:

• Nauta Capital leads €1.5M investment in German SaaS Bird Eats Bug

• Accel-KKR make their first investment in Spain with their acquisition of Zaragoza-based HR SaaS startup Endalia

• Axon Partners buys Madrid-based restaurant chain “Cañas y Tapas” with a view to capitalizing on pent-up demand for restaurants post-pandemic 

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories:

• F10 Spain & Alastria open call for sustainable finance & blockchain startups. The winning startup will enter the final selection of their incubation program. Apply until 19 Jan

• Ship2B opens call for its programs S2B Tech4Climate, S2B Health&Care, and B-Value; apply until 21 Feb

• SeedRocket launches a new training program aimed at startups in the pre-seed phase

• The accelerator Startup Valencia is seeking to grow its board of directors in a bid for expansion

• Valencia-based accelerator Lanzadera selects more than 100 startups for its January call taking its total number to 300

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• LactApp: the first app dedicated to breastfeeding & motherhood that solves your questions in a personalized way

• Polaroo: app to control and pay less for your subscriptions

• Wikiloc: social network for hikers generating €1M in revenues

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• FC Barcelona was named world’s 4th-most innovative sports team, behind Manchester City, Real Madrid and Arsenal

• The port of Barcelona on course to become a multicountry hub for intelligent logistics distribution

• Catalonia's entrepreneurship sector stays strong despite the pandemic

• Barcelona getting ready to host three international architecture events

• The Barcelona-Catalunya Center Logístic (BCL) joins the Mobility Institute, a research platform created by RACC and Deloitte that analyzes new mobility trends and models

• Covid-19 pandemic lockdown has thrust Barcelona’s urban greening plan into the fast lane

Tech news in Spain:

• Telefonica’s 5G network already reaches 80% of the country’s population

• The Spanish Supreme Court to begin the process to decide whether Deliveroo's riders should be considered as employees or contractors; a similar case last year was ruled to treat Glovo riders as employees

• - And one judge already ruled that more than 700 Deliveroo workers are false self-employed and must be registered as employees

• Spain apparently aims to introduce a startup law as "soon as possible", which would include tax incentives, a reformulation of stock options and visas to attract foreign talent, according to Francisco Polo, Alto Comisionado para España Nación Emprendedora

• Digital switch picks up speed in Spain’s banking sector

Politics, Legal & Economics

• US says digital taxes in Spain (and Austria & UK) are discriminatory

Good Reads

• Barcelona - a European innovation hub with a future

• BI article about the acquisition process of BCN-startups Ducksboard & Promofarma

• Top 6 tech products from CES 2021

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Interview with Javier Fondevila & Bernat Ripoll, co-founders of Holded

• Interview with Adrià Buzón, CEO of Cuideo

• Interview with Xavier Marcet, president of Lead to Change

• Interview with Sacha Michaud, co-founder at Glovo

Great Events

This week:

• Mon, 18 Jan @18:00: Cybersecurity basics: what it is and what you can learn

• Tue, 19 Jan @18:00: Risk Management and Strategy in Cybersecurity

• Wed, 20 Jan @18:00: Become the hacker of the future

• Wed, 20 Jan @18:00: Conector: Round table discussion about omnichannel retailing

• Wed - Thu, 20-21 Jan: IQS Tech Fest

• Thu 21 Jan @15:00: Female Founders Demo Day – Grow F #4

• Fri-Sun, 22-24 Jan: Online Hackathon

Upcoming:

• Tue, 26 Jan @18:00: Bloobirds: The Key to Optimal SDR and AE Performance

• Wed, 27 Jan @17:00: Virtual Coffee Hang-Out for Future Female Leaders

• Wed, 27 Jan @ 17:00: How Blockchain can transform the future of the Automotive Industry

• Thu, 28 Jan @18:00: Startup Grind BCN hosts Ander Michelena (Partner @ All Iron Ventures): investment landscape during 2020 & 2021 predictions

• Mon-Fri, 12-16 Apr: 5th European Blockchain Convention

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

Jobs

• Unnax is recruiting a:

• - Client Support Engineer

• - Technical Account Engineer

• Dynatrace is looking for a Content Creator and Editor

• PicsArt is hiring a Global Content Lead

• Revolut is recruiting a Branch Manager

• Veepee is looking for a Business Analyst

• Heura is recruiting a Head of Trade Marketing