Hello and happy Monday,

Today's main headlines:

• SpliceBio bags €50M 💰

• Via Laietana Correos to become €50M innovation center 🏤

• French tech organizations love BCN ❤️

Mobile World Congress is back in town!

MWC is back next week, taking place between 28 February and 3 March, as the world’s leaders in mobile and telecom unite in Barcelona once more. Along with it comes the startup-themed event 4YFN which will take place around the same time.

As is tradition, Barcinno will also launch the annual must-read MWC Parties & Events guide this week. It’s your go-to resource that covers all official events as well as any unofficial side-happenings. If you want us to add your event, please submit it by Thu 24 Feb here or send us an email by the same date here.

Of course, please be mindful of any health regulations when attending these events!

Stay connected, take care & have a great week :)

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Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Biotech SpliceBio land a €50M oversubscribed 1st round to develop their next-generation gene therapies

• IoT startup Sateliot finalize a €10M Series A with Indra and Cellnex as new partners

• Bioengineering startup Novameat secures €5.7M pre-Series A round

• Sustainable energy deep tech firm Bioo raise €1.5M 

• Video game developer Games for a Living (G4AL) secure a €1.2M pre-seed round to give users easy access to blockchain gaming 

• AI-based pricing software solution Optimus Price raise €1M to expand across Europe

• New immigration & relocation help startup Glex receives a €100K first round

Barcelona startup news

• Proptech company Psquared to invest €20M into ‘cool’ offices for BCN startups and expand into Madrid and Valencia 

• Hip coffee kiosk founders GoodNews close first year with €1M turnover & will expand into Paris

• ID Finance are the first fintech to receive the COMPENSO seal from the Spanish Ministry of Environment for their efforts to measure & compensate global emissions

• Atrys Health become the first company listed on the Spanish stock market in 2022

• Insurtech Cleverea to expand into the automobile industry with a new car insurance

• Founder of BCN job app CornerJob launches new Parisian startup Ray Studios, which uses new shockwave tech for fast tattoo removal 

• Alimentaria & Hostelco launch an initiative to select the 16 most innovative food and hospitality startups

• Barcelona startups EarthPulse and Okify amongst 5 firms included in GoHub’s acceleration program 

• Catalan startups Optimus Price, StockAgile, Weecover & Haddock amongst 8 new firms selected for Zone2boost’s acceleration program 

Spanish investment news

• Spanish foodtech startups raised €695M in 2021, 101% higher than in 2019

• Madrid and Miami-based Boopos raise €30M

• Madrid telecomms co MedUX acquire a massive €7.3M

• Spanish audiovisual marketing platform Snippet receive €6M

• Madrid-based digital agency Rockin Media land €4.5M

• Berlin-based, ES-operated Sunhero close a €3.5M round

• Spanish vacation rental school Alterschool.travel secure €1.7M

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Asterion Industrial closes €1.8B fund for businesses in the telecom, energy, utilities & mobility sectors 

• Nina Capital closes oversubscribed €40M second fund aimed at pre-seed health tech startups 

• Jobandtalent & TravelPerk investors Kinnevik disclose its 2021 numbers; the latter’s shares have gone up 80% 

• BCN-San Francisco firm BHV Partners will expand their portfolio of healthcare-invested startups 

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Esade is offering a new, free entrepreneurship training program

• Openvia Challenges, GLOBALVIA’s first open innovation program, is looking for innovative transport infrastructure & mobility sector startups in Barcelona & rest of Spain to solve one of their 4 challenges

• Danobatgroup open call for early-stage startups with existing innovative AI solutions; apply until Feb 24th

• AticcoLab pitch competition for women entrepreneurs & startups with at least one female founder; apply until Feb 28th

• South Summit startup competition open, with top 100 getting a booth at the event to gain visibility & make connections; apply until Feb 28th 

• Botín Foundation’s Solidarity Talent program calling for 3rd-sector Spanish NGO's & non-profits; apply until March 1st

• To keep on your radar: list of open calls for startups and tech companies in 2022

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Cocunat: natural, plant-based, and toxin-free cosmetics

• Ferran Basora: web dev at Factorial “How we migrated 400K+ lines of code from Flow to TypeScript”

• Hana Mohan: founder of MagicBell on isolation, trans identity as a founder & more

• Octavi Uya: co-founder of Nautal posts about the M&A process during Covid

• Wosh: striving to be the world’s most eco-friendly laundry & dry cleaning service

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• The CZFB will invest €50M to adapt part of the Via Laietana Correos into an innovation center exploring new forms of tech in the postal sector

• Catalonia’s new objective is to double its startups & go from 6 to 15 unicorns by 2030

• French investment firm (and investors in Glovo & Wallbox) Cathay Capital considering a Barcelona HQ

• French unicorn PayFit have just rented 4,500 m2 of offices in 22@, occupying the entire StepUp building

• Barcelona City Council launch a website for local tech companies to promote gender equality in the sector 

• Catalonia ranks 3rd in Europe as the region with the most companies and institutions receiving Green Deal funds

• Barcelona to add 7K homes & 1M m2 of office space to 22@

• The Financial Times rates Barcelona IESE Business School’s MBA in world’s top 10 & 3rd in Europe

• Catalan bank Banco Sabadell commits to a 33% female management team

Tech & big company news in Spain:

• Spain’s first movie using LED volume technology is released on Netflix

• Amazon is in Spain's top 15 companies after hiring 6K more workers in 2021 

• - They will also open their cashier-less Amazon Go stores in Spain by 2024

• BBVA to invest €263M in Brazilian digital bank Neon

• Axis commits €30M for investment into new projects focused on sustainability & renewables like photovoltaic plants

• Gigas offers the first 10 Gbps fiber network for Portuguese businesses 

• Telefónica get the green light to purchase Brazilian telecoms company Oi

• Google, Microsoft, IBM & Telefónica have collaborated with OdiseIA and PwC on the first company guide on the ethical use of AI 

• Iberdrola open Southern Europe’s largest electric car recharging area in south Spain

• IE University and IBM join forces to turn Madrid into Europe's main AI ecosystem

Politics, Legal & Economics

• European Parliament to propose a second Brexit referendum after recent talks

Good Reads

• Innovation and experimentation: Spain’s blockchain sector in 2021

• Why more Spanish startups are taking the fast lane to Silicon Valley

• What startups need to know about the new cryptocurrency rules

• European VCs’ 16 alternative protein startups to watch

• What is a scaleup and how is it different from a startup? 

• Should fully remote employees be paid the same as in-office staff? Some companies aren’t sure 

• Wayra X’s Luisa Rubio on expanding into different ecosystems & upcoming challenges in 2022

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Talk by GoodGut director and co-founder Mariona Serra: "The strength of the teams lies in the differences, not in the similarities" (ES)

• Interview with Maria Borràs from Freshly Cosmetics (ES)

• Product Hackers Web3 special with input from BCN & Spanish industry experts (ES)

• Chat with BCN business angel Carlos Blanco about investing, Glovo, the new Startup Law & more (ES)

• Optimize your exit value while you build your business with Juergen Graner from Globalator (EN)

• The Startup Chat: Should founders be doing sales? (EN)

• Video: Christian Rodríguez (Founder @ ByHours & Chairman @ Mutter Ventures) at Startup Grind Mataró [ES]

Great Events

This week:

• Wed, 23 Feb @16:00: SheStartup Volume IV – The Meeting Point for Women in Tech

• Wed, 23 Feb @18:00: From Developer to Tech Lead: How to make the leap to leadership roles (ES)

• Thu, 24 Feb @10:00: Get to know and recommend the Barcelona International Welcome Desk (ES)

• Thu, 24 Feb @17:00: Bcombinator’s Bcapital Day for incubated & other early-stage startups to pitch in front of Bcapital and other investors

• Thu, 24 Feb @18:30: Startup Grind Mataró hosts Helena Torras (CEO & Managing Partner @ PaoCapital)

• Thu, 24 Feb @19:00: Meet the Funders. Who are the investors in the Barcelona ecosystem?

• Fri, 25 Feb @15:00: Hack the Planet global hackathon. Best idea gets €3K + mentorship from DKV + will be presented at MWC 2022

Upcoming:

• Mon-Thu, 28 Feb - 3 Mar: Mobile World Congress 2022

• Mon-Thu, 28 Feb - 3 Mar: 4YFN

• Mon, 28 Feb @17:30: Startup Grind @4YFN with Jordi Romero (CEO @ Factorial)

• Mon, 28 Feb @18:30: Chris Thomas: Investing in start-ups that move the world / CASA SEAT

• Mon, 28 Feb @18:00: IoT Stars @ MWC 2022

• Tue, 1 Mar @18:30 Demium Roadshow 4YFN Special

• Thu, 3 Mar @17:30: Digitalizando el ecosistema de start-ups en España

• Fri, 4 Mar @09:30 - Mon, 7 Mar @15:30: MOB-HACK Hackathon: Develop the most creative video game to teach how to pilot SEAT MÓ 125

• Sat, 5 Mar @09:00 Barcelona Expat Fair 

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

Jobs

• Bourbon Creative is looking for a:

• - Freelance Content Writer (Native German, 100% remote)

• - Freelance Content Writer (Native Spanish, 100% remote)

• - Freelance Content Editor (Native Spanish, 100% remote)

• Freeverse is hiring a Head of Marketing

• Riverbed is recruiting a:

• - Digital Sales Representative (Dutch/Swedish/Danish)

• - Digital Sales Representative (French)

• INARI.IO is looking for the following:

• - Brand and Content Marketing Manager

• - Head of People & Culture

• - Customer Success Manager

• Opticks is hiring an Account Executive (Spanish Market)

• UserActive is recruiting a Senior Product Designer (UI/UX)

• Netcentric is looking for several IT positions