Hello and happy Monday,

Today's main headlines:

• Qustodio gets acquired for €49M 💰

• Spanish startup raise €1.24B in 2022 💸

• Swiss firm opens R&D center in BCN, +60 jobs 🔬

BCN FinTech Afterwork on May 25: tickets selling fast 🔥

In case you haven't heard yet, there is a new fintech event in town: BCN FinTech Afterwork - the can't miss event for anyone with interest in the finance, tech & startups.

Join the opening event to network with the local fintech community, see how our startup hub is shaping the future of finance, and learn from its movers and shakers - this event features wonderful Kristoffer Hanson, CEO & Co-founder of Prestalo as a guest speaker!

Only one third of tickets are left to grab. So don't wait any longer, secure your free ticket now here.

Have a great week! 🌻

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Global sampling management startup The Sampling Solutions closes €730K

• Online monitoring provider Qustodio acquired by Australian competitor Family Zone for €49M 

• BCN medtech AcceXible open €2M fund to accelerate its expansion

Barcelona startup news

• Holaluz reaches 7023 installations & nets €11M in the first 3 months of 2022

• Cosmetic-focused biotech Vytrus Biotech doubles revenues in 2021 to reach €450K

• Fleksy switches to a SaaS model for its custom keyboard tech

• Heura launches Good Rebel Tech (G.R.T.), a multidisciplinary scientific approach to redefine plant-based food manufacturing

• Game publisher Tilting Point teams up with Polygon to expand into Web3

• Fintech firm Prestalo joins corporate sustainability initiative United Nations Global Compact

• Nacho Gonzalez of Mailtrack & infojobs founds new startup Banktrack, a handy banking app 

• Pet tech startup Kibus are one of Purina’s accelerator winners

• 5 of 15 most promising constructech startups for 2022 are Catalan

Spanish investment news

• Spanish startups raised a total amount of €1.244 across 147 deals in the first four months this year - €500M less than in 2021

• Bilbao-based diabetes healthtech Insulcloud 360º get €4M

• Valencia-based SaaS spreadsheet solution Sheetgo receive €1.88M

• Valencian luxury goods & jewelry brand Singularu raise €1.75M

• San Sebastián-based edtech Smowltech close €1.65M

• Madrid-based engineering company Managing Composites secure €1.5M

• Spanish foodtech startups triple annual investment to €695M

• Madrid hiring platform Jobandtalent acquire Norwegian staffing firm Jobzone

• Malaga-based Freepik acquire Spanish company Check My Presets

• Madrid firm Idealista to acquire Italian real estate service provider Regold 

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• New Barcelona fund Iris Ventures invests in its first startup, an LA-based women’s lifestyle brand 

• Axon Partners closes €40M fund to invest in Spanish higher education spinoffs

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Catalonia council is offering €4M through their Public Innovation Purchase Program, aimed at startups offering solutions to break down admin access barriers for SMEs; apply until May 23 

• AECOC’s Pia challenge call for projects focusing on innovation in sustainability and circular economy; apply until May 27th

• ONCE’s Innova Entrepreneurs Challenge is open for startups improving the quality of life of blind and low-vision citizens, especially via a digital workplace; apply until May 31

• Up-and-coming Web3 & blockchain accelerator Open Web Collective announced a new €596K fund; apply until June 30

• Mango & IESE Business School have launched the Mango StartUp Studio fashion accelerator; apply now

• Juan Roig’s Lanzadera commits to 100 new companies in sectors such as health, logistics, influencer marketing food, fintech & fashion

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Marta Antúnez: Director of Wayra calls for a more mature BCN startup sector

• Julián Díaz-Santos: Co-CEO & Co-founder of fintech Unnax on crypto legalities

• Real Deal Milk: “We don’t think there will be dairy cows by 2050”

• Silt: The ‘Paypal of verification’

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• SEAT forms alliance between 62 companies to make Spain the leading electric car hub 

• Swiss medtech firm Ypsomed open first international R&D center in Barcelona creating 60 new jobs

• Torre Glòries to open its new 360-degree viewpoint this May 20th

• Savills’s report shows Barcelona office demand has increased by 21% compared to this time last year

• Saving a flagging industry: BCN’s kiosk association signs agreement with USP to include last-mile, banking & urban mobility services at kiosks

• Catalonia Trade & Investment promote 30 Catalan companies at the Integrated Systems Europe, 50% more than last year

Tech & big company news in Spain:

• Supreme Court forces Santander & SEPI to sell 21% of Lleida.net to its CEO Sisco Sapena at €1.77 per share

• Domestika lays off dozens of workers after receiving €100M

Politics, Legal & Economics

• BCN Cybersecurity expert creates open-source 'NIE Bot' for foreigners to get residency appointments

Good Reads

• Tech salary comparisons & software career ladder of Spanish startups like Glovo, Factorial & Cabify 

• Four founders & experts weigh in on how the state of the Series A has changed

• Why the inventor of the iPhone will not be investing in the metaverse

• Bitstamp report: Over 1/4 of investors think crypto will go mainstream in 3-5 years 

• Samsung on its plan to roll out its own version of the Metaverse

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Video of Startup Grind Barcelona 8th anniversary event with Fuckup Nights BCN for those who missed out (EN)

• Interview with Javi López, Co-founder & Co-CEO of BCN’s Holded (ES)

• Interview with Alejandro Fresneda, Co-founder of BCN’s Yaba (ES)

• Interview with Guillermo Preckler, CEO of BCN’s Brickbro (ES)

• Wise, Bolt & Skype: How Estonia churns out unicorns (EN)

Great Events

This week:

• Tue-Thu, 10-12 May: Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress 

• Tue, 10 May @09:00: IoT Solutions World Congress Startup Competition 2022 

• Tue, 10 May @18:30: Growth Marketing Barcelona Roundtable: “Cookieless”, the new challenge of CMOs

• Wed, 11 May @18:00: Google Analytics 4: lights, shadows and alternatives: 35 minutes with Antonio J. Rodríguez Morillo 

• Wed, 11 May @18:00: From Developer to Engineering Leader: Making the Leap to Leadership Roles - Webinar 

• Thu, 12 May & Fri, 13 May: EU-Startups Summit

• Fri 13 May @09:00: Let’s UB! Innovation & Entrepreneurship conference for Barcelona's entrepreneurial ecosystem

Upcoming:

• Tue, 17 May @18:30: Startup Grind Mataró hosts Victoria Gago (Co-founder @ European Blockchain Convention)

• Wed, 18 May @18:00: Tech Up Nights talks with Tech Barcelona & Ocado Technology 

• Thu, 19 May @19:00: VueJS Barcelona | Nuxt and AWS and Typescript and Vue giving each other Pinia

• Wed, 25 May @18:30: BCN FinTech Afterwork #001 - Feat. Kristoffer Hanson, CEO & Co-founder at Prestalo

• 26-28 Jun: European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona

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

Jobs

• Bourbon Creative is hiring a Freelance German Content Writer (100% remote)

• OneCoWork is recruiting a Community Associate

• Caravelo is hiring a:

• - Senior Data Engineer

• - Senior DevOps Engineer

• Honest Greens is looking for a Data Backend Engineer

• Opticks is recruiting a:

• - Sales Development Representative - French Market

• - Sales Development Representative - Spanish Market

• - Customer Engineer

• Netcentric is looking for several IT positions