Hi all & happy Monday,

This week’s main headlines:

• Factorial on the verge of becoming a 🦄

• DE, SE & IT investment in BCN 🏆

• Quantum computer in Spain 💻

Can Barcelona become a leading blockchain hub?

Barcinno is and has always prided itself on being an open community - if you’ve got something interesting to share about the local ecosystem, we’re happy to spread the word. So when earlier this year some motivated students from University of Barcelona reached out to discuss the Barcelona blockchain ecosystem, we were happy to help. We’ve shared our five cents and made some intros to other people who know way more about blockchain than us. Since then, these brilliant guys went on to do a full report for PEMB about the Barcelona blockchain hub.

They shared the main findings with us via a guestpost on Barcinno. In the article they:

• Give an overview of the key players in the local blockchain ecosystem

• Show how Barcelona can benefit from using blockchain in urban mobility & SCM

• Explain how Barcelona can position itself as a leading blockchain hub

I personally found the last part particularly interesting. In it they explain that in Barcelona we’d need to focus on the following four pillars to strengthen our brand as a blockchain hub:

• Understand the limits of the technology

• Promote cultural adoption and education

• Establish a blockchain-friendly environment for startups

• Raise awareness of governmental resources

And of course, there are many more insights in the article. So go ahead and read more here:

• How Barcelona Can Become the World’s Leading Blockchain Hub

If you want to know more about Blockchain in Barcelona, you may also want to check out our articles on:

• Barcelona blockchain startups

• Blockchain Executive Program at Barcelona-based European Tech School: My experience

Have a great week & rock 🤘

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• HR startup Factorial set complete megaround that will bring it close to unicorn status; rumored to net northwards of €67M 

• Champion Games receives investment from Wayra for Web3 game MetaSoccer

• Design agency Lúcid acquired by Madrid ad group Jungle21

Barcelona startup news

• Holaluz will no longer sell gas due to exorbitant customer prices & the need to focus on green power

• Pep Gómez sues House of Lithium for non-payment of purchase of his scooter company Reby 

• Wallbox selected by Harvard University as success story for its entrepreneur MA

• Heura & Freshly Cosmetics make LinkedIn’s list of the 10 most promising startups in Spain

• Logistics startup Hedyla named one of the Top 100 global supply chain innovation companies

• Roda Cosmetics are finalists in the ‘best digital startup’ category at the Digital Beauty Awards    

Spanish investment news

• Huesca-based Open Threat Modeling platform IriusRisk raise €29M

• Australian-Spanish proptech PropHero secure €5.2M

• Madrid-based content SaaS Metricool receive €5M investment 

• Valencian sportstech INDYA get €1M supported by Spanish athletes

• High-end restaurant app Velada secure €1M

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Amsterdam-based Newion unveils new €130M fund for early-stage software startups Europe-wide

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Ship2B Foundation’s Impact Award 2022 is still open; nominate candidates until midnight Oct 9

• Clariter (BCN) is offering FREE Software QA Courses; starts Oct 17 for 3 weeks 

• Barça Innovation Hub and Allianz present 2nd edition of Allianz Startup Challenge; apply until Nov 13

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• What the Capchase founders learned about fundraising - and what you need to know

• Guzzu: New web3 & music digital merchandising startup

• Marc Olmedillo, Investment Director at Dozen Investments: “We want to become the Spanish benchmark for alternatives to funds” 

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• The Italian Chamber of Commerce joins Tech Barcelona to promote the city as an international tech hub

• Swedish non-profit Norrsken to open Europe's biggest hub for tech & impact startups in BCN 

• German company Lauda Ultracool opens €7M factory in Catalonia creating 30 new jobs

Tech & big company news in Spain:

• Spain will be one of the six centres hosting Europe's first quantum computers

• LaLiga partners with Snap to bring football content to Snapchat

• Two big names open centers in Valencia: Hitachi & the UN

• Telefónica acquires Aragonese metaverse startup Imascono 

• Navarra pharmaceutical group Cinfa launch new Open Innovation Platform CinfaNext

Politics, legal & economics

• Spain’s Crea y Crece law comes in, allowing companies to be launched quickly & lowering minimum VC investment tenfold from €100K to €10K

• Spain’s free train ticket scheme extended until at least December 2023

Good Reads

• Barcinno: How Barcelona can become a leading blockchain hub 

• Hottest startups in Barcelona (by Wired)

• Unicornesses to-be; Spanish unicorn candidates with female tech founders

• Barriers to entry: a look at Europe's (lack of) inclusive entrepreneurship programs

• Fresh fintech funding data tells us what investors are chasing in a downturn

• The top advertising trends in 2022

• 11 awesome winter energy savings tips for people living abroad

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Move2Earn App: Gamification, Technology & Rewarding Transit Riders, with Boyd Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder of BCN startup Iomob (EN podcast)

• Lúcid talks about the No Code movement with the founder of NoCodeHackers (El Periscope podcast, ES)

• Fall to Rise: Life Lessons from Spotahome (Itnig podcast, ES)

• Financial Independence thanks to Pokémon, with Àlex Rodríguez (Balio Podcast, ES)

Great Events

This week:

• Thu, 13 Oct @09:00: Sales Development for B2B SaaS: Inbound, Outbound and Midbound

• Mon, 17 Oct @09:30: Workshop | How to pitch your startup? – With Keely Algar

Upcoming:

• Tue, 18 Oct @18:30: The 3 pillars for the success of your LinkedIn campaigns (ES)

• Tue, 18 Oct @18:30: Honeypot’s HRinTech: Remote and Hybrid Work insights & networking

• Wed, 19 Oct @18:00: From 0 to 100: Your first 100 days as Tech Lead

• Sat, 22 Oct @10:00: Barcelona International Community Day 2022

• Wed, 23 Nov @18:30: BCN FinTech Afterwork #004: DeFi vs FinTech

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

Startup Jobs:

• Bourbon Creative is hiring:

• - Freelance Content Writers and/or Project Manager (German, 100% remote)

• - Freelance Content Writers (English, 100% remote)

• Opticks is looking for an Account Executive & an Engineering Manager

• MarsBased is hiring a Node.js/React Full-Stack Developer (100% remote)

• Qonto is recruiting a Marketing Lead - Spanish Market

• Swan is hiring a Product Marketing Manager

• SeQura is looking for a Partner Marketing Manager

• Cognizant Netcentric is looking for various Marketing & Tech roles