Hello and happy Monday!

The countdown has started. IQS Tech Fest, Europe’s first festival of industrial startups, organized by IQS Tech Factory, comes back to town & will take place on January 24 in the Antiga Fàbrica Damm. This year's edition is set to break all your expectations by featuring 40 moonshot startups, a conference program filled with leading international experts and by welcoming the Netherlands as a guest country.

In 2018 more than 1,200 people, 40 startups, 100 investors and inspiring keynote speakers turned Barcelona into the cradle of industrial entrepreneurship so don't miss this year's edition! Get more information here & secure your ticket at a 40% discount with our exclusive code: BarcinnoTechFest

In other news, Barcelona-based startups have started the new year with a bang! Room rental startup Badi raised €26M, German online bank N26, which shares offices with Barcinno in OneCoWork Plz. Catalunya, landed a €261M investment & social ecommerce firm 21 Buttons expanded their team to 100 employees.

Ok, that's it from me. Have a great week and we'll see you out there!

Startup & Investment News

• Banking startup N26, with offices in Barcelona, raises €261M

• Barcelona room rental startup Badi secures a €26M investment

• Spain-based on-demand laundry startup Mr Jeff bags €10,5M

• Spanish biotech company Oncomatryx lands a €9M investment

• Barcelona-based legal tech startup Pridatect gets €1M

• Barcelona startups Proyecto NeuroHeal, ADmit Therapeutics & Elem Biotech, plus two other startups, get a total of €325K

• Spanish biotech firm Feltwood closes €105K investment round

• Barcelona startup Santafixie receives a €100K investment

• Collins Capital fund acquires Barcelona startup Benfumat

• Catalan social ecommerce startup 21 Buttons keeps growing rapidly and just added their 100th employee to their team

• Barcelona startups IoMob & Nixi1 were selected for Renfe's accelerator program TrenLab

• Catalan startups Napbox & BYHOURS launch the first “one to one” smart meeting booth at the Pier01

• Barcelona startup Glovo plans to raise capital to open a new technology center in Latin America & accelerate its expansion

• Catalan startup Freshly Cosmetics plans to make €9M in sales this year & expand to France

• Euroleague Basketball and La Salle-URL announce Tech Challenge finalists

• Banco Santander launches a €620M debt fund to finance firms

• Clave Mayor launches a new €15M agrifood investment fund

• Spanish startup ecosystem analysis for December 2018

• Barcelona Activa announces a free discovery program during MWC19 for 10 selected firms that think of doing business from Barcelona; interested firms can apply until January 18th

• Barcelona startup profiles, interviews & success stories:

• - Instamaki: tasty sushi delivered straight to your home

• - Vilynx: how AI is transforming the media world

• - Glovo: execute quickly, understand local markets & adapt fast

Tech News

• Barcelona ranked 4th in the world amongst cities that are most prepared for the technological future according to a PwC report

• Foreign companies have fallen in love with Barcelona in 2018 as they launch new tech centers, HQ and offices in the city

• Àngels Chacón from the Government of Catalonia, announces plans for a law for emerging firms, technology & disruption

• Barcelona Tech City Campus will represent the evolution of the ecosystem

• A hard exit could pose a risk for Vueling and Level in Barcelona

• Catalan jewelery firm Tous jumps on the subscription-model bandwagon; aims to offer jewelery for rent for a flat rate

• US firm DuPont launches smart garment for FC Barcelona

• Spanish energy company Repsol estimates it could save €400K by applying blockchain technology in product certification

• Spanish scientist José Ramón Espinosa wins the Buchalter astronomy prize

• Taxi Wars: Episode IV

• - Taxi drivers in Catalonia threaten with new strikes, including MWC 2019, as they are still fed up with VTC regulations

• - Meanwhile Catalonia is finalizing two decrees against VTCs which are expected to be approved before 25th of January 

• A tale of two telco's in Spain:

• - Following a terrible business year in 2018, Vodafone Spain announced plans to fire 1.200 employees in the region

• - Telefónica looks for a partner to sell car insurance together

• Spanish Macroeconomics:

• - Spain only spend 1,2% of GDP on R&D which ranks in bottom half of EU countries according to latest report by Eurostat

• - The Spanish Government reduces the country's 2019 growth forecasts to 2.2%; predicts to lower unemployment rate from 15.5% to 14% this year

Good Reads

• Lessons from a Startup Leader: Kantox

• The scientific and innovative Barcelona: a potential to exploit

• "If companies don't change the way of doing things, someone will do better", Gonzalo López, Director of The Valley

• "The perception of corporates towards startups has improved", Ignacio Cea, Director of Strategy & Tech Innovation at Bankia

Great Events This Week

• Mon-Tue, 14-15 Jan: 3rd RGCS Symposium: Creativity and (Co-)Creation in Changing Cities 

• Tue, 15 Jan @8:30: Breakfast financing: Incorporating ethical management criteria

• Tue, 15 Jan @18:30: Mobile, Web Development and Startup Fund-raising Hacks by Digital Sapiens

• Fri, 18 Jan @13:30: Visual Data: strategies to interpret information

See the full event calendar here.

Startup Jobs In Barcelona

• Auvik is recruiting a:

• - DevOps Developer

• - Software Developer

• Digital marketing agency Bourbon Creative is looking for a Freelance Tech Writer (Native English)

See the full job board here.