Hello and happy Monday!

Today's main headlines:

• Antai Venture Builder gets €11.8M

• Uber & Wallbox join forces

• Green light for Spain’s first quantum computer

This week's news has been wild from Facebook rebranding to Metaverse to Spain investing €60M to build a quantum computer. In Barcelona, the biggest news is perhaps Antai bagging an 8-digit sum, so it's only fitting to spend a few words on venture builders.

Amongst the most well-known venture builders operating in Barcelona are probably Antai, Nuclio & Demium. The principle is pretty straightforward: they unite ideas + talent to create startups. Does it work? Well, like any startup, the success rate is mixed. But they have produced some pretty good companies already, most notably Wallapop & Housfy. So if you've ever been curious about launching your own startup but never really found the right idea or team, I'd recommend checking out their open calls & events.

Barcinno Special: Are incubators worth it? #7: Demo Day!

We continue to monitor the real-life experience of going through an incubator.

In the 7th part of this series, Elliot Locke shares his experience on Demo Day & his last days completing the program! Don’t miss out, read more here.

To explore the other parts of his journey, use the links below.

• Part I: Great Expectations

• Part II: Back to School

• Part III: Design Thinking

• Part IV: Legal & Fundraising

• Part V: Marketing & Networking

• Part VI: Pitching, Decks & Financials

👉 Last call! Barcinno is looking for BCN blockchain startups

Thank you 🙏! We've already received some great suggestions and insights from our community so far which is awesome! We’re still keeping the call open until Fri 5 Nov, so if you are one or know a cool Barcelona blockchain startup that should be included in our article, please just let us know here. Thanks for your help 🙂

Have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Antai Venture Builder raises €11.8M to accelerate digital business creation

• Mobile keyboard software maker Fleksy secures €1.38M to expand its keyboard SDK biz after 10x growth

• Reusable packaging service Bumerang receives an undisclosed investment from Duni Group

Barcelona startup news

• Uber and Wallbox team up on the road to zero emissions

• Glovo to invest €3.5M in Ghana to increase its operations

• Glovo commits to increase the social rights and benefits available to its couriers; announces ‘The Couriers Pledge’

• Bioengineering startup Onalabs moves to UAB Research Park to accelerate the commercial development of its products

• Gate2brain and Mowoot chosen among 21 other startups in South Summit 'Health & Wellbeing' Valencia awards

• Fintech firm Payflow among winning startups of the V edition of the Talent Summit in Madrid

• Four Catalan startups IZI Record, BIA, Match Trial & NB-RIC amongst a total of six selected for 6th edition of Cuatrecasas Acelera

Spanish investment news

• Madrid & US-based cybersecurity unicorn Devo lands €215M

• Valencian startup Ziknes closes a €222K investment round

• Madrid startup Venped bags €200K

• Valencia-based NEWE raises €170K

• Madrid hearing aid firm Audifono.es nets €150K

• Madrid soft drinks maker Malferida gets €100K

• Galician Biotech firm Origo Bipharma aquired by Belgium firm Agomab Therapeutics

• Valencia startup Serenmind gets an undisclosed investment from healthtech firm Ribera Salud

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Alantra generated revenues of € 204.4M and a net profit of €36.0M

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• G-Accelerator opens call for impact projects; apply until 15 Dec

• Wayra Scale Up Women opens its call promoted by Aticco Ecosystem

• BBVA and 500 Global create a platform to identify disruptive and sustainable startups and technologies for the financial sector

• Explorer, Banco Santander's entrepreneurship program, extends to six countries

• Desigual presents the first selection of startups for its Awesome Lab accelerator

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Agua NEA: the first 100% plastic- and BPA-free Mineral Water brand in Spain

• B-wom: digital coach helping women manage their intimate health at all stages of their lives

• Deale: helping SMEs connect with investors and/or advisors

• Miquel Marti, Tech Barcelona CEO: “Barcelona’s tech sector is running at a record-breaking speed”

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• PepsiCo to invest in a new digital hub in Barcelona that will serve as a Center of Excellence

• Estonian firm Veriff continue worldwide expansion with New Technology Hub in Barcelona

• Barcelona will train 1,000 people at risk of social exclusion in programming in one year

• Catalonia Trade & Invest announce Catalonia Industry Suppliers, a platform that lets you choose from more than 32,000 industrial products

Tech news in Spain:

• Ex-Telefonica director sells his US startup RubiconMD for €163M

• Cabify plans to hire 200 tech employees with 50% being remote positions that can be operated from various cities outside Madrid

• Mutua takes 8% of El Corte Inglés and will be its sole insurance provider

Politics, Legal & Economics

• Government approves the construction of the first quantum computer in Spain; estimated costs €60M

• Spain created 359K jobs in the summer as unemployment drops to 14.6% while the number of employed people jumps to 20M

Good Reads

• *Barcinno: The Startup classroom: Abroaden’s Incubator Journey VII (Demo Day & Last Days)*

• “Catalonia is one of the industrial centers in Europe”, Dr. Ansgar Kriwet, Member of the Management Board of Sales at Festo

• EU recovery fund: can Spain transform its economy?

• Facebook changes its corporate branding to Meta

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Interview with Miguel Carranza, CTO at RevenueCat (by Hablando con líderes)

• Interview with Nacho González-Barros, Founder at Hireflix & Co-Founder at MailTrack (by Life on Mars)

• Interview with Raimon Puigjaner, Co-Founder & Partner of B Lab, the organization that promotes the B Corp Movement in Spain

Great Events

This wek:

• Wed, 3 Nov @19:00: MASTERCLASS | How to Become the Perfect Applicant for a Digital Marketing Position

• Thu, 4 Nov @18:30: Let's talk investment. How to make smart money decisions post-pandemic

• Thu, 4 Nov @18:30: Startup Grind Mataró hosts Sergio Balcells (Entrepreneur & Internet Companies Manager)

Upcoming:

• 9-11 Nov: #Bizbarcelona21

• 16-18 Nov: Smart City Expo World Congress

• 24-26 Nov: VIII S2B Impact Forum

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

Jobs

• Touchstream is recruiting a Marketing Manager

• QMENTA is hiring several tech & business roles

• Honest Greens is looking for a Senior Accountant

• Unnax is recruiting several tech & sales positions

• GetWith is hiring a Head of Design

• CodeOp is recruiting several instructor & IT roles

• Netcentric is looking for several IT positions