Hello and happy Monday! We hope you enjoyed a nice La Mercé holiday and some cooler weather this past weekend.

Reduce energy poverty in Barcelona: DataCity Lab's new challenge opened until Sep 30

DataCity Lab is looking for technological companies that have expertise in data analytics related to the energy sector to work on a new challenge: reduce energy poverty in the city through solar energy generation. The call ends this Wednesday (Sept 30th) so make sure to apply on time here.

Have a great week and take care of yourselves!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Biotech startup Connecta Therapeutics lands €1.7M

• Car rental marketplace Swipcar gets €1.5M

• Coding school Assembler School receives €800K

• Incapto Coffee raises €500K through The Crowd Angel

• Online food marketplace Deliberry lands €450K via equity crowdfunding

• Sustainable fashion startup Brava Fabrics raises €430K via Crowdcube

• Proptech startup Wolo lands €250K

Barcelona Startup news

• Unnax forms partnership with Mexican firm Círculo de Crédito to expand to Latin America

• Verse launches new, improved feature for group expense payments

• Heura introduces recyclable packaging that reduces plastic use by 80%

• Linkedin published a list of the 10 most promising Spanish startups; 7 are from Barcelona

Spanish investment news

• Valencia-based gamer marketplace Streamloots raises €4.80M

• Valencian online reputation monitoring tool Atribus gets €500K

• Basque VR startup Orio lands €400K

• Sevilla based sustainability mobility tool Ciclogreen gets €300K

• Madrid startup Qoala receives €187K via Startupexplore

• Sevilla-based sports startup Fancision raises €128K

• Madrid startup Rentger closes a €120K seed round

VC, investment & crowdfunding news:

• Spanish fund Mouro Capital leads €22M investment in London startup Uncapped

• Valencian equity crowdfunding platform Startupexplore doubles the amount of investment rounds launched on its platform & secures 40% more investment

• Avançsa, the public entity run by the Generalitat de Catalunya, invested €25M in Catalan startups over the past; here's an overview of their activitiy & performance

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories:

• 3rd edition of PcComponentes Startup Booster opens call; apply until 9 Oct

• Zelnova Zeltia launches ZZink! Lab, an open innovation program to accelerate startups; apply until 6 Nov

• Elewit closes cal for its 2nd Venture Client program; receives more than 60 proposals

• Sacyr iChallenges receives 270 project proposals as call for the 3rd of its accelerator program ends

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Enric Asunción (CEO Wallbox): from working at Tesla to building a 200-people strong EV charger company

• BlockTac: authentication and anti-counterfeit solutions based on Blockchain technology

Tech News

• MWC Barcelona has been rescheduled to June 2021

• German firm Messer to invest more than €35M in a new production plant in Catalonia

• Catalan firm Kymos acquires German company Prolytic

• Catalonia Trade & Investment strengthens technological collaboration with South Korea’s leading R&D entity

• New step for autonomous vehicle tests in Catalonia: HD maps of public roads now available

Tech news in Spain:

• Shopify has added Bizum as a payments option to its platform

• Telefonica's share price fell to under €3, the lowest since 2002

• Endesa creates a subsidiary to accelerate the energy transition

Politics, Legal & Economics

• Spain's Supreme Court rules that riders of delivery platforms such as Glovo, Deliveroo & co should be contracted as employees 

• Spain to revise 2020 GDP contraction forecast to 10%-11%, up from 9.2% estimation in May

Good Reads

• “Catalonia has very strong digital skills and a willingness for innovation”, Gianpaolo Santorsola, CEO of Adevinta Spain

• Glovo CEO points out why the firm decided to sell its LATAM business

• Jordi Altimira from Lanzame Capital explains why they invested in Barcelona fintech startup Nemuru

• Eight top European accelerators for female founders to know

• Lessons from Idealista's Sale: How Spain Can Get Its Next Unicorn

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Cambios de roadmap de producto en tiempos de crisis, con Angel Molina (Localistico)

• El modelo de Freepik con Manuel Fernández

• Emprender en Silicon Valley con RevenueCat y Miguel Carranza

• Interview with Eneko Knorr about fundraising

Great Events

Upcoming:

• Tue, 29 Sep @ 18:30: How to get the media to talk about your startup (ES)

• Tue, 29 Sep: LogisticsDay by Digital 1to1

• Wed, 30 Sep @18:00: Future of the business travel sector, with Avi Meir (CEO & Co-Founder @ TravelPerk)

• Wed, 30 Sep @18:30: Ecommerce 2021: What has changed and what is yet to come (ES)

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