Hello and happy 2022!

Today's main headlines:

• Glovo acquired by Delivery Hero at €2.3B valuation

• Catalan startups raised a record €1.5B in 2021

• Barcelona startups raised 4th most investment in EU

#400 Barcinno newsletter edition 🎆

Have you missed us? We're kicking off our return in style by sending out what is now our #400 edition of the Barcinno newsletter! Not sure if we really thought we'd end up doing 400 editions when we wrote the first one about 10 years ago. But here we are, thanks to YOUR fantastic backing 🙂! Cheers 🙏🏻!

If you like what we do and want to help us even more, please share this newsletter with a friend or contact who might be interested. Just forward them this email or send them this sign up link here.

Here's to the next 400 newsletters 🥂

We've got a lot of news to unpack following our two-week break so let's get to it.

Have a great start to 2022!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Catalan startups raise €1.5B in 2021, the highest figure in history

• Catalan tech start-ups beat previous annual investment record with €1,3B raised in 2021

• German firm Delivery Hero signs agreement to acquire an additional 39.4% share in Glovo, becoming the majority shareholder of the company; deal is expected to go through in Q2 subject to regulatory approval; Glovo will continue operations with their current platform, brand & leadership team

• - Glovo CEO Ocar Pierre shared his thoughts on the news on his Linkedin

• - Glovo valued at €2.3B as Delivery Hero becomes majority shareholder

• - Why Delivery Hero is acquiring a majority stake in Glovo

• Spain’s largest fintech startup ID Finance obtains €3.3M to launch its neobank Plazo

• Healthtech company Psious receives €1.5M from CDTI to grow its VR mental health treatment 

• Biotech startup A4Cell closes €1.25M round 

• ‘Virtual Human’ medical software creators ELEM closes €1.2M round through Capital Cell

• Biotech cosmetics company Segle Clinical secures undisclosed second funding round; the company started at bankruptcy in 2017 but now expects to reach €2.5M in sales in 2022 

• Suma Capital ​​sells its heat network platform District Heating to the French infrastructure fund Vauban for €1M

Barcelona startup news

• Wallbox opens its first office in France

• Wallbox also unveils its new next-generation bidirectional home charger Quasar 2 at CES 2022

• Crypto startup Bit2Me will launch in Portugal

• Fintech startup Payflow starts expansion into LATAM market by launching in Colombia

• Fintech company Belvo summarises its success and numbers from 2021: API connections to 50 financial institutions, 〜150 clients & 100+ employees

• HolaLuz acquires Spanish subsidiary of British green energy startup Bulb

• Local startup TRIOTECA & Fotocasa launch the first mortgage marketplace connected to banks

Spanish investment news

• El Referente reports that Spanish startups raised over €4B in 2021

• Alicante spatial analysis platform Carto secures a €54M Series C round

• Madrid-based reusable rocket developers PLD Space closes a €25M Series B investment round

• Seville hydrogen tech-based company H2B2 raises €8.8M

• Seville tent and teepee rental startup Kampaoh raises €5M 

• Valencian data privacy startup QueryLayer nets €2.2M thanks to Nauta Capital

• International educational experiences startup GrowPro receives €1M 

• WhatsApp sales platform ChatWith lands €750K

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Seaya Ventures closes oversubscribed 3rd fund at €165M to back European tech firms

• Brussels accelerator The European Innovation Council to give €90M to Spanish startups 

• FOND-ICO will split €750M between 15 new funds with a minimum €1,653M to go to Spanish companies 

• VC firm Inveready to invest €50M fund in 5-7 telecoms, health and energy sector companies

• Angels Capital discloses that it invested a total of €2.3M in 11 startups in 2021

• Proptech was the most-funded industry in Spain in 2021

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Barcelona Chamber of Commerce starts program to give advice to SMEs and autonomos wanting access to the new Digital Kit 

• Catalonia’s ProACCIÓ Green program offers 75K grants to cleantech startups and other services to make businesses more sustainable

• Nuclio Digital School teams up with Binance to lead blockchain training in Spain

• Rviewer launches Codeathon, a 72-hour competition with prizes for the top 10 developers

• Call for submissions for PREMI 22@START startup and entrepreneur awards close on 16 Jan

• Horeca Challenge round 2 now open, a project awarding startups in the hospitality sector

• Still time to apply for Demium’s AllStartup Weekend on February 4th

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Victoria Gago: aka Ms Blockchain - the soul of the blockchain industry in Barcelona

• Pangea Aerospace, Zero 2 Infinity, Sateliot and Open Cosmos: Catalonia’s mission to conquer the NewSpace sector

• Bumerang: the alternative to plastic packaging

• Readl: one of the best Blockchain startups in Barcelona

• Reality Telling: immersive technology for critically ill patients

• Regality: the Barcelona startup that uses AI to help you find the perfect gift

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• Barcelona fourth in list of European cities who received the most financing rounds in 2021

• Foreign investment in Catalonia up 2.7% year-on-year to €572.9M

• US-based digital wedding planners The Knot Worldwide will grow its Barcelona tech hub by hiring over 250 professionals

• UK chemical company Croda invests €10.5M in new automated warehouse in Girona 

• Nissan’s Barcelona plant to be taken over by ​​Catalan group QEV and turned into electric vehicle hub 

• Government report on the circular economy shows growth of 60% in Catalunya

• Barcelona-based financial institution Caixa Bank to potentially invest in Juan Roig’s accelerator Lanzadera

• Catalan-based waste recovery project Ecoplanta Molecular Solutions pre-selected for European Commission Innovation Fund for its contribution to the fight against climate change

Tech news in Spain:

• Bizum’s 2021 numbers have tripled from €4M to €12M in a year

• Madrid fintech platform Housers fined by Spanish regulator CNMV

• BBVA has signed 20 commercial contracts with startups in 2021

• Santander AM raises €115 M and successfully close its private debt fund 

• Just Eat pledges Spanish riders €15,200 salary, 9-hour daily cap and 30 days paid leave 

• Figures emerge hinting that performance is the main reason Deliveroo left Spain

• Google Maps helps Italian police capture mafia fugitive in Spain

Politics, Legal & Economics

• Spanish government reduces the minimum ticket required to invest in a VC firm from €100K to €10K

• Spanish startup law document published in full

• - Entrepreneurs already demanding improvements on Spanish startup law

• Tech sector reported to generate most of Spain’s employment in 2022

Good Reads

• More growth but curves are coming: Miguel Arias and Oriol Juncosa’s vision of the tech sector in 2022

• Microsoft’s Jordi Ribas sings Barcelona’s praises as a tech hub and discusses vision for the future of AI

• The metaverse in Spain and its startup stars

• A year in review: Sifted EU’s 2022 Spanish tech highlights

• 20 Spanish Tech Leaders to Watch in 2022

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Interview with Àlex Rodríguez, CEO at MarsBased

• Interview with Avi Meir, CEO at TravelPerk (by Jamie Novoa from K Fund) 

• Interview with Eduardo Manchón, CEO at Mailtrack

• Interview with Pablo Pazos and Alvaro Gutierrez of Barkibu 

• Interview with Roger Pique of Barcelona VC company Inveready 

• Interview with Valentín Izquierdo and Federico Aguilar, founders at Hamelyn

Great Events

This wek:

• Thu, 13 Jan @18:00: The Future of Entertainment: Deciphering the Metaverse [ES]

• Thu, 13 Jan @18:30: Product Design Sprint: Free Online Workshop

Upcoming:

• Wed, 19 Jan: How to increase the productivity of a 100% remote team [ES]

• Sat, 22 Jan: Barcelona Expat Fair

• Mon-Thu, 28 Feb - 3 Mar: Mobile World Congress 2022

• Mon-Thu, 28 Feb - 3 Mar: 4YFN

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

Jobs

• Mutter Vetures is hiring a CMO

• FlexiDAO is looking for an Outbound Sales Development Representative

• Bloobirds ir recruiting a:

• - Sales Operations - Salesforce

• - Sales Development Representative

• Bumble is hiring an Associate Marketing Director, Southern Europe (Spain & Italy)

• Paymefy is recruiting a Head Of Digital Marketing (Revops)

• Arbolus Technologies is looking for a Head Of Marketing

• Oliva is hiring a Senior Full-Stack Engineer

• eDreams is looking for a Senior SEM Manager

• CodeOp is recruiting a Manager Strategic Partnerships

• Netcentric is looking for several IT positions