Hello and happy Wednesday, we hope you had a nice weekend!

Following a short "puente" break, we're back with the biggest the tech news for this week. Let's dive right into it.

Take care of yourself & have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Worldsensing receives €10M from EIB to develop next-generation industrial monitoring solution

• Biotech startup Connecta Therapeutics lands a €1.97M investment

• Gene therapy startup Telomere Therapeutics receives a €1.5M investment

• Telemedicine startup Mediquo opens a €700K funding round on the Crowd Angel 

Barcelona Startup news

• Glovo seeks to promote growth opportunities for European and Asian startups adhering to the SDGs

• AliExpress hires Glovo to deliver packages in Madrid and Barcelona

• Badi bets on the hybrid model, will rent hotel rooms & plans to close a new round of financing in 2021

• Adtech startup Tappx grows team by 60% since March 2020

• Sustainable fashion startup BCOME wins 14th edition of the Entrepreneur’s Campus

• Nazca takes a majority stake in the Barcelona-based VOD platform Filmin

Spanish investment news

• Valencian startup Jeff secures a €17.5M funding round

• Madrid-based insurance startup Asistensi completes a €2.5M funding round

• Valencia-based fintech startup Bit2Me lands a €1M funding round with Inveready

• Valencia-based electricity marketer Gana Energía complete a €500K funding round led by Angels

• Madrid-based nanotechnology startup Next Tip lands €400K

• Madrid-based automotive startup CargaTuCoche lands a €350K investment round

• San Sebastiàn-based automotive startup EPowerlabs raises €200K

VC, investment & crowdfunding news:

• Columbus Ventures to launch its 3rd fund of up to €100M in early 2021

• Bilbao-based renewables firm Iberdrola has committed €40M to innovative industrial startups promoting energy transition

• The CDTI commits €37M in funding for 68 R & D & I projects

• Middle-market private equity fund GED Captial acquires controlling stake in 4 Health ventures

• Madrid-based asset manager Azora increases its position on renewable energy

• Facebook joins Madrid-based VC JME Ventures in its acquisition of NY CRM startup Kustomer 

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories:

• The 6 winning startups from the Hop launch ventures with Hijos de Rivera

• The 7 startups selected for the S2B Tech4Climate and S2B Health & Care programs

• 10 tech startups seeking funding will be showcased at 3rd Emprende Investment Forum organized by Madrid City Council on 16 December 2020

• The Kulto Project seeks to boost rural entrepreneurship by digitally connecting farmers and suppliers

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Kibus: healthy dog food cooking device

• Natural Machines: developing a 3D food printing machine to combat food insecurity

• Mascoteros: first marketplace for pets in Spain

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• While European startup investment is set to grow slightly by 1.2% this year, Barcelona is expected to drop to the 16th position and Madrid to exit the top 20 according to the State Of European Tech report

• E-commerce turnover rises to 1.5% of Catalonia’s GDP according to a study by Catalonia Trade & Investment

• The Catalonia Construction Awards vindicate the sector's commitment to quality

• CEO of Printful Davis Siksnans explains why he chose Barcelona as a strategic launch site for his European expansion

Tech news in Spain:

• Spanish PM Sanchez announces Spain’s €600M investment in AI development to accelerate economic growth

• Spain makes EY’s list of the 10 most attractive destinations for investment in renewable energy

• Telefónica raises the rates of it's Fusion internet packages in exchange for increased fibre speed

• Desigual turns to blockchain tech for supply chain visibility

Politics, Legal & Economics

• Spain's GDP will grow 2.4% in the last quarter of the year

Good Reads

• Victoria Gago, co-founder of the the European Blockchain Convention of Barcelona, speaks on Bitcoin’s recovery

• European Fintechs expand into LATAM in search of gold

• What makes a startup ‘European’ in the Work From Home Revolution

• CEO of Chartok Joan Sanz discusses the challenges faced by the tourism sector and the South Summit competition

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Podcast with Yara Paoli, Chief Growth Scientist of Growth OS

• CEO of Sherpa Capital Eduardo Navarro discusses investing during the pandemic and advises young people on how to kickstart their careers in E9 of “Hablando con lideres”

Great Events

This Week:

• Tue-Thu, 8-10 Dec: IBTM World Virtual

• Wed, 9 Dec @ 18:30: Women who have Transitioned to Tech

• Wed-Thu, 9-10 Dec: Future.Works Tech Conference

• Thu, 10 Dec @ 16:30: allWomen’s SheStartup III

• Thu, 10 Dec @ 18:00: StartupTalk: “B2B Sales Machine”

Upcoming:

• Tue, 15 Dec @ 09:00: Breakfast Financing (Esmorzar de finançament) with Roger Miralles, Partner at Mastertech Capital

• Tue, 15 Dec @ 17:00: EBC Talks #1: Masterclass on European Blockchain Services Infrastructure

• Tue, 15 Dec @ 19:00: Ciclo de mesas redondas Financiación para Startups

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

Jobs

• Bloobirds is hiring a Technical Sales Operations Manager

• Glovo is recruiting a Global Sales Manager

• Payfit is looking for a Head Of Marketing

• Factorial is hiring a Head Of Marketing

• Itnig is recruiting a Product Owner

• Harbour Space University is hiring a Marketing Specialist