Hello folks,

This week’s main headlines:

• Glovo’s Oscar Pierre launches €50M VC fund 💰

• BCN Council opens €30M deeptech fund 💸

• Wallbox CEO eyes €1B in revenues by 2025 📈

Barcelona Tech: The Return of the Events (Episode I) 🎬

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away 🌌, Barcelona used to be a popular ground for tech events, with each weekday featuring multiple awesome workshops, talks, or network opportunities. Little did we know that a pandemic would engulf not just the region but the entire planet. As people hid in their homes attempting to stay safe (and sane), physical events disappeared…

Yet, with the pandemic having slowed down, where are we at now? So far, this year has still not been very active event-wise, especially compared to pre-pandemic times. Summer is also traditionally quiet here with many people taking time off, so it’s not very indicative. But I do feel there are signs now that show we’re heading in the right direction. Actually, just this week we have a packed schedule 📅 with BCN Fintech, SaaStock Barcelona, Startup Grind Barcelona (& Mataro!) coupled with some Tech Barcelona events and the regular Itnig Pitching Nights.

Does it mean we’re back to “normal”? Hard to tell, it’s probably still too early. My take is that probably a lot of regular events shut down during the pandemic and may or may not come back. Additionally, what used to be generous food, drink and event sponsors are also harder to come by these days. That’s totally understandable, with the overall economic situation having forced a lot of organizations to be more prudent with budgets.

Personally though, I do feel like people are ready and hungry for more events. With Elliott & Victor, I launched BCN FinTech as a new event series back in May and we’ve honestly not been sure what to expect back then. Yet, the turnout and feedback has been incredibly encouraging and trending upwards. We’ve actually had lots of people asking us to run the event more frequently than once every two months.

Obviously, this isn’t representative of the Barcelona startup, tech & innovation event ecosystem. So what are your experience and thoughts 💡? Hit me up by replying to this email or contacting me on LinkedIn.

Written by Clemens

May the Force be with you!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Proptech Psquared close €1.6M & open new 22@ green HQ

• Metaverse avatar creators UNION AVATARS: Linking Realities secure €1.2M

• Supply chain startup Tennders pick up €1.2M 

• Plant-based protein startup RIP Foods raise €625K pre-seed round 

• Solar energy marketplace Solfy.net get €415K 

• Personalized pet food startup Happets acquired by Portuguese firm Barkyn

• Consulting firm SEIDOR acquire Opentrends

Barcelona startup news

• Glovo fined €79M for labor breaches in Spain

• - They will apparently appeal this

• Logistics firm Kubbo joins alliance with European logistics and transport giant FERCAM

• Native app-building platform Bravo Studio launch 3.11 version on Product Hunt

• Improfit.ai wins AI ​​Excellence Award at European Artificial Intelligence forum

• Barcelona firms Yumminn, Grovy & Upwine crowned winners of the 2nd edition of Horeca Challenge

• BCN startup Metrickal secures Enisa loan and grows to 26 staff & 14 recurring clients within just 6 months  

Spanish investment news

• Madrid-based ecommerce refund startup Reveni close €3M

• Bilbao startup Innomy receive €1.3M for its mushroom-based meat alternative

• Madrid-based insurtech LISA raise €1.2M

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Glovo founder Oscar Pierre launches new €50M VC fund after €79M rider law fine

• Barcelona City Council opens new €30M fund for deeptech startups

• Neva Sgr (VC arm of Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo) closes 1st fund of €250M to back European startups

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Cellnex Foundation incorporates 6 startups in its 2nd acceleration program

• Caixa d'Enginyers Foundation offers €15K grants for talent in sustainable development, environment, and tech; apply until Sept 30

• Banco Sabadell’s 5th BStartup Health program is open for heathtech projects; apply until Oct 2

• Polítiques Digitals 2nd call awarding grants to promote female digital entrepreneurship & increase leadership of women in tech; apply until Oct 5th

• TecnoCampus & Mataró Council’s Creatic Awards 2022 will recognize tech projects that contribute to sustainable growth; apply until Oct 5 

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews:

• Kolyy: Health-tracking smart collar for dogs

• Luggit: Like booking an Uber for your luggage

• Narrativa Fèrtil, KOA Biotech & Ökollective: The 3 women-led projects awarded by Barcelona Activa

• Eric Asunción: Wallbox CEO, “Our goal is to invoice €1B by 2025”

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona:

• Catalonia ranked top EU region in foreign investment in the video game sector

• French tech group Papernest open 22@ hub, creating up to 300 new jobs

• Adif details sustainable tech plans for Barcelona Sants station overhaul

Tech & big company news in Spain:

• Telefónica and CaixaBank create device-renting service Telefónica Renting

• Amazon halts construction of new warehouses in Spain until 2024 due to slowdown

• Spanish solar planning solution RatedPower acquired by US firm Enverus

• PcComponentes enter the telecoms market with new satellite connection offering

• Spain’s first independent fibre operator Onivia acquires 500K homes from Masmovil to expand rural network

Politics, legal & economics

• Spain Q2 quarterly GDP growth revised to 1.5% from 1.1%

• Spain and Portugal discuss opening 5G corridors for smart cities

• Spanish government open to modifying windfall tax bill on banks and large energy companies

Good Reads

• Spain’s most successful entrepreneurs on raising funds from VCs by 2023

• Mapping Spain's tech sector: new report by Endeavor

• Opticks Advertising and Ad Fraud Trends Report 2022

• Designing an inclusive metaverse: a second chance after Web 2.0

Good Videos & Podcasts

• The loneliness of the remote worker, with Jorge Jaramillo and Fran López (Mars Based Podcast, ES)

• Remote worker solitude, with Nikki Parsons & Sara Ronzero (Mars Based, EN)

• Ross Republic discuss the future of embedded finance with guests from Candis & Swan (EN)

• Prestalo CEO Kristoffer Hanson: Loans & rising credit rates: Tips on what to do (ES)

Great Events

This week:

• Tue, 27 Sept @ 09:30: Workshop | Cash Management for Startups with ToGrowfy

• Wed, 28 Sept @18:30: BCN FinTech Afterwork #003 

• Wed, 28 Sept @18:30: Startup Grind Barcelona: How to (and not to) scale up your business

• Thu, 29 Sept @18:00: SaaStock Barcelona: Fundraising in a Downturn - What You Need to Know

• Thu, 29 Sept @18:00: Tech Barcelona September Afterwork

• Thu, 29 Sept @18:30: Startup Grind Mataró with Jordi Torrent (Open Innovation Manager @ Damm)

Upcoming:

• Mon, 3 Oct & Tue, 4 Oct: Global Software Architecture Summit

• Mon, 3 Oct-Thu, 6 Oct: Barcelona New Economy Week (BNEW) Conference

• Tue, 4 Oct @09:30: Content Session | Digital commerce after the pandemic: perspectives and new models

• Tue, 4 Oct @18:00: Tech Barcelona Tech Up Nights Vol. 3

• Tue, 25 & Wed, 26 Oct: AI & Big Data Congress Barcelona

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

Startup Jobs:

• Unnax is recruiting a Business Development Executive

• Opticks is looking for an:

• - Account Executive

• - Engineering Manager

• QMENTA need an HR Specialist (Maternity Leave)

• Bambu PR is hiring a:

• - Communication and PR Account Executive

• - Intern

• MarsBased is hiring a Node.js/React Full-Stack Developer (100% remote)

• Cognizant Netcentric is recruiting several Marketing, HR & Tech roles

• Bourbon Creative is hiring Freelance Content Writers (Native English, 100% remote)