Hello and happy Monday! We have two top-notch startup networking events taking place this week. Don't miss:

8th Oct - SaaStock Local Barcelona - Scaling Up

SaaStock Local is back following a brief summer break and this edition will focus on how to successfully scale your tech business. A stellar line-up featuring the CEOs of Typeform, ForceManager, Holded and ABA English will meet up in the Movistar Centre to share their experience & advice on how to scale beyond product-market fit. Read this article for more details & get 40% off your ticket with this link here (code BARC40).

9th Oct - Startup Grind BCN hosts Elisenda Bou (Vilynx)

This Wednesday (Oct 9th) Startup Grind is hosting Elisenda Bou, the CTO & co-founder of Vilynx. Discover the secrets of their success during the fireside chat and, of course, you’ll enjoy the typical open-mic session & networking opportunities too to make friends as well as business connections. Get 40% off your ticket with this exclusive link here (code: barcinnorocks)

26th Oct - Barcelona International Community Day

The Barcelona International Community Day offers visitors the opportunity to find information and services that are useful when a person arrives and settles down in Barcelona. It features workshops, conferences, networking sessions and all kind of leisure activities for children and families. Sign up for free here.

Ok, that's it from me. Have a great week and we'll see you out there!

Startup & Investment News

Investment news

• Spanish fintech startup Bnext lands a €22M investment

• Spain-based startup Situm secures a €3M investment

• Barcelona-based biotech startup VEnvirotech gets €2M

• Barcelona music tech startup Acqustic gets €650K

• Spanish startup Box2box receives a €300K investment

• Spanish startups raised a total of €94M in September

M&A news

• Indra acquired Spanish fintech startup Afterbanks

• XOMA acquires royalty interest position in six clinical-stage assets from Catalan firm Palobiofarma

Startups news

• Barcelona startup Freshly Cosmetics opens store in Barcelona and aim to earn €12M in revenues this year

• Catalan startup Iomob wins South Summit 2019 Smart Mobility category award

• Barcelona sunglasses & watch brand Meller expands to Portugal

• Barcelona startup 21Buttons to cut their team significantly as they revamp their business model

VC, investment & crowdfunding news:

• Schneider Electric vows to invest €500M in startups over the next 5 years

• Barcelona-based private equity firm Miura is in the final stages of launching a €350M fund - the largest agricultural fund in Europe

• Caixa Capital Risc executives launch People & Planet, a new €20M social impact focused fund based in Barcelona

• Companies invested in by Spanish investment group Bewater Funds increase average value by 17%

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories:

• Overview of open calls for accelerator programs in Spain

• Barcelona-based firm Ferrer launches Ferrer 4 Furure, a new digital health collaboration program; startups can apply until the 20th of December

Barcelona startup profiles, interviews & success stories:

• Cubiq Foods: converting liquid oils into solid fats

• Goin: the Catalan fintech startup that helps you save money

• bnc10: the first neobank from Barcelona

• Picker: the Wallapop of influencers

• Two Nav: GPS, maps and software for outdoor sports activity

Tech News

• Japanese group BANDAI NAMCO to establish a new company dedicated to the development of mobile games in Barcelona

• International insurtech firm Wefox invested €30M in Barcelona, already employs 75 people there and plans to open a new customer support office in the city

• French employer branding startup Welcome to the Jungle opens office in Barcelona

• Port of Tarragona invests €160M to boost growth

• Barcelona and Catalonia go to Munich real estate fair to attract investment

• GSMA reveals first details for MWC Barcelona 2020

• S2B Impact Forum brings together leaders of the impact economy in Barcelona

Tech news affecting companies in Spain:

• How much Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft pay their employees in Spain

• Food delivery platforms in Spain save almost €40M per year in labour cost according to latest study

• Online piracy in Spain is declining rapidly as paid content platforms like Netflix, Spotify & co become more popular

• El Confidencial looked at how WoWork's recent struggles on the outside are affecting their services in Spain

Big Spanish corporates

• Mango's online sales increase by 30% to €445M while retail sales fall by 5% 

• Telco firms have laid off over 10.000 people in Spain over the last 5 years

Economic news

• As the Spanish economy is slowing down, job cuts in some big corporations have picked up - overall unemployment is still decreasing though

• Evictions for non-payment of rent fall for the first time in two years

Good Reads

• "Barcelona is a city with a lot of talent", George Karolemeas - founder of Pulse Visual

• Is it time for the traditional 8-hour work-day in Spain to be updated after a century without change?

• Thoughts on Spanish bootstrapped companies from a VC perspective, by Jaime Novoa

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Interview with Alessandro Zanardi, CEO de Codeworks

• Interview with Sergi Vila, CEO, CPO & co-founder of FlyKube & EatCube

Great Events

Join Startup Grind BCN this Wednesday to network, grab the open-mic and learn from Elisenda Bou, CTO & co-founder of Vilynx. Save 40% by using this link 

This Week

• Tue, 8 Oct @18:00: SaaStock Local Barcelona - How to Take Your SaaS to the Next Level

• Tue, 8 Oct @18:00: WomenHack

• Tue, 8 Oct @18:30: Gala Premis Dona TIC

• Wed, 9 Oct @18:30: Startup Grind BCN hosts Elisenda Bou (Vilynx)

• Wed, 9 Oct @18:30: Founders in Barcelona

• Thu, 10 Oct @08:00: Global Software Architecture Summit

• Thu, 10 Oct @19:00: Tech Bloom: Sustainable Innovation

• Fri-Sun, 11-13 Oct: HackUPC

Next Week

• Tue, 15 Oct @10:00: ENERGISE final conference

• Tue, 15 Oct @18:30: How to scale your startup

• Tue, 15 Oct @20:00: First Barcelona Energy Meetup

• Wed, 16 Oct @18:30: Defining and Developing an MVP

• Wed-Fri, 16-19 Oct: BMP International Real Estate Fair

• Thu, 17 Oct @09:00: Eurecat Big Data & AI Congress

• Thu, 17 Oct @18:00: Barcelona Tech Job Fair Autumn 2019

See the full event calendar here.

Startup Jobs In Barcelona

Job of the week: Are you a plant enthusiast looking for a new opportunity? Green lifestyle eCommerce startup Be.Green is hiring a Chief Executive Officer

• Be.Green is looking for a Chief Executive Officer

• Global Elite Pay is recruiting a Personal Assistant (Bilingual)

• Chimpy is hiring a Business Developer

• Bourbon Creative is hiring a Digital Marketer

See the full job board here.