Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello & happy MWC/4YFN week,

This week’s main headlines:

• MWC/4YFN bring 100K+ attendees to BCN 🌍

• Tech hubs in Catalonia hit record number 🏢

• BCN startups raise €7.5M 💸

Happy MWC & 4YFN week! 📱🚀

This year's biggest tech week in Barcelona is finally upon us. 100,000+ people from all over the world 🌎 (200 countries, apparently) will descend on our sunny city to scope out all the latest tech at MWC and all the awesome startups at 4YFN. A pretty impressive jump from last year's post pandemic event, which apparently 'only' had around 60,000 attendees.

🎟️ Plus, with over 55 official & unofficial events happening through the week and weekend, don't forget check our guide to see what's on each day. Teaser: There's everything from French, Swedish, Lithuanian and UK networking & beers to brunches, talks, running, VIP afterparties and even a vineyard 🍇 visit. 

And for those into fintech, we have a specific guide for you for today (Monday). Of course, if you were able to get tickets (sold out now), we also hope to see you at our fintech networking tonight.

Want to connect with us at MWC/4YFN? Reach out to Scott, Clemens & Natasha 👋

Have fun & see you out there!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• BSC spinoff Qbeast raises €2.5M 

• Tech recruitment startup Talentfy opens 3rd round of €1.5M

• Two plant-based brands raise €1.1M:

  • Väcka for its olive-oil cheese

  • Grin Grin Foods for its fully vegan line

• Gamified tech talent platform NUWE closes €739K

• AI-powered indoor sunlight startup KUMUX lands €500K

Barcelona startup news

• Web3 gaming startup GFAL gets new co-founder & security chief: the founder of Electronic Arts

• Fintech HUBUC launches global card issuing & processing engine P1 & becomes Mastercard Network Enablement Partner

• Women-led healthtech startup Virmedex launches Vircpb©, a video game for cardiopulmonary bypass training

Spanish investment news

• Palencian EV firm Zunder gets €40M loan to deploy fast charging on Spain's trans-European transport network

• Madrid robot developer Star Robotics closes €1M in 24hrs

• Madrid vegan/gluten-free croquette brand Solo de Croquetas gets €517K 

• Investment in Spanish sustainable protein startups up 58% in 2022

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Clave Capital announces €50M fund for healthcare startups; it also opened a new branch in the Barcelona Science Park

• 10 years of Banco Sabadell’s BStartup: over €1B invested & 4.5K customers

• Wefunder’s equity crowdfunding platform expands into EU; went live with 12 companies including 3 from Spain, one of which is BCN firm Barna Brew

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Desafía’s Spring 2023 San Francisco Immersion Program is open for Spanish startups; from today, Feb 27

• SelectUSA Investment’s Spanish Pitch Competition is still open, which supports companies to establish or expand in the US; apply until March 6

• Catalonia Exponential Leaders 3rd edition calls for disruptive startups & established businesses; apply until March 6

• ANCES Open Innovation seeks 8 companies in the agri-food, biotech, e-commerce, renewable energy & industrial fields; apply until March 15

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• Platanomelón & the sextech startups destigmatizing sexuality in 2023

• REMY Robotics: Disrupting the food industry with adaptive robotics & culinary engineering

• Wallapop: A quasi-unicorn that walks in circles

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Tech hubs in Catalonia have more than doubled in the last 5 years: 96 centers & 1.5K jobs created

• Catalan exports break new record in 2022 at €94.9M

• Tech Barcelona launches Pier07, a new space for health & life sciences innovation

• Barcelona Science Park refinances €36.7M debt with Ministry of Science and Innovation

• Spotify Camp Nou stadium introduces new anti-drone system

• Netcentric, which have operations in BCN, become first Adobe partner to implement AEM Franklin

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Surge in EV chargers in Spain as country ranks in EU’s top 5 with over +34k chargers

• Carrefour & Dia among 69 Spanish companies fined for violating the Food Chain Law, which guarantees fair prices for farmers

• Madrid startup Quance wins BStartup, Seedrocket & Wayra’s Venture on the Road

• València’s first unicorn founder wants to build a global hub for impact tech

Politics, legal & economics

• Spain plans new bike-to-work scheme that pays staff extra to cycle

• Updated license law: Brits will be able to drive in Spain again

Good Reads

• What European founders are actually paying themselves

• A Beginner’s Guide to Cloud Security

• Tech Crunch: What we expect from MWC 2023

• Was the $5B that VCs plugged into escooters worth it?

• Is London losing its European tech lead? (after posting "How Barcelona lost its way" a few weeks ago, FT continues it's gloomy mood with this post by FT-backed media Sifted)

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Are we born with entrepreneurial skills or can they be learned? With Jordi Romero (EmprènCat podcast, CT)

• Techstack selection & talent attraction: Metricool’s Juan Pablo (Life on Mars podcast, ES)

• Elias Torres' Journey: Hubspot, Drift, and Conversational Marketing (Itnig, ES)

Great Events 

This week:

• Mon, 27 Feb @19:30: BCN FinTech X Barcinno Networking Event (Sold out)

• Mon, 27 Feb–Thu, 2 Mar: Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023

• Mon, 27 Feb @18:30: Product management meetup

• Tue, 28 Feb @10:00: Web3 Revolution: A look into the Future of Blockchain and NFTs

• Tue, 28 Feb @19:00: Startup Grind BCN Corporate Innovation Summit 2023

• Wed, 1 Mar @15:00: Unveiling the Official 2022 FoodTech 500

• Wed, 1 Mar @18:00: Desafía San Francisco Immersion Program 2023 Launch Event

• Thu, 2 Mar @11:00: Startup Grind @4YFN with Lina Chong

• Thu, 2 Mar @19:00: Startup Grind BCN hosts Laura Martínez (Co-founder of The Hotels Network)

+55 more events are happening during this massive MWC/4YFN week. Check our MWC events & parties guide (regularly updated) for the full list!

Upcoming:

• Tue, 7 Mar @18:00: Dozen Talks: Starting before 30

• Wed, 8 Mar @17:30: International Women's Day 2023 Global{M} Event

• Thu, 9 March @18:30: CSS Roundtables: How Energy Companies are Unlocking Innovation 

• Thu, 9 March @18:00: ESADE Masterclass on Purposeful Curiosity

• Fri, 24 Mar @10:00: Promoting entrepreneurship: Lessons learnt from research

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

Startup Jobs:

• Neuroprofiler want a Business Developer VIE

• Bloobirds is hiring a Product Content Specialist

• MarsBased is looking for a Growth Lead (100% Remote)

• Bitpanda is recruiting a:

  • Compliance Operations Director

  • Trading Operations Expert

• Bourbon Creative is hiring Freelance Content Writers (Native French, 100% Remote)

• Opticks is looking for a:

  • Sales Development Representative - Mercado Español

  • Account Executive Adtech

• Qonto is hiring several tech and non-tech positions