Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hi & happy International Women's Day week,

This week’s main headlines:

• 🤖 Robot Dogs, Hyperloop & more at MWC

• ⚽ FC Barcelona to invest in startups

• 🌱 Catalan startups hit record number

Happy International Women's Day week ✨

Hope everyone had a blast at last week's events and has lots of positive things planned to honor International Women's Day on Wednesday (the official site has lots of resources if inspiration is needed). This year's theme is Embrace Equity, or equality vs. equity. What's the difference? Equality means giving the same opportunities or resources to everyone – which does seem fair on first thought. But equity means also considering the needs of each individual within that group (historically, this is typically marginalized communities) to ensure they all have the the resources needed to reach an equal outcome. Something to think about...

MWC & 4YFN: Barcinno's review 🤓

MWC week is in the books and we're all still recovering from it. Of course, Barcinno wouldn't miss out on what is the biggest week in tech for Catalonia, so Clemens and Natasha spent last week at countless official/unofficial events to gauge what's on. And from robot dogs to Hyperloop, the show didn't disappoint. Documenting their experience, they share their favorite startups, tech and activities, as well as their no-filter opinion on the MWC/4YFN. Read all about it here.

And please take the poll below so we can all see how YOU have enjoyed it. We'll share the results next week.

Research on founders' mental health 🔬

Calling all founders! Startup Snapshot, a data sharing platform for the innovation ecosystem, is researching how the entrepreneurial journey affects the founder's mental, emotional and physical health. The goal is to raise awareness for challenges that founders are going through and create tools that will help them build healthier and more successful companies. Would be great if you can take 2 min to fill out the following anonymous survey, the insights will be shared with the entire ecosystem and you enter a chance to win a luxurious spa day. Take the survey here.

MWC & 4YFN Special

• Best of Tech & Startups at MWC / 4YFN 2023: Barcinno Review

• IoT takeaways from MWC 2023

• An ode to big tech cos putting earbuds in smartwatches and other weird crap

• Barcelona nights: Actuator Marc Raibert talks research, humanoid robots and shingle installers

• Overview of the Catalan digital culture startups that exhibited at 4YFN

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Biotech Zymvol raises €1.3M first round

• DeepUll gets investment from Sabadell Asabys, bringing its Series B amount to €17M; they're a development-stage clinical diagnostics company focusing on direct from blood sepsis diagnostics

Barcelona startup news

• FC Barcelona expands into startup investment, its first 2 including Catalan fitness wearable firm Oliver

• Fintech Payflow win the 4YFN awards

• AI medtech Sycai Medical wins Premios EmprendeXXI

• Heura Foods make top 10 in the global FoodTech 500 

• Wallbox doubles its turnover and expects €300M revenue next; but also more than doubles losses to €136M 

• Logistics firm Tennders reaches €7M in revenues last year, just one year after its foundation in 2021

• Deleito, the restaurant project of Alberto Gras from MasterChef 8, is set to finish 2023 with 4 locations and €1M+ in revenues

• Catalonia exceeds 2000 startups for the first time, up 6.3% from 2022

Spanish investment news

• Madrid-based fintech Student Finance gets €39M

• Valencian AI voice software Voicemod secures €14.5M 

• Murcian sepsis prevention biotech Viva in Vitro lands €1.2M

• Basque transport app TaxiCoin raises €1M

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• BStartup, Banco Sabadell's startup & scaleup arm, celebrates 10 years; invested €1B+ in 4.500 startups over that time

• BBVA Spark reaches 500 customers and 200 million in financing since its launch in July

• Santander X leads a €10M investment round in Chilean fintech Destácame

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Telefónica’s Open Gateway Activation Program is open to accelerate telco startups; apply here

• Desigual launches new edition of its Awesome Lab program for disruptive fashion projects; apply until Mar 27

• The Naturgy Foundation is offering new €100K grants to the best energy research project; apply until March 31

• Huawei launches a program to accelerate Spanish startups together with FundinBox

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• Guava: the new bicycle business that got investment from ex-Barca stars Iniesta & Krkic

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona

• 4YFN to get even more space next year

• Mexican tech company Beyond Technology opens offices in Barcelona & Madrid

• US digital infrastructure company Equinix builds new data center in BCN

• New sleeper train will connect Barcelona with Amsterdam

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Telefónica presents 'LaCabina', a new avant-garde space for technological tests; and will invest up to €5M in starutps that develop apps using its network

Politics, legal & economics

• Spain to clamp down on tax fraud by digital nomads and fake non-residents

Good Reads

• Top 20: the leading venture builders in Europe, country by country

• The keys to financial regulation of the fintech sector & Startup Law for 2023

• Managers Have Major Impact On Mental Health: How To Lead For Wellbeing (Forbes)

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Addicted to "notworking" @ conferences like MWC & 4YFN (Foc a Terra podcast, CT)

• Interview with Carlos Gonzalez, CEO & founder of Product School (Itnig, ES)

• Pitches at Itnig by ReBaila, Fintastico, and Yachtdrop (ES)

Great Events 

BCN FinTech & Growth BCN are joining forces for this special event on Wed 22 Mar in Barcelona, next to Glòries. The event will feature a panel discussion with three experts on FinTech marketing, followed by some good old networking with free beer & snacks. Sign up now here.

This week:

• 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, 10 Mar @09:00: HiPeople TA Breakfast: How to hire for EDI (Equity, Diversity & Inclusion)

Upcoming:

• Wed, 22 Mar @18:30: BCN FinTech Afterwork & Growth BCN: How to succeed in (fin)tech marketing

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

• Wed, 29 Mar @16:00: Entrepreneur Business Live Barcelona

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

Startup Jobs:

• Wallapop is hiring a Performance Marketing Specialist

• YEGO is looking for a Data Analyst

• Plug and Play is recruiting a Ventures Associate | Energy Sustainable Fashion

• King wants a Corporate Strategy Manager

• Factorial is hiring a SDR Team Lead - DACH Market

• EY is looking for a Senior Innovation Strategist

• Lexidy is recruiting a Global Head of People

• Neuroprofiler want a Business Developer VIE

• MarsBasedis looking for a Growth Lead (100% Remote)

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

• Opticks is looking for a Sales Development Representative (Spanish market)