Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello & happy summer (well, at least it feels like it),

This week’s main headlines:

• Future BCN Unicorn crowned

• 👩‍💻 Cyberattack slows down BCN hospital

• 😠 Ferrovial HQ move to NL causes stir

Polls are in: People are split on MWC/4YFN, but overall bullish

Last week's newsletter featured a survey about your experience of MWC & 4YFN 2023, and the findings show a bit of a polarized view. 12 people had a positive experience, 9 were not too fussed about it. However, looking at the most extreme opinions, almost twice as many people absolutely loved it (9) than really hated it (5) - full results below.

Speaking with various Barcinno readers, the 4FYN got more positive reviews and people are looking forward to the "sideshow" getting more of a center stage in the future. Another common feedback was that a lot of MWC stuff was more buzz than useful. As Amine put it: "Similar to Metaverse [in the] previous years, the robot is 'much ado about nothing'", adding that AI was the most interesting technology there.

Poll time: For those who attended MWC and/or 4YFN, what did you think?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 5 - Amazing. Loved every minute! (9)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 4 - Made some valuable connections & had good time (3)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 3 - Some great experiences and cool tech, some not so (3)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 2 - Expected more cool next-gen tech stuff to be honest (4)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 1 - The robot dog was a bit too Black Mirror for me (4)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 0 - All just pure sales & marketing. (5)

28 votes in total

BCN FinTech: panel discussion on fintech marketing & networking

On Wed next week (22 Mar), BCN FinTech is back in town. This time, the event will focus on FinTech Marketing and feature a panel consisting of the following experts:

• Meritxell Gibernau from Verse (ex-ID Finance, Glovo & Infojobs)

• Araminta Robertson from Mint Studios & The Fintech Marketing Hub

• Clemens Rychlik from Bourbon Creative & Barcinno, Mentor at fintech incubator/accelerator Tenity

The panel will not only share their expertise on how to reach your target audience, stand out in a crowded market, and build trust with your messaging, but also explain marketing tactics to increase your revenues in the fintech industry. As usual, there will be open mics before the panel and networking with free beers & snacks afterwards.

Sign up now here!

Have a great week & enjoy 🌞!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Emission-free solar-powered boat maker Zen Yacht gets €5.5M

• Software company Kumux receives €500K

• Musictech Wavic raises €150K first round

• Imotion Analytics, past winner of TrenLab, secures an undisclosed investment after selling 10% of the firm to Renfe - which makes it Renfe’s first VC investment

Barcelona startup news

• Heura Foods grew its turnover by 20% in 2022, from €17.7M to €31.4M

• Fintech firm Novicap quadruples its credits and receives 200M from Fasanara

• Red Points wins Future Unicorn Award by Digital Europe⁩

• Food delivery brand platform Cloudtown wins Gastronomy Lab award

• Medtech Methinks receives European approval to market first stroke-detecting AI software

Spanish investment news

• Valencian firm Bioflytech gets close to €5M

• Madrid-based flexible workspace platform Zityhub closes €1.1M

• Madrid firm hr bot factory lands €1M

• Madrid sustainable apparel store ECOALF gets €565K co-investment loan

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Glovo launches Impact Fund, a first-of-its-kind initiative to address socio-environmental challenges

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• 18 startups that will be part of Barcelona Free Zone Consortium' Logistics 4.0 Incubator

• EIT Food’s accelerator is open for agrifood tech startups with healthy & sustainable solutions; apply until Mar 26

• Ship2B is seeking innovative projects that tackle social inclusion through education or employment; apply until Apr 2

• Abacus & Inveready launch first edition of Abacus Ventures & open call for edtech startups which can land up to €150K; apply until Apr 7

• The Ministry of Science and Innovation & CDTI’s Neotec2023 is offering €250K grants for new tech startups; apply until Apr 20

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• Marina Teixidor: founder of Web3/blockchain startup Colmeia

• Union Avatar: your passport into the metaverse

• Pere Durán, director of 4YFN: "4YFN has helped to open the interest of big technology and telcos to other sectors that they had not foreseen"

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Hospital Clínic de Barcelona severely impacted by ransomware attack

• Port of Barcelona invests €5M in modernizing its technology

• Barcelona aims to attract more international students through new university law

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Spain officially has a Space Agency

• Spain's antitrust watchdog fines Telefonica over DTS takeover terms

• French embedded finance provider Swan launches in Spain

Politics, legal & economics

• Spain's inflation to be lower this year than in 2022

• Spain's coalition government strikes deal on pensions, shifting cost to high earners

• Ferrovial chair’s decision to shift head office to the Netherlands has incensed Madrid

• Spain seeks right to stop Ferrovial from moving to the Netherlands

Good Reads

• TOP 100: Europe’s most influential women in the startup and venture capital space

• Fresh data on the gender pay gap at startups: Sifted

• Entrepreneurs in Spain: many ideas, little investment

• Eva Sirera (Desigual): Startups help us understand the real impact that technology has"

• Where is the largest expat community in Spain?

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Growth through partnerships, with Kat O'Brien, CPO at ClimateTrade (Life on Mars Podcast, EN)

• 45M of natural cosmetics with Marta Giró, Freshly Cosmetics (Hablando con líderes podcast, ES)

• Interview with Borja Vázquez, founder of fashion brand Scalpers (Itnig Podcast, ES)

Great Events

Join this event next Wed 22 Mar in Barcelona to learn from a panel of leading fintech marketing experts how to reach your buyer persona, stand out from the crowd and build trust with messaging, as well as the marketing tactics to boost fintech revenue. The panel discussion will be followed by networking with free beer & snacks. Sign up now here.

This week:

• Tue, 14 Mar @18:45: Worktech Rockstars & Beers with Sesame HR

• Wed, 15 Mar @18:00: Tech Up Nights Vol. 6

• Wed, 15 Mar @18:15: Entrepreneur masterclass: CreatorsLab - From ideation to validation

Upcoming:

• Wed, 22 Mar @18:30: BCN FinTech & 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

• Thu, 30 Mar @19:00 NoBullshit Talk #07 with SpotAHome CEO & Co-Founder Alejandro Artacho

• Thu, 20 Apr–Fri, 21 Apr: EU-Startups Summit

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

• MarsBased is 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)

  • Sales Development Representative (French market)