Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hi and happy Monday,

This week’s main headlines:

• Record €93B Spanish startup valuation in 2022 🏆

• Touchstream wins 2 awards in the US 🏆🏆

• Glovo launches fashion service 🛍️

Major fintech milestone: crypto law approved in EU 🪙 🪨

Hope everyone had a happy Sant Jordi 🌹 and those who attended enjoyed the EU-Startups Summit. Great pitch comps, networking, and talks!

Last week saw a major milestone for many fintech companies: MiCA, the landmark crypto regulation, was approved by the EU Parliament by an overwhelming majority.

🌍 This makes Europe the first continent with comprehensive regulation for crypto assets, putting it in a leadership position.

A big focus is on adding more stability, e.g. protecting the euro currency stability, avoiding crypto scams, and protecting users. While complying with the new regulation will certainly be a challenge for smaller companies with few resources, it will finally add more legal clarity and put an end to the "Wild Wild West" 🐎

Current companies operating in that space don't need to panic though – it will take until summer 2024 for the rules to come into force, and other requirements will not even be enforced until January 2025.

💭 So what does that mean for local fintech companies? Well, as it happens, our next BCN FinTech event on Wed 24 May will focus on FinTech Regulation, so you may get some insights into that.

We will launch ticket sales and share more news next week both here and on the BCN FinTech LinkedIn, so stay tuned and save the date 🗓️

The Happiness ROI Programme: Week 2

Powered by The -C- Coach, in collaboration with Barcinno and OneCoWork.

It’s been incredible to see so many people signing up for The Happiness ROI Programme! We are clearly a community of people passionate about expanding our self-awareness and happiness is important. Now, that makes me happy!

This week, I'm sharing one of your stories, with permission here from Cesar. Thank you Cesar for being so open and sharing what you'd like to change in your life. I hope my guidance supports you and our wider community facing similar challenges.

Dear The -C- Coach,

Thanks again to Cesar for sharing his story. As a thank you and to support this kick-off in change, I’ll be providing Cesar with a free one-hour coaching session. Share your story with us and if you feature, you’ll also have the opportunity to get a free one-hour coaching session with me.

Next week, we continue The Happiness ROI Programme with the next wellbeing pillar, Managing Your Mindset - so make sure to take the wellbeing surveys for yourself, and if you haven’t already - baseline your happiness levels now with the Happiness Survey and see if your happiness levels grow by the end of the programme.

With heart and integrity,

Mehibe, The -C- Coach

Have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Neobank for millennials Rand raises €3M seed round

• Decentralized tech school Founderz gets €1M

• Proptech Nutual secures €750K

• Biotech spin-off EOX Sense gets €125K

• Edtech toddl.co acquires BuscaExtraEscolares, the largest directory of children’s activities in Spain

• VR mental health firm Amelia Virtual Care merges with US-Israeli group XRHealth

• Heura Foods opens new crowdfunding round

• Rural tourism marketplace Oasis Hunters is also looking for funding

Barcelona startup news

• Touchstream wins two awards at NAB Show in the USA for its new product ISP Insights: NAB Show Product of the Year (Monitoring and measuring) &IABM BaM Award (Support category)

• Glovo launches fashion & accessory shopping, delivered in 30 minutes

• TravelPerk moves into 9,400 m² offices at 22@

• Mundimoto invests €1.7M in Milan warehouse to replicate Spanish model in its first foreign market

• Freshly Cosmetics expands Gandesa factory with 3 new production lines

• Real estate investment platform Inviertis opens a specific division for real estate agencies and aims to double its current real estate portfolio

Spanish investment news

• The Spanish startup ecosystem reached a value of €93B in 2022, a historical record

• Digital identity company Veridas announces €15M capital increase

• Climate tech Plexigrid secures €4.5M

• Smart bike accessory firm UNIT 1 raises €3.5M

• EV startup Veltium Smart Chargers gets €1.5M

• Healthtech Fisify receives €900K

• Silvertech Envita closes €500K

• Custom furniture startup Tutrocito raises €500K

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Nuclio closes 2022 with a turnover of €50M (+160%) & changes BCN headquarters

• The startup funds launching next to raise hundreds of millions after sector adjustment (Kibo, JME, Seaya, K Fund)

• XTB says tech, 3D printing, pharmaceuticals & space are the most attractive investment areas for the next decade

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Santander X Global Challenge: The AI Revolution offers €120K+ prizes, a pitch to M12 fund & a trip to Silicon Valley: until Apr 27

• Last few days for the Caja de Ingenieros Foundation's 6th Innovative Ideas Award, offering up to €15K prizes; until Apr 28

• SeedRocket launches new edition of its campus for business angels; early bird registration until Apr 28

• Lánzate, EOI & Orange’s 5th free startup mentorship program is open; until Apr 28

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• 011h: Flat-pack buildings for sustainable construction

• Cloudtown: Promoting takeaway food brands

• FemmeUp: Taboo-busting women’s health products

• Hannun: Homeware store accelerating internationally

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Barcelona ranked 4th best European city, and Madrid also in top 10 at #6

• Barcelona & Partners head to NYC to present the city's powerful tech ecosystem

• BCN sees the world's first lung transplantation performed entirely by robot

• Catalonia's high-tech exports grow 18.2% in 2022

• The 36 Catalan companies participating in Milan Design Week

• Damm nears record €1.9M turnover after growing 26% in 2022

• Belgian-based systems integration and software development company Klarrio launches new office in Barcelona

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Apparently the Domestika layoffs aren’t because of ChatGPT, rather it's ‘sinking’

• Mango enters sportswear by dressing the Conde de Godó tennis team

• Bankinter closes best start of the year, earning €185M & rising 3% on the stock market

• Amazon Spain’s turnover up 6.6% in 2022, reaching €6.4M

Politics, legal & economics

• EU lauds comprehensive regulation as MiCA crypto law passes

• Brussels plans all new buildings to be CO₂-free from 2028

• Spain to help young citizens fly the nest with foreclosed homes

Good Reads

• 10 years of growth: Spanish startups flourish as VC investment reaches new heights

• Who are the emerging business elite in Spain?

• Top companies in Spain by region: A multi-data analysis

• The Future of Fertility: A new crop of biotech startups want to revolutionize human reproduction

• Watch the first demo of ex-Apple startup Humane’s wearable AI assistant

• Is your workplace ‘perkwashing’? Here’s how to spot it

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Inside Checkout.com's exec exodus & TravelPerk's remote work revolt (Sifted, EN)

• Chat with Qonto's Carles Marcos (Hablando con líderes, ES)

• Digital marketing behind the success of a startup, with Factorial’s Bernat Farrero (ES+subs)

Great Events

This week:

• Tue, 25 Apr- Wed, 26 Apr: PRO Sportstech

• Tue, 25 Apr @18:00: The Barcelona Startup Conference 2023

• Tue, 25 Apr @18:30: Aticco Learning: Coach yourself for success

• Wed, 26 Apr @18:30: Startup Grind BCN with Gemma Cernuda-Canelles (CEO & Founder @ Ellas Deciden) → This link gets you a 40% Barcinno discount :)

• Wed, 26 Apr @18:00: From Seed to Success: Breaking Down Barriers to Entrepreneurship for Women

• Thu, 27 Apr @19:00: NoBullshit Talk #08 with Julio Ribes, Co-Founder @SwipCar

• Sat, 29 Apr: Catalunya Summit: Day of future innovators & entrepreneurs

Upcoming:

• Wed, 3 May–Fri, 5 May: Avalanche Summit II

• Thu, 4 May @18:00: HackerSpace Barcelona CodeCrafters Unite: The Night of AI Demo & Networking

• Fri, 5 May: International Social Summit

• Mon, 8 May–Tue 9 May: Startup Grind Tech Summit

• Thu, 18 May @14:00: Esade Entrepreneurship Summit 2023

• Thu, 18 May @17:30: HRinTech: Resilience in the Workplace

• Wed, 24 May @18:30: BCN FinTech Afterwork X Barcinno #008: FinTech Regulation – details TBC (follow on LinkedIn for updates)

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

Startup Jobs:

• OneCoWork is looking for a Community Associate

• Opticks is hiring several Sales roles for ES, DE & FR markets

• M47 Labs is recruiting an NLP Engineer (ES or TUR)

• GSMA is hiring a 4YFN Engagement Coordinator

• European Blockchain Convention is looking for an Event Manager

• Antai Ventures need a CEO & Co-Founder for a new venture

• Amenitiz is hiring a Customer Onboarding Specialist (UK Market)

• SolarMente has several open Sales positions (CT, EN, DE)