Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello hello folks,

This week’s main headlines:

• BCN gets 45% of Spanish startup Q2 funding 💰

• Big gaming player comes to BCN 👾

• Unilever & Roche invest in BCN hub 💸

BCN startup funding Q2: Barcinno insights 🚀 📊

We’ve been tracking Spanish – and especially Barcelona – startup funding rounds for almost 10 years. But starting this year, we’ve done it more systematically, allowing us to create more insightful quarterly reports (here’s our Q1 2023 report). Here are the 3 main Q2 takeaways:

#1: More rounds, lower deal sizes ⚖️

• Compared to Q1, Barcelona startups have raised 8 more funding rounds to reach a total of 42.

• However, with a total Q2 funding of €169.5M, Barcelona startups raised €33M less than in the first three months of the year.

So while funding is still available, with local startups closing 14 rounds every single month in Q2, the ticket sizes are noticeably smaller. This indicates VCs are still rather prudent, investing mainly in scarcely available profitable startups or in limited bridge rounds for those who are trying to get there.

#2: BCN startups take a bigger share of Spanish funding pie 🥧

• BCN startups accounted for 45% of total funding in Spain this quarter, up from ⅓ in Q1

#3: Top industries are biotech, climatech, fintech & SaaS 📈

• Funding round leaders: Biotech (6), fintech (5) & SaaS (5)

• Investment leaders: Climatech/cleantech (€69M), biotech (€22M) & foodtech (€18M)

This means the top industries are exactly the same as in Q1, except for the new addition of SaaS.

📊 Poll time:

Have a great week & stay cool 🧊!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• UK-BCN wellbeing platform Oliva gets €5M

• Social impact snack brand RobinGood closes €350K

• ‘Google of web3’ startup Hello raises €170K

• Tattoo artist marketplace Oshun gets €150K

• Miura Partners acquires 40% of hiking route app Wikiloc

• Ecommerce sales agency Optopus acquired by Viko Group

Barcelona startup news

• TravelPerk partners with American Airlines to improve business traveler experience; it’s also apparently closing in on €200M ARR

• Sateliot teams up with G+D to develop the first iSIM with satellite & cellular connectivity

• Student housing startup Buscoresi doubles residences within a year of launching

• Antai-backed real estate startup ProntoPiso files for bankruptcy

Spanish investment news

• AI insurtech Bdeo brings in €7.5M

• Madrid fintech Embat raises €5M

• Spinoff Marsi Bionics closes €4.5M

• Logistics cybersecurity SaaS Xygeni Security gets €4M

• Sevilla fintech Pagochat gets €500K from Ángel Cano (ex BBVA)

• Loyalty app Foodcoin receives undisclosed investment from Pascual’s Innoventures

• The ‘Too Good to Go of energy’ Lumio opens €250K funding round on La Bolsa Social

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• PE firm CVC injects another €482M into LaLiga Impulso clubs

• Adara launches new climate tech fund with Redeia, max size €200M

• Banco Santander-backed Tresmares Capital to launch 3rd PE fund with an aim to attract €20M

• Healthtech investor NLC announces new €20M fund to take EU startups from lab bench to exit

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• AWS Climate Tech Accelerator’s equity-free online program for early-stage startups offers mentorship, support, access to VC funds & more; until Jul 7

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• Carlota Pi, CEO of Holaluz: "Electricity is expensive and it will be until we change the system”

• Interview with Hello Co-Founder Alvaro Pintado

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard to invest in Barcelona after EU approves Microsoft deal

• IKEA opens first city store in BCN & plans 12 by 2025

• Unilever chooses Barcelona to open a legal hub, its first in Europe

• Vodafone Business joins Barcelona Health Hub to promote the digital health ecosystem

• Roche invests €51M in its BCN campus to reinforce its leadership in scientific and technological innovation

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Getir closes down in Spain, with 1,500+ workers set to lose their jobs

• Malaga-based Freepik opens its first office in the US

• BBVA aims to incorporate over 2,600 tech experts in 2023 via new job portal

• Vodafone to expand 5G coverage to high-speed railways in Spain

Politics, legal & economics

• Spain's 12-month inflation falls to 1.9% in June, lowest since March 2021

• Spanish regulator CNMC to investigate big tech companies

• Spain’s new decarbonization energy plan foresees investments of €294M & 522K jobs

Good Reads

• Opticks’ Annual Ad Fraud Report 2023

• The Verge’s 40 greatest tech books of all time

• Virgin Galactic: Sir Richard Branson's rocket plane enters commercial service

• The best drone photos of 2023

• Sifted’s Rising 100: The ultimate B2B SaaS startup & soonicorn list

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Playtomic: Raising €67M with a Padel app (Itnig, ES)

• “It’s possible to be a passionate entrepreneur without sacrificing weekends”: Cobee CEO Borja Aranguren (Emocional, ES)

• Bootstrapping in detail, with Xavier Colomés (LocalBoss) (Life on Mars, ES)

Great Events

This week:

• Mon, 3 – Wed, 5 Jul: DevBcn: Barcelona Developers Conference

• Wed, 5 Jul @18:30: Fuckup Nights Barcelona with Julia Im

• Wed, 5 – Fri, 7 Jul: ETHBarcelona Conference

• Fri, 7 Jul – Sun, 9 Jul: ETHBarcelona Hackathon

Upcoming:

• Wed, 12 Jul @18:30: BCN FinTech #009 → This link gets you a 50% Barcinno community discount 🔥

• Thu, 13 Jul @18:30: 3rd Aniv3rsario LIDR

• Wed, 19 Jul @18:30: Startup Grind BCN w/ Ross McNairn, CPTO @TravelPerk → This link gets you a 40% Barcinno community discount ☺️

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

Startup Jobs:

• Aflorithmic is hiring a Product Owner 

• SailProof need a Technical Customer Support Agent (Nautical sector)

• Vermut is recruiting a City Manager

• Qurv is looking for a Product Manager - Image Sensors

• European Blockchain Convention need a COO

• Lodgify is hiring a Growth Marketing Specialist

• Brickken is looking for Marketing Intern

• +288 jobs available at fintech companies in Barcelona