Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello and happy (almost) August,

This week’s main headlines:

• Huge funding for Paack & Cooltra 💰

• Catalan tech hubs reach new heights 🏢

• ENISA opens startup process 📝

Working from the office is a step back 🤚

Unanimous opinion in last week’s poll: Over 57% of you would only apply for remote roles, and a grand total of zero would prefer to be in the office. Yet, another story came in this week that Glovo would be returning to a hybrid model in its 22@ Yellow Park HQ.

Does location influence whether you apply for a role?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 I'd only apply for remote positions, don't want to return to the office

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Happy to accept a role asking for hybrid

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Prefer to be in the office

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Don’t mind, the job itself is more important

🔎 Reader insights of the week:

• Offices are a step back

• “[Remote work] allows work from rural areas or other cities, which is a good way of living and could help to repopulate some very nice areas of Spain or even Europe/the world.”

• “Going back to the office for important meetings, team sessions, or if I want to–not a number of days a week.” 

Have a great week wherever you’re working from! 🛸

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Logistics startup Paack receives €40M in equity & debt from current partners

• E-mobility leader Cooltra closes €22M led by COFIDES & Santander, with €18M through syndicated loans

• Intelligent maintenance firm Infraspeak secures €7.5M, extending its series A to €17.5M

• EV startup VEGA Chargers gets €5M led by new strategic partner Orbis

• Millennial sunscreen brand Kream raises €400K

• X-ray inspection tech Deep Detection receives undisclosed investment led by Bullnet Capital

• Kids’ bike subscription startup Bicircular acquired by UK-based Bike Club

Barcelona startup news

• Typeform launches private beta of Formless, the world's first fully conversational form product

• Glovo pivots to compulsory hybrid working model

• Home fitness startup Volava enters bankruptcy after lack of investment

• BCN Korean beauty brand MiiN opens new flagship store in city center

Spanish investment news

• Tenerife semiconductor firm Wooptix raises €10M participated by Intel

• Madrid Ag&Food tech startup ZoomAgri gets €5.4M

• Granada telecoms operator Jetnet closes €2.3M

• Alicante cycling & theft prevention app All in Biking raises €1M on Fellow Founders in 3 days

• Madrid ‘fintech for the unbanked’ Microwd gets €764K

• Mallorca hotel guest SaaS Civitfun acquires Italian firm GRS

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• FC Barcelona president resells 16% of its digital asset arm Barça Studios to a German VC for €60M; Forbes also wrote about it here

• All Iron Ventures launches new fund to invest in 50 early-stage startups, with a target size of €150M

• A/O Proptech announces €100M first close of 2nd fund for EU & US companies working on the energy transition within construction

• Private banking firm with $14B assets A&G starts first crypto fund of Spain

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Empact Ventures & Hays’ Global Tech for Good competition: For EU & Asian tech startups and scaleups creating positive social impact that enhances people’s lives through technology; until Aug 7

• First Global MediaTech Pitch Day: Pitch your media startup and get up to €1M; until Aug 8

• Aprende y Emprende with Esade: Free training & support program for entrepreneurs with disabilities or anyone creating social impact initiatives in the disability field; apply now

• UManresa’s eHealththinking pre-acceleration program is open, an entrepreneurship platform to develop tech projects that impact health & society; apply now

• SantanderX’s Explorer for entrepreneurship coaches: A 12-week program that helps participants validate a business idea; apply now

• Smart Builders Pitch Competition is aimed at innovative solutions for the green and digital transition of buildings & urban infrastructures, to present at BCN’s Smart City Expo World Congress 2023; apply now

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• Columat: Smart lockers for online orders

• Interview with Gina Tost, Secretary of Digital Policies of the Generalitat: "When you start, it's very lonely at the top"

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Catalonia, land of tech hubs: Number has doubled to almost 100 in 5 years

• Alexion & AstraZeneca’s new BCN hub already reaches 250 employees & will expand further in the coming months

• Drones employed to monitor private pool usage amid Catalonia drought

• Barcelona will be the audiovisual capital of Latin America in January 2024

• Over €120M invested to transform Barcelona's port ahead of 2024 America's Cup

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Getir sells off equipment & scrambles for funding after exiting France, Spain & Portugal, and now Italy too

• Flatio launches first Digital Nomad Report 2023, with Spain ranked #2 DN hotspot

• Telefónica earns 44.5% more and doubles its 2023 revenue target

• Endesa faces $1.8B claims in LNG contract disputes

Politics, legal & economics

• ENISA opens the startup certification process, with 1900 companies already applied

• Hung parliament leaves Spanish startups' hopes for pro-scaleup policies in limbo

• What to expect (or not) about how Spain’s next government will boost the startup ecosystem

Good Reads

• Forbes List: The Spanish SMEs changing the world 2023 (ft. several from BCN)

• 15 female founders and executives building the future of Spain

• Europe’s gen AI 'models-as-a-service' companies, compared

Good Videos & Podcasts: BCN Special!

• Interview with Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit: "Taking investment or selling MarsBased?" (Life on Mars, EN)

• Interview with Marc Momplet, Co-founder & CEO of CBD startup Hippy Collective (Bcombinator, ES)

• The evolution of Glovo & launching Yellow VC: Interview with Oscar Pierre (Itnig, ES)

• How to build a successful coffee shop chain: Syra Coffee CEO & Co-founder Yassir Raïs (Product Hackers, ES)

• SocialPoint: Selling a gaming company for €25M (Itnig, ES)

Great Events

Upcoming:

• Thu, 31 Aug @18:30: Fuckup Nights BCN & Startup Grind BCN Summer Party

• Wed, 20 Sep–Fri, 22 Sep: The District Show: Real Estate Conference

• Wed, 27 Sep–Thu, 28 Sep: The AI & Big Data Congress

• Tue, 24–Thu, 26 Oct: European Blockchain Convention 9

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

Startup Jobs:

• Bourbon Creative is hiring a Content Writer (FR)

• Momentum Data is looking for a Head of Sales

• LABHOUSE wants a Flutter Developer

• Flanks is recruiting Product Managers, Biz Dev & more

• Incapto Coffee is hiring an Ecommerce Manager