Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello all,

This week’s main headlines:

• €100M+ for Spanish startups 💸

• Vodafone sells ES arm for €5M 👋

• Spain doesn’t want the digital euro 🙅‍♀️

Next BCN FinTech: Let’s talk upcoming trends 🔮

Get ready to dive into fintech's latest trends with BCN FinTech's upcoming event. Join us at the awesome speakers above on Wednesday, Nov 29 for:

• 🎤 Introductions & networking

• 🌟 Expert panel on "FinTech Trends - What's Next?"

• 🙌 Casual networking with free 🍻 & 🍕

• 🔮 Insights on fintech's impact on banking

Super Early Bird tickets are already sold out, but if you’re quick, you can grab an Early Bird (with a Barcinno community discount already applied, costing you less than a beer!) here.

Have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Cycle & fitness class startup Lapso Studios closes €1.5M led by the founder of Desigual

• Silvertech Kalma secures €1M

• Music gear marketplace Sounds Market raises €250K in 2 rounds

• Fintech CommonSense, which helps investors build their digital wealth, launches a €500K funding round

Barcelona startup news

• TravelPerk announces new appointments & people moves in its leadership team

• On-demand car servicing startup Cafler wins growth category at Valencia Digital Summit

• Quside secures EISMEA accelerator project from the European Commission

Spanish investment news

• Green fintech Twinco Capital secures €50M debt facility from BBVA Spark

• eVTOL vehicle solution Crisalion Mobility (formerly Umiles Next) receives €15M

• Madrid cloud-based maintenance SaaS Fracttal raises €9.4M

• San Sebastian RFID firm Myruns gets €7M

• Madrid Freelancer platform Shakers closes €6M seed round 

• Crypto trading platform Atani raises €5.6M

• Basque biotech Cocoon Bioscience gets €2M

• Valencian aerospace startup Arkadia Space secures €2.8M

• MS-focused biotech ALA Diagnostics gets €1M from BeAble Capital

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Qualitas Energy closes flagship fund Q-Energy V at €2.4B, becoming one of the largest energy transition investment vehicles in Europe

• CRB Inverbio announces 3rd fund for digital health projects with a target size of €40M & expands operations to Barcelona 

• United Colours of Benetton heir moves into tech investing with new €30M fund

• BP Ventures to ditch gas and oil and put 90% of its spending until 2026 into climate tech startups

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Applications for the 17th edition of Caixa Bank’s EmprendeXXI Awards are open for innovative startups (cash prizes, support programs, etc)

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• Ankit Nayal (Flamme App): From preventing breakups to breaking barriers in relationship tech

• Heecap: Interview with CEO & Co-Founder Laura Lizama 

• Odisei Music: An entrepreneur's solution to carry a saxophone everywhere

• Snaps: AI + professionals = edited photos in 24h

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Norrsken Foundation opens its third and biggest impact & technology hub in Barcelona

• FC Barcelona's BIHUB expands in Asia Pacific, seeking strategic partnerships with startups

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Vodafone to sell Spanish arm to Zegona for €5B

• Telefonica is apparently preparing to lay off up to 5K employees in the next 3 years

• Meta rolls out paid ad-free Facebook & Instagram in Europe 

• Cabify loses the first round in its legal fight with Uber for unfair competition

• Accenture acquires Madrid firm Innotec Security to boost its growth in Spain

Politics, legal & economics

• Bank of Spain report finds most Spaniards don’t want digital euro, 65% wouldn’t use it

Good Reads

• Inside the world’s first AI Safety Summit; attendees included U.S. & Chinese government reps, Elon Musk & OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman

• Strategic thinking, a missing piece in many start-ups: Kantox CEO & Co-founder Philippe Gelis

• Tech stack: Why going native sets you up for success, by Monzo CTO Matej Pfajfar 

• 'I made so many mistakes': 10 things not to do when hiring a team in the US, with Babbel MD Thomas Holl 

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Riding out a crazy wave in the tech industry (Life on Mars, EN)

• Interview with Marc Momplet from BCN CBD startup Hippy Collective (SeedRocket, ES)

Great Events

This week:

• Tue, 7 Nov–Thu, 9 Nov: Smart City Expo World Congress

• Wed, 8 Nov @18:30: Startup Grind BCN: Amir Salihefendic (CEO & Founder @Doist) → 40% Barcinno discount already applied 🙂

• Thu, 9 Nov @18:00: ORGANIC: The App Party by PICKASO

Upcoming:

• Thu, 16 Nov @18:30: Startup Grind Mataró: Yen Yin Jiao (Owner @ Toyo Restaurant & former Official @ Government of the People's Republic of China)

• Thu, 16 Nov @17:15: StrongHer by Qonto: Workshops for female entrepreneurs

• Fri, 17 Nov: Jump2Digital: Mobile World Capital BCN digital talent festival 

• Wed, 22–Thu, 23 Nov: B GOOD DAY: Spain’s annual B Corp movement event

• Wed, 29 Nov @18:30: BCN FinTech X Barcinno #011: FinTech Trends - What's next? → Barcinno discount already applied 🙂

• Wed, 29 Nov–Thu, 30 Nov: 10th Ship2B Impact Forum

• Tue, 12 Dec @18:30: Fuckup Nights Barcelona Dec. 2023 (Vol. XLV)

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

Startup Jobs:

• Simplr is hiring an Operations Intern

• Amenitiz needs a Content Specialist (French and English Markets)

• Red Points is looking for a Customer Success Manager

• Opticks is hiring a Sales Development Representative - International Markets