Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello all,

This week’s main headlines:

• BCN startups raise €15M 🚀

• Uber’s ‘Glovo’ arrives in Spain 🥡

• Tech hiring down 40% 📉

Almost 500 issues of Barcinno shared 🎉

There’s a lot going on in the world of big tech right now, but we’ve got bigger news: Only 1 month until the 500th issue of Barcinno–which falls on Christmas Day, no less.

With that in mind, and a new year fast approaching, we want to hear your thoughts: 💭 What’s your favorite part of the newsletter? As always, please feel free to add other options or comments, as that’s often where we get the most interesting and valuable input.

📣 Last call for BCN FinTech #011 this week too: join us and register here (Barcinno community discount already applied).

Have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Fintech ID Finance secures €12M credit line from a European Listed Bank; a first-of-its kind deal

• Bluetech Ocean Ecostructures closes €1.6M to regenerate biodiversity in degraded marine environments

• Automated dog food cooking device Kibus Petcare raises €1M+ from private investors

• Nuclio-incubated mortgage platform Finteca acquired by Swedish firm Clar

Barcelona startup news

• Food waste fighting app Buo closes despite having a term sheet of €2M; its founder explains why

• Delivery Hero will provide up to €45M per quarter to cover Glovo rider fines 

• Fashion startup Laagam opens its first physical store on Rambla Catalunya

• Bamboo Energy selected as 1 of 9 worldwide startups for EDP’s Energy Starter program

Spanish investment news

• Madrid tourist & corporate rental firm Be Mate Apartments raises €11.5M

• End-to-end luggage service LUGGit closes €1.8M Seed round

• Electromobility battery spinoff Floatech gets €12M led by BCN-based Grow Partners 

• Moto marketplace Cüimo raises €900K

• Madrid deep medtech Nanological gets €600K led by Clave Capital

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Berlin AI venture studio Merantix is raising a new €100M fund to co-invest in startups

• Operator- and woman-led VC NP-Hard Ventures raises debut €12M fund to invest in early-stage startups

• Investors HUB is born, a co-investment proposal that connects investors and startups in a network

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Open call for cleantech innovators: Join the Hello CleanTech 2.0 Startup Challenge; apply until Dec 15

• Participate in the 2nd edition of the Air Traffic Management business ideas contest ( best idea gets €15K); apply until Dec 31

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• Ana Maiques, Neuroelectrics: "They recommended that I put a man in charge if I wanted to get financing"

• Arantec: Mitigating climate emergency risks with IoT

• Four Catalan startups shunning Black Friday consumerism

Tech News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Catalonia boasts 310 deeptech startups, 10% more than last year

• Airline Level emancipates from Iberia and will increase its fleet

• The largest purchase of Renfe trains in Catalonia in history is underway

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Uber Direct arrives in Spain, its last-mile service that rivals Glovo

• Partial Amazon strikes at all Spanish centers for Cyber Monday

• Nestlé Spain invests more than €56M in environmental sustainability since 2019

• Telefónica begins its 108 building closures ahead of its ‘retirement plan’

Politics, legal & economics

• Hiring across European tech startups is down nearly 40 percent

• Spanish YouTuber sues Google Spain in a case that could set a precedent for content creators' labor rights

Good Reads

• Barcinno Startup Interview: 4YFN23 Award Winners Payflow 

• Affordable tech gift ideas for the festive season

• Using Tinybird for real-time marketing at Tinybird

Good Videos & Podcasts

• The return of Mozilla’s award-winning AI podcast, IRL: Lend me your voice (EN) 

• Innovation and business development in agencies, with Aleix Valls, CEO @ Liquid (Life on Mars, ES)

• BCN-based BusUp: From MBA to Transforming Transportation in 6 Countries (Itnig, ES)

Great Events

This week:

• Tue, 28 Nov–Thu, 30 Nov: 3-day coding challenge

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

• Wed, 29 Nov @18:30: ​​Women Tech Talent Sessions: Barcelona

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

Upcoming:

• Thu, 7 Dec @12:00: Trans Atlantic Angel Conference 4: Final Demo Day Event

• Tue, 12–Wed, 13 Dec: Tech Spirit Barcelona

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

• Wed, 13 Dec @18:30: Startup Grind BCN hosts Laura Urquizu (CEO @Red Points) → 40% community discount already applied ☺️ 

• Wed, 13 Dec @18:30: Free bootcamp: An introduction to data science 

• Thu, 14 Dec @09:00: Entrepreneurship to Transform: building the future of entrepreneurship at Esade

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

Startup Jobs:

• Bourbon Creative is looking for a Freelance Writer (Native French, 100% Remote)

• Sekg is hiring an In-lab Game User Researcher

• VICIO is recruiting a Head of People

• Le Stud is looking for a Co-Founder