Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello and happy holiday Monday,

🍸 Fintech Vermut & Networking x BCN FinTech 2-Year Birthday Party 🎂

BCN FinTech is 2! In just a couple of years, we've grown to a team of 7 (+1 dog), organized 17 events, welcomed well over 1000 attendees from Barcelona and beyond, and become the fastest-growing fintech community on social media. So let’s celebrate together 🥳 

✅ RSVP here on LinkedIn and spread the word to bring more fintech enthusiasts into the fold. See you there!

Great event #2: Startup Grind Tech Summit 2024 🚀

With the theme of Humanizing AI, this year’s Startup Grind Tech Summit is one for the agenda. Key details:

• Day 1 is in Poblenou & conducted in English. This opening night includes keynotes, a panel, and a welcome party with drinks, food, and a DJ 🪩

• Day 2 is an all-dayer in Mataró, conducted in Spanish, with fireside chats, keynotes, etc. Breakfast, lunch, coffee, drinks, and a closing party are all included!

• We have 5 tickets for Barcinno readers at 50% off–first come, first served–so be quick and sign up here! 🏃‍♂️‍➡️

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Circular DaaS (device as a service) startup Tecfys closes €6M venture debt round

• Typeform Co-Founder David Okuniev's new project Float raises a €1.6M seed round to launch its first product

• AI data management & security startup MLCode received further investment from Bullnet Capital 

Barcelona startup news

• Sustainable cleaning startup Plazy expands into Madrid & plans to save 1.5M liters of water in 2024

• Cellnex Foundation completes the third edition of its acceleration program with these startups

• Catalan lab Esteve grows by double digits in 2023, up to €710M

Spanish investment news

• Gerard Piqué's Kings League secures €60M

• Insurtech Insurama gets €8M

• Flex-living proptech Muppy raises €2.3M

• Fintech Wenalyze secures €1M 

• Real estate investment platform Inversiva gets €750K led by Juan Roig’s Angels

• Crypto firm Bit2Me gets investment from Cecabank

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• US-based Accel (backer of Vinted, BlaBlaCar, Monzo, etc) raises $650M fund for European early-stage startups

• Impact VC Norrsken closes second fund, oversubscribed at €320M

• Antwerp-based VC Pitchdrive raises third fund of €40M to fuel entrepreneur-driven early-stage investing

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• EBC is on the hunt for 50 blockchain and crypto startups to battle it out at this year’s event 

• FutureTravel Summit (this Nov in Barcelona) has opened applications for speakers

• CaTaPull UP seeks deeptech startups to solve innovation challenges (must have Madrid presence); deadline 1 June

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• Dàlia: Breaking the taboos of women's intimate health

• Hueco: The Airbnb of workspaces that rents parts of offices, hairdressers & warehouses

• Napptilus: The electric battery created in Catalonia that charges in 2 minutes

Tech & Business News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Music, sports & events innovation hub The Venue Barcelona opens its doors at the Montjüic Olympic Stadium

• BSC’s MareNostrum 5 supercomputer gets €90M boost

• US firm Elian opens a plant in Port of Barcelona to produce 2,500 tons of vegetable protein daily

• New report says data center investment in Barcelona could generate €7B & 2200 jobs in 2025

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Anthropic’s AI Claude is now available in Europe (alongside GPT-4o)

• BBVA sells 300 offices in Spain for €100M, in the middle of the Sabadell takeover bid

• EU warns Microsoft it could be fined billions over missing GenAI risk info

Good Reads

• El Referente analysis: Why fewer funds are launched in Spain

• Great Place to Work’s top companies to work for in Spain 2024

• Bill Gates' investments: A look at his European startup portfolio

• The 10 most successful startups of the decade

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Mastering the art of sales at early-stage startups: Paulo Rodriguez, Vanta (Samaipata, EN)

• 11 financial tips you need to listen to if you have a startup: Javier de la Torre (Seedrocket, ES)

Great Events

This week:

• Tue, 21–Thu, 23 May: Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress

• Tue, 21 May @18:30: Startup Grind BCN hosts Greg Scown (Founder at TextExpander) → link includes 40% discount 

Upcoming:

• Tue, 28–Wed, 29 May: TheNTWKSummit24

• Wed, 29 May @18:30: Fuckup Nights Barcelona 6th Anniversary

• Wed, 29 May @18:30: Startup Grind Tech Summit 2024: Human Intelligence

• Thu, 30 May @15:00: 3rd Congress: Women with Entrepreneurial DNA

• Thu, 30 May @18:30: Attico Startup Talks: How AI is revolutionizing the business world

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

Startup Jobs:

• Banktrack is looking for a Junior Marketing Specialist

• GFAL is hiring a Unity Expert

• Personio needs a Web Lead

• Anchor Point Studios (new in BCN) is hiring Engineers & Designers