Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello and happy Monday,

Back with a bang 💥 

Hope you’re all getting back into the swing of things! This week, biotech, healthtech, and musictech startups from Barcelona raised funds, our city was ranked the third most-photographed 📸 in the world, and as you’ll see later on in the newsletter, events are also back with a bang. In the next 4 months of the year, Fira Barcelona alone will host over 100 trade fairs and events across its 3 venues!

And on the first eve of the EBC, come join this networking event & panel talk on Blockchain in FinTech on Wed 25 Sep at 19:00. Get tickets here (with Barcinno discount applied 😃).

Have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Biotech The Sampling Solutions raises €530K through crowdfunding platform Sego Venture

• eHealth startup Kokuai, an AI & WhatsApp-led patient experience platform, closes €260K

• Personalized musical instrument learning platform Meloom gets investment from Oryon Universal & will launch a crowdfunding campaign this month

Barcelona startup news

• Paack Logistics submits second layoff plan, affecting 86 of 178 staff in its central Barcelona offices 

• At-home healthcare service Lura Care expands into the UK with government support

• AI startup In2AI wins the Mundiplan company challenge by creating a solution based on the European Data Strategy

• Meet the 10 finalists of the 2024 FutureTravel Summit Pitch Competition: including BCN’s SwiftON

Spanish investment news

• 3 Madrid-based funding rounds:

  • Insurtech Insurama receives €5.5M financing from BBVA Spark

  • Financial advisory for SMEs & freelancers AsFin raises €400K

  • Quantum spinoff Inspiration-Q gets (undisclosed) investment from Bullnet Capital

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Netherlands-based SET Ventures closes €200M fund to address climate tech adoption problem, backing 20-25 European Series A startups 

• After launching a €100M fund, Dutch-based LUMO Labs appoints two new investors to expand in Spain & Norway

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Sign up for the Women in Web3 Hackathon, organized by Vottun & Cryptoconexión; submission 17 Sep–17 Oct

• The EBC Hackathon is also still open for signups! (25–26 Sep)

• Juan Roig's business accelerator will promote over 150 startups in its largest selection yet

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• Megaprofe: Gen AI to help teachers prep classes 

• Plazy: The startup washing the America's Cup boats with 1.5 liters of water – instead of the usual 300

Tech & Business News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Barcelona is the third-most photographed city in the world, according to Spanish tour & excursion platform Civitatis 

• BCN gets a high-speed train route to Malaga, in under 6 hrs

• US nautical firm Newsfender installs its global production center in DFactory Barcelona

• BBVA aims to promote Barcelona as a European hub for innovative companies via takeover bid for Banco Sabadell

Good Reads

• The story of Vinted & what’s next for its Co-founder Milda Mitkute

• Getir’s rise and retreat explained: Turkish startup shook global markets

• 10 years later, Apple Pay is amazing — and about to change

Good Videos & Podcasts

• The full season of Norrsken’s ‘How We Fix This’ is now live, hosted and narrated by Alexander Skarsgård (EN)

• How Two College Dropouts Built Nude Project from BCN (Forbes, EN)

• Adding Sales to a Scaling Product-Led Business, with Typeform CRO Kristen Habacht (Growth Machines, EN)

Great Events

This week:

• Tue, 10 Sep @18:30: Startup Exit Strategies: How to plan your cash out

• Thu, 12 Sep @19:00: Climate Drinks

Upcoming:

• Wed, 18 Sep @18:00: Tech Up Nights – Vol.14

• Wed, 25 Sep @19:00: BCN FinTech X Barcinno #016: Blockchain in FinTech → Discount code already applied

• Wed, 25 Sep @18:30: ​​SaaStock Local Barcelona: How to Fund and Grow a SaaS Business in 2024

• Wed, 25 – Thu, 26 Sep: European Blockchain Convention 10 → use code 15BARCINNO for 15% off

  • Plus many side events!

• Wed, 25 Sep @19:00: Beer2Business EBC10 Networking Event

• Thu, 26 Sep @18:00: Tech Barcelona Pier01 Afterwork 

• Fri, 27 – Sun, 29 Sep: IndieDevDay

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

Startup Jobs:

• Venga is hiring a Marketing Manager (Crypto)

• Thunes needs a Finance Manager (French Speaker)

• GoodNews is recruiting several roles (Graphic design, HR, Socials)

• Hemrun is looking for a Real Estate Manager - Early Stage Startup

• GSMA needs a 4YFN Account Manager