Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello and happy Monday,

New government action plan to make BCN a key financial hub ⚡️

Earlier this month, the Catalan government presented its Action Plan for the Financial Services Cluster. The aim: Boost competitiveness and position Barcelona as a key financial innovation hub in Europe. Barcinno’s own Clemens and fellow BCN FinTech Co-founder Elliott shared their thoughts on the plan:

• “Some of the key data and steps in the plan reflect what we and our community have been saying for years – this validation is encouraging and shows the ecosystem was heard.

• The ambition is great and many of these ideas have been discussed at a high before – it's good to see them formalized, now execution is key.

• The focus on international visibility is crucial. If we want real impact, we need to put cultural barriers aside and have a global outlook – not just a local cluster that feels good on paper.

• Barcelona hosting a Money20/20-type event? That would be amazing! Setting up an annual, global fintech flagship event in Catalonia has been one of our ambitions too, and something we’ve explored for a couple years. It needs to be done right: Either by bringing in a major player or by collaborating across fintech hubs.

• Connecting all the different players is key. This has been one of our main focus areas and we hope with the help of this public plan, we’ll be able to strengthen the ties, especially with crucial but traditionally harder-to-reach groups like banks and regulators.”

Thoughts? Join the discussion over on LinkedIn 💬

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Wealthtech Flanks raises €14M equity round

• BAC spinoff Openchip gets €10M from Generalitat de Catalunya

• Car service marketplace Cafler raises €10.4M 

• Wallbox charges up with €9.5M 

• Senior-accessible tech startup Bleta gets over €500K

Barcelona startup news

• 2024 breaks records for Catalan startups with 2,285 companies

• Medtech Nimble Diagnostics takes victory at 9th edition of Cuatrecasas Acelera

• Sustainable cleaning startup Plazy consolidates its position in the market with 136% growth

• Aquí tu Reforma reaches €3.8M turnover & first net profit

• Doctomatic validated by the FDA for its AI medical tool

Spanish investment news

• Alternative financing solution MytripleA raises €30M

• Seville health tech Universal DX secures €20M

• Supply chain SaaS Imperia closes €10M+

• EV charging firm Eranovum gets €6M

• Dealcar secures €3M to digitize & streamline used car sales

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Global software investment firm Thoma Bravo closes first Europe-focused fund at €1.8B

• Berlin-based VC naturalX Health Ventures announces €100M fund to accelerate healthcare in Europe

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Catalonia Exponential Leaders: ACCIÓ seeks the 10 most disruptive companies of 2025; deadline 6 Mar

• Iberia Tech Talent Trends 2025: Take part in this special edition of the Iberian community-based study on tech careers

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• NeurekaLAB: AI to detect kids’ learning difficulties early on

• Ohne Project: Selling barefoot sneakers from Catalonia to the world

• TheRest: New firm helping restaurants make the leap to delivery

Tech & Business News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Catalonia launches Vall de la Quàntica with ICFO, investing €5.5M to boost quantum research

• MediaMarktSaturn wins reta Award for Best Artificial Intelligence for its in-house AI platform Sandy

• Mango Home opens first store in the world in BCN

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Inditex, Iberdrola & Repsol lead ranking of the best companies for attracting and retaining talent in Spain 

• Amazon postpones return to office plan with no space for Barcelona & Madrid workers

Good Reads & Watches

• Interesting findings from Sifted’s founder's mental health survey

• Dost put together the ultimate CFO Playbook

• My First Million podcast: We talk to the guy who knows Silicon Valley’s darkest secrets

• The Verge’s (often-updated) favorite reads from all over the web

Great Events

This week:

• Mon, 3 Mar: BCN Fintech: Fintech Networking Event - Presented by Draivi (link includes 50% Barcinno discount)

• Thu, 6 Mar @18:30: Corporate Innovation Summit 2025

• + Around 50 side events in our MWC & 4YFN guide 🕺

Upcoming:

• Tue, 11 Mar @17:00: Dost webinar: How to create a financial roadmap for scaleups 

• Thu, 6 Apr @18:00: Barcelona Tech Job Fair Spring 2025

• Tue, 8 Apr @09:30: Founders Fundamentals: The Power of Networking

Got news or an event to share? Fill out this form.

Startup Jobs:

• Joko is hiring a Care Lead

• Nearby Computing needs a Sales Executive

• Sateliot is looking for a Product Associate

• MarsBased is hiring for various roles