Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello and happy Monday,

Hope everyone made some great connections and is recovering well from a busy MWC & 4YFN week. What was your highlight? For me (Tasha), it was a mix of networking, the tech (see: weird & wonderful phones), and of course, checking out the startups – from the AI Tamagotchi-esque pet by Robopoet to seeing Nova Meat’s 3D-printed plant-based meat in action 🖨️

Have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Payment & loyalty fintech Orain raises €6M pre-series A

• EV firm VEGA Chargers secures €5M

• HR talent tech startup Mainder closes €600K

Barcelona startup news

• The Blue Box Biomedical Solutions wins the EmprendeXXI Awards as the startup with the greatest potential in Catalonia

• Unicorn Factorial continues growth with a new headquarters in 22@

• Real estate development platform Ratio invests €10M in residential & commercial projects in Barcelona

• 3D Digital Venue & WIVI Vision win Santander X’s Global Challenge New Era of Customer Experience scaleup award

Spanish investment news

• The Government of Spain will become a shareholder of Donostia-based Multiverse Computing, with a co-investment of €67M

• Madrid fintech Embat acquires US API connectivity firm Necto

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Madrid-based IDC Ventures announces €150M Fund of Funds for fintech, marketplaces, and healthtech firms

• Spain-based Acurio Ventures and Bonsai Partners lead €6.2M round in UK fintech PassEntry

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• ABANCA Innova’s 10th batch: For financial projects across fintech, regtech, sustainability & cybersecurity; deadline 17 March

• Desigual’s 4th edition of the Awesome Lab accelerator is open for startups transforming the fashion industry through data and AI; deadline 20 April

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• My Luno: Helping nutrition professionals improve efficiency & personalize services

Tech & Business News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Zaragoza-based PlanBrain lands in Barcelona, a language startup promising B1 success in 20 days

• Catalan companies at the MWC to generate €22.7M thanks to the congress

• The Barcelona Science Park bids farewell to its third accelerator for emerging health companies

• Call center giant CPM plans to lay off 600–700 employees, 60% of the workforce in Barcelona

Tech & big company news in Spain

• B100, Abanca’s digital bank, launches new initiative to reward clients for staying off social networks

• Update on the Hacienda requiring sellers on Wallapop, Airbnb etc to file earnings in this year’s tax return

• N26 refocuses search for new CEO for Spanish subsidiary, a position open since July 2024

Good Reads & Watches

• Women in Business report says Catalonia has 44.2% female managers, the highest figure in Spain

• Revealing the success of VICIO with its founder & CEO Oriol de Pablo (ES)

• How to Make it on YouTube in 2025: Jack Conte, Patreon CEO (EN)

Great Events

This week:

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

• Tue, 11 Mar @17:00: Angel 101 for investors & startups - Ask me Anything (online)

Upcoming:

• Thu, 20 Mar @18:00: Barcelona Activa Masterclass: Generative AI in action

• Wed, 26 Mar @17:00: Webinar: Get Ready for the 2024-2025 Tax Return with Tech Barcelona and Entre Trámites

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

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

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