Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello and happy Monday,

BCN FinTech X Barcinno #019: The Tech behind FinTech

New event incoming! 📲 This edition will feature a panel discussion on "The Tech Behind FinTech" with the following fintech experts:

• Victor Martin Garcia, CTO & Co-Founder at fundcraft

• Daniel Niezgoda, CTO at PayRetailers

• #3 Panelist TBC: If you know a great female tech leader – CTO, CIO, or similar – at a fintech, let us know via email: [email protected].

🎟 Limited super-early bird tickets are available and our events sell out quickly, so save your spot here now – with a Barcinno discount for all ticket types.

Otherwise, read on for a packed issue, and have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• AI software for doctors Ovianta raises €450K pre-seed from First Drop, Itnig & Encomenda

  • They also told their story & presented a live demo on the Itnig podcast

• Scopely acquires Niantic games business, which includes Pokémon GO

Barcelona startup news

• Anesthesiologist assistance tool Predictheon wins the UN's AI for Good Innovation Factory Catalonia 

• Signaturit looks to Europe after achieving €65M turnover in 2024

• Gastro startup Brutalia opens a new location in Barcelona and heads to Madrid

• TravelPerk partners with Airbnb to enhance business travel accommodation offerings

• Sofa startup Pummba doubles turnover to €1M and plans physical stores in Spain & France

Spanish investment news

• Valencian healthcare & beauty SaaS flowww closes €4M

• Galician biotech Smart Vitamins raises €2.1M for its flu prevention therapy

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• More on the Barcelona Investment Fund: €30M to drive entrepreneurship in the blue economy, creative industries, health, bio & deeptech

• D-ONA invests more than €400K in startups led by female entrepreneurs, including BCN-based Flamaid 

• The ICF boosts its activity by 32% to €847M in 2024

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Aticco launches the 4th edition of Women Taking Place, an initiative to empower female entrepreneurs through training, networking & a high-impact pitch competition; apply by 23 March

• ERIA launches 2nd edition of its acceleration program for energy startups; deadline 14 Apr

• New edition of the G-Accelerator Impact Call Program: Helping seed and pre-seed projects create a socially, economically & environmentally sustainable business in Catalonia

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• Catalan female entrepreneurs fighting gender bias

• Starlab: Creates a new device for early Alzheimer's detection

• Silvia Viudas (LCI Barcelona) on the barriers to entrepreneurship & growth for fashion startups

Tech & Business News

Tech news in Barcelona

• The first driverless passenger bus arrives in Barcelona

• Microsoft to employ 250 workers in new Barcelona digital sales hub 

• Las Muns opens its first store in Toronto as a gateway to the US market

• The BSC signs agreement with Vueling to charge up the airline's services with AI, supercomputing & quantum computing

Tech & big company news in Spain

• BBVA to offer bitcoin and ether trading services in Spain

• Bilbao-based Lookiero announces merger with German competitor Outfittery

• Banco Santander prepares the IPO of its fintech subsidiary Ebury, hiring Barclays and Goldman Sachs

• Bizum explores creating a new European instant payments giant with French-German counterpart Wero

Politics, legal & economics

• Spain’s government approves bill to impose massive fines for not labeling AI-generated content

Good Reads

• 5 Great FinTechs at 4YFN/MWC 2025 - by Clemens

• How the world’s first mental health-focused VC Fund Masawa is changing venture investing

• The state of gender diversity in European startups: Female Innovation Index 2025

Great Events

This week:

• Tue, 18 Mar @18:30: Angel Success Stories: Journeys, Wins & Lessons

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

• Thu, 20 Mar @18:00: Cloud Native Barcelona meetup at eDreams ODIGEO

• Fri, 21 Mar @19:00: Networking for Tech Startups/Founders/Investors/Developers

Upcoming:

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

• Thu, 27 Mar @18:30: Semrush Marketing Meetup: The Content Trifecta

• Wed, 2 Apr @18:30: BCN FinTech X Barcinno #019: The Tech behind FinTech – Barcinno discount included 💥

• Fri, 4 Apr @18:00: Barcelona AI Music Meetup v2.0

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

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

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

Startup Jobs:

• Unnax (Powens Group) is hiring a Head of Revenue

• European Blockchain Convention is looking for a Project Manager & Speaker Acquisition

• Bankflip needs a Data Labeler

• YeagerAI is hiring a Community Manager