Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello and happy May,

We’re kicking off this Monday with not just power 💡 but over €54M in local funding rounds, some interesting VC funds, and even a test to find out if you’re one of the “85 in a million” with the traits to be a successful founder.

📣 Also, final reminder: Join us for an engaging and practical AI Marketing Workshop co-organized by Hello Operator and Cloudworks at their iconic space on Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona. Only a handful of tickets are left, so be quick! Register here.

Have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Medtech deepull secures oversubscribed €50M Series C

• Zazume, which digitizes property rental processes, closes €2.3M 

• Streaming adtech The Channel Store gets €2M from Inveready

Barcelona startup news

• Proptech Housfy expects 60% revenue growth, acquires 14 firms & opens new offices

• Digital health startup Ephion Health wins 2nd edition of GIFT's International Pitch Contest

• Several investors are bidding to enter digital marketing firm Adsmurai

Spanish investment news

• Valencian energy firm KERIONICS receives €12.8M gov funding 

• Madrid-based 2EyesVision raises €2M 

• IoT motorbike safety firm Livelink closes €2.4M

• Seaya acquires majority stake in Madrid supplement startup Baïa Food

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Vinted Group launches Vinted Ventures to accelerate startups in the re-commerce market

• BCN-based Aldea Ventures closes €50M for Fund II to back frontier micro-VCs

• Kfund invests in Catalan-founded Swiss smartband app Hilo in €37M Series B, also plans to enter Spain

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• UNICEF Venture Fund: Up to $100K equity-free for early-stage frontier tech startups advancing women’s and girls’ health, well-being & participation; deadline 8 May

• VDS open call for its 8th international startup competition in Valencia; deadline 27 June

• Record-breaking number of applications for the Women TechEU latest open call; Spain in 3rd

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles & interviews

• LiveFresh: A startup against extreme heat in work environments

Tech & Business News

Tech news in Barcelona

• FC Barcelona changes its store name to Barça Botiga, to promote & advance the Catalan language 

• easyHotel expands its presence with a new hotel in Barcelona from €65

• Digital art takes off in Barcelona with the OFFF Festival this week

• CaixaBank posts €1.47B Q1 profit, boosted by change in bank tax accounting

Tech & big company news in Spain

• South Summit & Genyus School create the South Summit Kids Competition to promote children’s entrepreneurship

• Telefónica has divested its operations in Colombia, Argentina & Peru

• Spain unveiled its Quantum Strategy 2025–2030, a plan to develop a strong national ecosystem for quantum tech

Politics, legal & economics

• Labor unions await Spanish government's green light to shorter workweek after approval was postponed due to blackout

Good Reads & Watches

• EQT Ventures’ The Founder Six: Traits of a successful founder & a test to check how you stack up

• Strong findings from Walking on Earth’s new report on the impact of workplace stress

• Sell​ing a €20M SaaS to Private Equity: Juanjo Rodríguez from The Hotels Network on the recent acquisition (Itnig, ES)

• Road to CTO 1: From economist to coder: why Charles Chase never went back to corporate (Life on Mars, EN)

Great Events

This week:

• Wed, 7 May @18:30: AI Marketing Workshop with Hello Operator 

• Thu, 8 May @18:00: Startups & Beers Vallès Entrepreneurship Afterwork

• Thu, 8 May: Future Finance Day 2025

• Thu, 8 May @ 16:00: Webinar: Cloud cost chaos? How to save up to 40% without sacrificing performance 

Upcoming:

• Wed, 14 May @18:30: DeepTech Stories #1: Jonathan Hayes (Founder @Dinube)

• May 21–22: SaaS on the Beach

• Fri, 23 May @16:00: Fuckup Nights Barcelona 7th Anniversary | Failure, Psychological Safety & Growth

• Wed, 28 May @18:00: StartupMat Tech Summit 2025

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

Startup Jobs

• Service Club is hiring a diverse range of Software Engineers

• Unnax (Powens Group) is recruiting a Senior AML–CFT Officer

• NOVAMEAT is hiring a a Content Creator

• Impulse4Women needs a Growth & Lead Gen Intern