Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

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Hello and happy Monday,

Last Wednesday, the European Commission presented its proposal for EU Inc., its new digital-first framework to cut through Europe’s choppy legal systems and make it considerably easier for startups to launch, scale, and operate cross-border. And all of this potentially done online in 48 hours, for less than €100.

Will this make Europe the default home for startups? It may remove some admin headaches, but being optional, EU Inc. will sit alongside national systems, not replace them. So founders will still need to deal with local regulations, investors, or partners who default to national structures, for one. What do you think? Do you agree with the backlash?

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Cheer Games closes $4.5M pre-seed round for mobile gaming platform

• Health Lean Analytics secures €2.1M+ to automate hospital data

• AI voice agent platform VoiceB.ai gets funding from Encomenda

• Llama Energy acquired by renewable energy firm Camby

Barcelona startup news

• Fika relaunches as a publishing platform built for human writing

• Powens teams up with Signaturit Group for smarter credit checks & seamless onboarding

• Spare parts startup Recomotor opens a subsidiary in France

• Geoskop joins forces with Plenitude to predict the weather in renewable energy parks

Spanish investment news

• Madrid home service app Webel closes €4.3M pre-Series A

• Andalucian VR rehab firm DynamicsVR closes €1.3M

• Fintech Sipay acquires 100% of hospitality POS tech Sipos

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Factorial launches €10M fund to accelerate AI adoption in European SMEs

• Elaia closes third DeepTech Seed fund at €134M as “European DeepTech is reaching escape velocity”

• Partech’s €300M Impact Fund targets Europe’s next generation of industrial and climate tech leaders

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Ship2B Foundation opens two Venture Philanthropy fund calls: for employability and education solutions & sustainable food or art

• Mastercard launches the third edition of Mastercard for Fintechs

Tech & Business News

Tech news in Barcelona

• Catalan taxi law limiting ride-hailing services clears first Parliament vote, leaving Cabify with 15% 

• DFactory Barcelona’s innovation space expands with €50M investment & 1500 new jobs

• Catalonia advances €10M quantum initiative to enhance secure communications in Europe

• Inditex moves ‘mega headquarters’ to Barcelona

Tech & big company news in Spain

• EU Inc. update: Proposal to allow companies to be created online in 48 hours for €100

• Jobandtalent launch AI recruiter Clara after conducting 1.6M internal interviews

• Telefónica goes on a shopping spree in Spain & finalizes acquisition of consultancy firm Altim

• Idealista becomes the first Spanish real estate platform to launch an app on ChatGPT

Good Reads & Watches

• El Referente: Top AI startups you should know this year

• Embat, vLex & Clio: how the Spanish fintech forged a unicorn

• Interview with Ana Maiques, CEO & Co-founder of BCN-based Neuroelectrics (EN)

• Payflow, M&A, private equity & AI agents: this is how the startup market is moving (ES)

Great Events

• Mon 23 Mar: Make your talent and musical innovation visible in Barcelona (online)

• Tue 24 Mar @18:30: DeepTech Talks BCN: Building AI Products from Scientific Data

• Wed, 25 Mar @19:00: Networking Event For Designers & Researchers 

• Thu 26 Mar @18:00: IEBS Women in Tech Day

• Thu 26 Mar @18:00: OpenAI Codex Community Meetup

• Thu 26 Mar @18:30: Beyond the algorithm: AI, humanism and the future of talent

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