Barcelona's Weekly Tech Update

Hello and happy Monday,

European Blockchain Convention is returning to Barcelona for Europe's first Post-MiCA gathering!

This edition marks Europe's first major institutional gathering since MiCA came fully into force, and it's shaping up to be the biggest yet — with speakers from J.P. Morgan, the FCA, Invesco, Coinbase, and Fidelity International, plus 300+ leaders from banks, regulators, and asset managers across Europe's digital asset market.

Quick highlights:

• 16–17 September 2026, Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, Barcelona

• 5,000+ attendees expected from 90+ countries

• 10,000 pre-arranged 1:1 meetings

• 80 of Europe's top 100 banks expected to attend

⭐️ Get a 15% community discount with the code Hello_15 here

Have a great week!

Startup & Investment News

Barcelona investment news

• Sherpa.ai raises €15M+ to support data-sovereign AI development

• Epigenetics firm ORYZON raises €12M

• Smart shared mobility startup WAIIS closes €1M

• AI agent marketing agency Baker gets €525K from Draper B1, Itnig & more

Barcelona startup news

• Waynabox hits €12M revenue & proves surprise travel has a future

• Crypto asset manager Iqana obtains Europe’s MiCA license

• BSC’s 15 spin-offs have raised €100M, created 610 jobs and aim to double in number by 2031

• Cleantech Methanol Reformer selected for the Lighthouse International Acceleration Program to reinvent the future of ports

Spanish investment news

• Seville sustainable chemicals startup Catalyxx secures €20M EU funding

• Madrid-based Balance raises €3M to scale its obesity treatment platform

• Cybersecurity startup 8Layers expands pre-seed to €2.5M with Criteria Venture Tech & Bankinter

• Mutua Madrileña takes 10% stake in Madrid coliving platform Muppy

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Danish VC Climentum Capital launches Fund II with €60M first close, backing European HardTech companies 

• Barcelona-based Suma Capital leads €10M Series A in French scaleup Bohr Energie

• EIF backs a €55M program to finance tech education through deferred tuition payments

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• eHealthinking: New pre-acceleration program for healthcare professionals & entrepreneurs; deadline 31 Jul

• CETT Entrepreneurship Projects Awards: In tourism, hospitality or gastronomy

Barcelona startup & entrepreneur profiles

• Two ecosystem spotlights: 

  • 83 companies, €237M and one ambition: to call the shots in space

  • Catalan healthcare startups that raised the most funding in 2025

Tech & Business News

Tech news in Barcelona

• CaixaBank raises company financing to €50B

• How Spain will fight to have a €5B AI gigafactory in Catalonia

• Catalonia promotes a sovereign public cloud, investing €481M & complementing the above

• Luxquanta coordinates Quarternext, a European project against the quantum threat

Tech & big company news in Spain

• Waymo registers Waymo Iberia SL, pointing to possible Spain and Portugal expansion

• Amazon tops €9B ES revenue in 2025 as AWS Spain gets €2.5B capital injection

• Klarna applies for US banking licence

Good Reads & Watches

• n8n's Growth Playbook: 0 to $100M ARR

• ACCIÓ’s awarded 10 most disruptive Catalan companies 2026

• The End of Programming? Why Vibe Coding is NOT Software Engineering with Brais Moure (ES)

• Jennifer Woodard: becoming CPTO of an AI-native company without a traditional tech background (EN)

Great Events

This week:

• Tue 14 Jul @18:30: How to Evaluate a Startup in 10 Minutes: A Practical Framework

• Wed 15 Jul @18:30 Step4ward BCN: Girls, Tech and Beers

• Wed 15 Jul @19:30: BUZOKU | AI & Crypto Meetup

• Wed 15 Jul @20:00: SIA Angels & Beers For Investors

• Thu 16 Jul @18:00: Capitole Tech Talks: The AI Side of Things

Upcoming:

• Tue 21 Jul @13:00: Startup/Investor Open Coffee

• Tue 21 Jul @18:30: DeepTech Talks BCN: From Applied AI Systems to Robotics at Scale

• Wed 22 Jul @09:30: Founders&Coffee x Itnig

• Wed 29 Jul @12:00: Inside the Journey: Real Stories From First-Time Angel Investors

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