Barcelona Startup News October 28

Catalunya Emprèn is a program run by the Government of Catalonia that promotes public and private actions of value for entrepreneurs, to whom they give direct support. The initiative focuses on the promotion of entrepreneurship by boosting the creation, growth and success of new companies. This includes a kind of businesses, including SMEs, social startups, science-based company, creative firms as well as corporates. Find out how they can help your company here.

Ok, let’s take a look at the latest Barcelona startup news from this week: 

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:

BARCELONA STARTUP NEWS

Startup & Investment News

Investment news

• Spain-based firm RavenPack receives a €9M investment
  
• Barcelona fintech startup ID Finance has raised €3.3M on Crowdcube so far, meaning that they are already 145% overfunded as of now – the campaign is still open
  
• Spanish startup Privacycloud closes first funding round led by BBVA
  
• Spanish-based fintech startup Bnext launches a new equity crowdfunding round
  
• Investment volume of private capital into Spain reaches close to €6B in the first nine months of the year according to ASCRI
  
• Spanish startups raised a total of €534M from VC firms in the first three quarters this year, an increase of 42% year-on-year

Startups news

• Catalan ecommerce website Privalia increases revenues by 20% and profits by 50% to reach €656M and €26.3M respectively
  
• Barcelona fintech startup Pagantis has provided over €500M in consumer loans in the past eight years
  
• Barcelona startup FlexiDAO selected as finalist for the Digital Solar Storage Startup Awards
  
• Glovo and Parisian fintech Qonto team up to provide benefits for partners, riders and users
  
• Wallapop’s managers and employees get €13.6M bonus after selling its US business last year
  
• Barcelona startup Badi announces two senior hires from Google and Booking.com
  
• Catalan startup 21buttons continues its business restructuring process by filing an ERE to release 57 employees
  
• MarsBased announces partnership with Startup Genome

VC, investment & crowdfunding news

• Spanish financial advisory services firm Arcano plans the launch of Balboa Ventures, a new €100M-€150M fund aimed at tech startups
  
• Orienta Capital launches Acurio, a new fund aimed at investing in European equities via independent managers
  
• KKR invests in Spanish alternative financing company Oprent and launches a new €200M fund with Deutsche Bank
  
• CEMEX Ventures invests in US firm X3 Builders
  
• Santander InnoVentures leads expansion round for US-based digital mortgage lending platform Roostify
  
• UK private equity firm Permira closes new fund at €11B, Spain is one of its target markets for making investments

Open calls, accelerator news & incubator stories

• Overview of current open calls in Spain
  
• Premios EmprendedorXXI open call for startups to boost the most innovative Spanish and Portuguese firms

Barcelona startup profiles, interviews & success stories

• Consentio: the WhatsApp of the fruit and vegetable business
  
• Factic: sales prediction platform for the food sector
  
• Platanomelon: ecommerce sex shop
  
• Wikiloc: the navigation support service provider with 5M+ users

Tech News

Tech news in Spain

• How DataCity Lab helps Barcelona to reduce the growing traffic and air pollution in the city caused by online shopping 
  
• Catalan and German universities lead the Agenda for Sustainable Development
  
• FIFA chooses Camp Nou to test the data monitoring systems used in the world of football
  
• Catalan industry slows down in the third quarter, causing the worst employment and unemployment record since 2012
  
• Madrid generated twice as many high-salary jobs as Catalonia from 2002 until 2017 according to recent study
  
• Catalan bank Banco Sabadell continues the branch reduction program it started two years ago by announcing the closure of 200 offices in 2020
  
• AllWomen starts the second edition of its training courses for women in Data Science, Product Management & UX in Barcelona
  
• GeeksHubs presents the new Bootcamp DevOps

Telco news in Spain

• Telefónica & Atresmedia to start co-producing their own content in 2020 to compete vs Netflix, HBO & co
  
• Cisco is helping Telefonica automate network ahead of 5G
  
• Telefónica gets €1.5M fine for subjecting rivals to excessive football costs
  
• According to El Confidencial, MásMóvil is exploring acquiring Vodafone’s Spanish business for €6B
  
• – However, both companies have immediately denied the rumours
  Amidst fierce competition and major restructuring plans, the Spanish telco industry now employs 4.000 fewer people
  
• HBO follows Netflix’ lead and raises prices in Spain to by €1 per month to €8,99 per month

Tech news in Spain

• Only 12% of the big technological startups are European
  
• Only 8% of women employed in Spain work in the industrial sector, compared to 19% of men
  
• El Mundo to become Spain’s first major newspaper to introduce a paywall to access its full content
  
• Spain has one of the lowest remote work rate in Europe, as 93% of employees have never done it
  
• Ad spend in Spain for TV and press commercials has decreased this year, while internet and radio ads grow

Political & economic news in Spain

• As rent controls are on the rise across different EU and US states, it moves into the centre of Spain’s housing policy debate
  
• IBEX 35 companies grew by 65% since 2015, while salaries contracted by 0.5% according to Oxfam study
  
• Spain is the OECD country where inequalities increased the most during the crisis, as Gini index increased by 12% from 0.503 to 0.563
  
• Investors warn that the current political situation in Spain could block the approval of necessary reforms and accelerate the economic slowdown of the country

Good Reads

• Barcelona has a plan: to be a global capital of technological humanism – How can the city become a world leader in ‘technoethics’?
  
• What’s Blockchain Actually Good for, Anyway? For Now, Not Much
  
• What will 5G mean for you? A reality check on the hype

Good Videos & Podcasts

• Video recap of Elisenda Bou (CTO & Co-founder @ Vilynx) fireside chat at Startup Grind Barcelona
  
• Itnig video interview with Eduard Cabanas (CFO Ulabox) and Eduard Ros (CFO Glovo)
  
• Podcast interview with Pol Rodriguez, CEO of FacturaDirecta

GREAT EVENTS THIS WEEK

Join Sports Innovation Day in Barcelona on the 12th of Nov for a day full of sports industry keynotes, matchmaking, networking and investment opportunities. Read more and sign up here.

See the full Event Calendar here

STARTUP JOBS IN BARCELONA

• Cien is looking for a Sales Performance Consultant
  
• Arbolus is hiring a Community Associate
  
• OneCoWork is recruiting a Junior Accountant and a Community Associate
  
• Be.Green is looking for a Chief Executive Officer
  
• Bourbon Creative is hiring a Digital Marketer

See the full Job Board here

Barcelona Startup News October 28 2019 cover all the latest stories about Barcelona’s Tech & Startup scene from October 28th 2018 until November 1st, 2019. If you want to read more stories about the city’s startup, tech and innovation scene, check out all Barcelona startup news here.