Barcelona Startup News 18 November

Hello and happy Monday – we hope you had a great weekend! The Smart City Expo World Congress kicks off this week and with it comes a special DataBeers BCN event – their 20th edition!

3rd Dec: 20th DataBeers – Barcelona
The ever popular DataBeers are back on Tuesday, December 3rd. This edition features four amazing data-related stories, so if you want to see the future of deep learning sign up here.

Ok, that’s it from me. Have a great week and we’ll see you out there!

Catalunya Emprèn- get support for your startup from the Government of Catalonia here.

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

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:

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BARCELONA STARTUP NEWS

Startup & Investment News

Investment News

• Barcelona fintech ID Finance closes their crowdfunding round at €5.7M – a new equity crowdfunding record in Spain
  
• Spain-based fintech Bnext completes €3.3M crowdfunding round
  
• Spanish company Alai Termoformados secures a €750K loan from Sodena
  
• Barcelona jewelry-subscription startup Verone gets €500K
  
• Spanish football-themed social network Siguetuliga lands €500K
  
• Spain-based regtech startup HETIKUS raises €500K
  
• Spanish firm foodVAC receives €400K from Angels Capital

Startup M&As

• Spanish firm VivaGym Group acquires Catalan company Duet Fit
  
• Barcelona startup Holaluz identifies six rivals to acquire after its IPO

Startups News

• TravelPerk is the world’s fastest-growing SaaS company in 2019 according to SaaS 1000 ranking
  
• Cabify bids big on Barcelona as the firm doubles its fleet, increases coverage and lowers prices in the region
  
• Holaluz rolls out a 4% stock option plan for founders and staff before its IPO
  
• Scott Noteboom joins Catalan liquid cooling startup Submer
  
• Barcelona startup Ulabox sees shareholder Sonae VC abandon its board of directors which might point to disinvestment according to La Informacion

VC, Investment & Crowdfunding News

• Banco Santander invests €400M for a 50.1% stake in UK-based fintech startup Ebury which was founded by Spanish entrepreneurs
  
• Spanish VC JME Ventures takes part in €77M investment round by Swiss firm VOI Technology
  
• Spanish VC Seaya Ventures participates in €13.5 investment round by Colombian startup MUY Tech
  
• Finance platform Gedesco to provide €150M to finance SMEs within the Innovfin program
  
• GVC Gaesco launches €30M VC fund Zamit Capital and aims to raise a total of €50M
  
• AFI and La Bolsa Social launch a €25M social impact VC fund
  
• Barcelona-based equity crowdfunding firm Capital Cell has helped health startups raise €10M+ this year
  
• Lanzame Capital creates €2M fund Lanzame Optimer Ventures
  
• María Rosario Ruiz Alarcón named new Investment Director at Bankinter Capital Riesgo
  
• Spanish corporate venture capital firm Enagas Emprende acquires a 13% stake of UK biogas startup SEaB power
  
• Overview of how Enisa loans performed and how they helped t create more jobs

Open Calls, Accelerator News & Incubator Stories

• UNICEF Comite Espanol & ISDI Accelerator create a new accelerator focused on social projects in Spain & Latin America; startups can apply until the 2. Jan 2020
  
• BerriUp opens call for 10th edition of its accelerator program; startups can apply until 19. Jan 2020
  
• ASICS launches the 2nd edition of its sports & wellness acceleration program Tenkan-Ten in Barcelona; read more about the 5 startups selected here

Barcelona Startup Profiles, Interviews & Success Stories

• Gamestry: the learning platform for e-sports
  
• Holaluz: interview with CEO Carlota Pi – the entrepreneur who wants to disrupt the energy sector
  

Tech News

• Universal Robots and Mobile Industrial Robots open first collaborative robotics hub in the world in Barcelona, invest €2M and create jobs for 38 people
  
• Mexican telecom company Jaguar opens hub for Europe in Catalonia
  
• Catalonia presented its investment opportunities before Italian investors in Turin
  
• Catalan pharma company Reig Jofre and Ojer Pharma obtain the first
• European authorization for the commercialization of their innovative antibiotic Impetine Gel
  
• Barcelona firm BCN3D unveils Epsilon, a new generation of 3D printers
  
• Nestlé pilots face recognition payments in Barcelona
  
• AliExpress to open its second store in Spain in Barcelona this year

Tech News in Spain

• Sanitas starts selling health insurance on Amazon
  
• Tough times continue for Vodafone as they post a €460M loss in revenues during first three quarters of this year
  
• Spanish companies Everis, Prisa & others suffered severe cyber attacks
  
• Bank-owned platform Bizum, which already has 5.3M user, is set to enable ecommerce payments soon

Good Reads

• The evolution of the Spanish VC ecosystem — 2019 edition
  
• A Tale of Two Smart City Models: One for People, the Other Profit
  
• Impact investment, an innovative formula for investors

Good Videos and Podcasts

• Interview with Laura Urquizu, CEO of Red Points, by K Fund
  
• Interview with Esteve Lombarte, CEO of Acqustic, by Marie Marks
  
• Interview with Alejandro Fresneda, CEO of Mr Noow, by Itnig

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GREAT EVENTS THIS WEEK

This Week Mon, 18 Nov @18:30: DATA WEEK- Time series clustering: a real use case in the banking context Tue-Thu, 19-21 Nov: Smart City Expo World Congress Tue-Thu, 19-21 Nov: Smart Mobility Congress Tue-Thu, 19-21 Nov: Sharing Cities Stand Lab Fri, 22 Nov @18:00: Think Creatively In The Age of Digital Distractions – by a TEDx speaker Next Week Tue, 26 Nov @19:00: Beyond the Logo: Growth-Oriented Branding for Startups and Scale-ups Wed, 27 Nov @17:30: MASTEAM-MATT talk – Lorenzo Casaccia (Qualcomm) – The Road to 5G Thu, 28 Nov @18:30: The B-Table: Juan Margenat Sat, 30 Nov @10:00: Full day digital wellness fundamentals

See the full Event Calendar here

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STARTUP JOBS IN BARCELONA

Job of the week: Choco is an exceptional team that collaborates across the world to build the future of global food systems. If you’re ready to embark on the journey to reshape the food industry, or if you’re simply a foodie, then apply here for the Business Development Representative role.

• Choco is recruiting a Business Development Representative
  
• Cien is looking for a Sales Performance Consultant
  
• Arbolus is hiring a Community Associate
  
• OneCoWork is recruiting a Junior Accountant & a Community Associate
  
• Be.Green is looking for a Chief Executive Officer

See the full Job Board here

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Barcelona Startup News November 18 2019 cover all the latest stories about Barcelona’s Tech & Startup scene from November 18th 2019 until November 24th 2019. If you want to read more stories about the city’s startup, tech and innovation scene, check out all Barcelona startup news here.