Barcelona Startup News February 25 2019 – Barcinno

Hello and happy Mobile Monday! I hope you had a great weekend!

Barcelona’s biggest and busiest tech week is finally underway as the city becomes the focal point of the world for a few days thanks to MWC19!

Barcinno’s MWC events and parties guide is bigger than ever, so you have to be selective. Head down to our event section to find the can’t miss events.

Monday: ProteumX Launch During MWC19

Straight from Silicon Valley, ProteumX will officially unveil Barcelona’s first Blockchain Accelerator Program with a direct link to the Bay area. The kickoff is tonight at 19h @OneCoWork.

Tuesday: VC Night after MWC by Startup Grind

Don’t miss VC Night hosted by Startup Grind. Come meet with all of the international investors in town this week and get 40% with the code: BarcinnoRocks

OneCoWork is the Official Coworking Partner of 4YFN!

If you’re attending 4 Years From Now this week, come by the OneCoWork stand in the Startup Arena and take a break from the madness in our popup coworking space. (btw: I have a few extra passes to 4YFN. If you need one, reply to this email. First come, first serve until they’re gone.)

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

• Barcelona startup Signaturit closes a €7M investment round
• Spanish startup Fesia Technology raises €750K via Barelona-based equity crowdfunding paltform Capital Cell
• Spanish music tech startup Singerfy closes a €138K funding round
• Barcelona startup Holaluz is closing in on a €30-60M funding round
• Catalan startup Tiendeo grows revenues by 35% to reach €9,5M
• Barcelona fintech startup Prestalo launches online lending platform to help people get the best loan with one application
• Sanitas is looking for startups disrupting the healthcare industry to join their incubation program
• Cemex launches Construction Startup Competition 2019; startups can apply until the 21st of April
• Overview of how Respsol is investing in and working with tech startups and projects
• Enisa, the public institution supporting Spanish startups, presents the results of its activity during the year 2018
• Challenger banks in Spain: who’s who (and what’s their tech) 
• Mobile World Capital Barcelona published its annual Startup Ecosystem Overview 2019:
  • Barcelona ranked as the the 3rd best startup hub in Europe
  • Barcelona startups raised €871M last year, a 92% increase and which makes up 61% of all investment into Spanish startups
• Barcelona startup profiles, interviews & success stories:
  • CreatSens: €2M for new & better kidney diagnosis
  • Mowoot: “we are motivated by the impact that our product can have in the lives of patients”
  • Prestalo: the platform where banks fight for users
  • Tappx: Ad tech programmatic platform for mobile & OTT/CTV
  • Carlos Blanco: entrepreneur, investor and ‘crisis manager’

Tech News

• Mobile Word Congress 2019 Week:
  • Barcelona metro workers have announced a reduction in metro frequency in the morning, afternoon and evening during MWC
  • An overview of the 100+ firms & tech centres from Catalonia will display their latest technologies at the MWC19 & 4YFN
  • 5G and foldable phones go big at MWC 2019
• The Government of Barcelina introduce a €71.51 tax per vehicle to cope with the rising number of scooter and bike sharing firms in the city
• PP & Ciudadanos annoucen they will not go through with the currently proposed tech tax unless there is more international backing for it
• The IoT Solutions World Congress will return to Barcelona on October 29-31
• Telefonica collaborates with Facebook and two banks to bring internet connection to rural areas in Latin America
• Microsoft is in talks with the Spanish Tax Authorities to lower the €18M tax fine they reveceived a few yers ago
• Vodafone Spain reduces layoffs by 200 as 1000 emplyoees, one-fifth of it’s current team, are scheduled to be let go
• BBVA issues the first blockchain-supported structured green bond for Mapfre

Good Reads

• How Startup Grind Barcelona Helped Shape the BCN Startup Scene
• Connected in Catalonia: How Barcelona built a smart city
• “Catalonia has all the elements of a successful innovation economy”, Robert Pearlstein from the Stanford Research Institute
• Catalonia, the best location in Southern Europe to set up your logistics hub

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GREAT EVENTS THIS WEEK

• Mon, 25 Feb @19:00: ProteumX Launch During MWC19
• Mon, 25 Feb @19:00: IoT Stars MWC 2019
• Mon-Wed, 25-27 Feb @15:00: NetworkThinking™: How building trust can help you access talent, markets and capital
• Tue, 26 Feb @19:00: VC Night after Mobile World Congress
• Wed, 27 Feb @20:00: Afterparty – 4YFN / MWC @ itnig

See the full Event Calendar here

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STARTUP JOBS IN BARCELONA

• Stuart is recruiting a Front-end Engineer
• Sage Corps is hiring a Barcelona City Manager (English/Spanish)
• Iomob is looking for a:
  • Blockchain Engineer
  • Software Engineer – Backend
  • React Native Mobile Software Engineer
• Touchstream is hiring a Python Developer