Barcelona Startup News January 8, 2018

Hello and Happy Monday!

We hope you had a wonderful holiday break relaxing with your family and friends! We’re so excited for the year ahead and to continue sharing the latest in Barcelona’s startup ecosystem. Here’s to the very best 2018 has to offer!

4YFN is right around the corner. Get the best price on your ticket, which includes 1-day access to the Mobile World Congress using the PROMO CODE (not “invitation code”): BARCINNO_4YFN

Reply to this email if you would like to exhibit at 4YFN 18 at a discounted rate.

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

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:

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Startup & Investment News

• Catalan company Comforsa receives €7M from Avancsa
• Spanish biotech startup BDi closes €3,9M investment round
• Barcelona medtech startup Devicare signs €2M loan
• Catalan company Loanbook raises €830k on Crowdcube
• Barcelona company Ramon Soler gets €500k from Cofides to finance acquisition in China
• Spanish startup Celebrents closes €400k investment round
• Spain-based startup The Global Password receives €300k
• Spanish firm Farmidable gets €250k through crowdfunding
• Barcelona organization DIMe network raises €125k
• Barcelona-based biotech firm Inkemia acquires Micro-Bios and Otec Riera
• Catalan firm Rob Surgical gets its surgical robotic system validated and opens financing round
• Popular Barcelona-based fintech startup Kantox reaches venture debt agreement with Silicon Valley Bank
• Barcelona startup Vudoir signs partnership with El Corte Ingles & opens €300k funding round
• Wallapop plans to offer insurance options to users
• Barcelona startup Cliventa has sold real estate properties worth over €32M & is growing by 20% per month
• Catalan electronic billing solution provider Voxel grows revenue by 30% to reach €11M
• Catalan startup Millor Battery opens first battery production plant in Barcelona for buses and trucks 
• Rodriguez Fornos, the co-founder of Barcelona startup ByHours, has joined the board of Santafixie
• Barcelona business school EAE selects 8 projects for its accelerator program
• TecnoCampus launches Kenko, Catalonia’s new healthcare startup accelerator
• Barcelona captured over 50% of Spanish startup investment in 2017
• 6 Spanish startups that aim to disrupt the fashion industry
• Barcelona startup profiles, interviews & success stories
  • Baluwo: sending physical remittance to Africa
  • Cocunat: toxic-free cosmetics delivered to your home
  • Ludobooks: personalized stories for kids & adults
  • Satisfarma: a digital pharmacy in a crowded market
  • Made of Genes: unleash the power of your DNA
  • Photoslurp: visual commerce platform to boost sales

Tech News

• Barcelona public transport operator TMB undertakes first test of vertical platform screen doors on a metro network
• Europe’s top court rules Uber & co are transport services
  • Cabify says “nothing will change” and “they’re already working with a legal business model”
  • Competition regulators say laws proposed by Spanish government to regulate Cabify and Uber are “too restrictive”
• Spain’s Workers’ Union wants regulators to look at the business models of Deliveroo, Glovo, UberEats and co too
• Most of Spain’s public spending goes to large firms, not startups
• Spain’s leading banks talk about digitalization & bitcoin:
  • BBVA: “Bitcoin is solid but it’s hard to tell if it will be a bubble”
  • Santander: “Bitcoin is irrelevant from a financial point of view”
• Apple is hiring a new managing director for Spain
• Jim Yong Kim (World Bank) & Ajit Pai (FCC) announced as new keynote speakers for Mobile World Congress 2018

Good Reads

• “How Barcelona became Southern Europe’s main tech hub” by Carlos Blanco
• 2017 – the best year in Barcelona startup ecosystem history: overview of all funding rounds
• Types Of Technology according to the S-Curve
• “MVP model is dead, long live the MAP”, by Carlos Beneyto

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GREAT EVENTS THIS WEEK

• Tue, 9 Jan @ 18:00: OpenHouse at Ironhack Campus BCN
• Wed, 10 Jan @ 19:00: How Blockchain revolutionizes the Sports industry
• Thu, 11 Jan @ 18:30: Lean Startup: Rob Fitzpatrick
• Thu, 11 Jan @ 19:30: Algo Rithms
• Fri, 12 Jan @ 19:00: Design Thinking

See the full Event Calendar here