This week I’d like to welcome 99 new subscribers that have signed up to Dealflow in the past seven days. For those of you that are new, what can you expect? Every Monday, at around 7.30am, I send a summary of the most relevant news that has taken place in the Spanish startup and VC ecosystem. I try to organize all of the week’s news into different sections, so that in 5 minutes you can catch up and then click on the links that are more relevant to you to find more context.
I’ve been doing this since 2015 and I plan to continue doing it for much longer.
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And now to finish and leave you with the newsletter. Dealflow is a side project. I spend the vast majority of my time investing in early stage startups as part of Kfund. We make investments of €100k to €15m. If you want to chat, drop me an email at jaime@kfund.vc
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Teamtailor:
Hemos creado esta guía gracias a las respuestas de 100 profesionales del mundo de los RRHH, reclutamiento y adquisición de talento para ayudarte a mejorar tus procesos de selección. Los datos son nuestros amigos y pueden ayudarnos no solo a ahorrar costes sino a retener al mejor talento.
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Barcelona-based fintech ID Financeraised €140m in debt from i80 Group. In 2023, ID Finance recorded consolidated revenues of €180m euros in 2023, with a YoY growth of 13%
Barcelona-based plant-based foodtech company Heura Foods has closed its Series B funding round, securing €40m. Among the investors that participated in the round are Upfield, Unovis Asset Management, food tech fund, European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF VC) and New Tree Impact
Barcelona-based logistics startup Paackraised €10m from ICO
Barcelona-based proptech Wolo raised €1.5m from Inderhabs, Farside Ventures, GVC Gaesco, and other investors
Madrid-based UrbanFisio closed a €1m round. The company offers personalized physiotherapy services at home
Barcelona-based climate tech company Mitigaraised €1m from Telefonica. More info here. Late last year the company closed a €13m round led by Kibo. Mitiga was also featured, among other startups, in this article about pioneering climate technology startups that are leveraging weather phenomena to create business opportunities
Other rounds of funding:
Gravity Wave: impact/climate tech, round led by the Gasol brothers
In 2023, Spanish startups saw a significant decrease in exits, with a nearly 30% reduction in both the number of operations and their total value. The IPO (SPAC) of H2B2 in New York led the exits, followed by the sales of Quark and IsEazy. Despite the decrease, there were notable movements in the Spanish ecosystem, with a total of 53 exits in the year. Here’s another take on the same data
Bud advisors, founded by Daniel Casal and Fernando García de León, aims to revitalize Spain's adtech industry with a strategic focus on facilitating and advising on M&A transactions
Spanish startup Hoop Carpoolacquired Boleia.net, a Portuguese portal specializing in carpooling
Investor & accelerator news 🚀
Aldea Venturesannounced the launch of a new €125m fund, Aldea Tech Fund II-A, to invest in European tech startups, emphasizing a hybrid strategy of direct and indirect investments. This second fund, aiming to exceed the €87m raised in the first round, marks a strategic shift towards more investments in VC firms and less direct investments in startups
Ysios Capitalinvested in the $120m Series E round of Neurona Therapeutics
Iñaki Berenguer’s LifeXinvested in San Francisco-based biotech company Monomer Bio, an AI-driven operating system for biolabs that integrates robots, data, and analytics
Startup news 💡
Cabifyreported a global loss of €60m in 2022, improving from over €73 million in losses the previous year
Profile of Civitatis, a Madrid-based guided tour marketplace, that is (according to the writer) on track to achieve unicorn status with a yearly 50% revenue growth and 10 million customers in 2023
Profile of Pangea Aerospace. In Barcelona, three Spaniards, two Italians, and a Swede united to create an "impossible" engine through Pangea Aerospace. Their venture, involving the development of the ARCOS aerospike rocket engine powered by methane and made via 3D printing, signifies a groundbreaking achievement in aerospace technology
UK startup Stability AI, known for its generative AI tool Stable Diffusion, has launched its own subsidiary in Spain as part of its international expansion
Spanish quantum startup Multiverse Computing and Single Quantum secured a $1.4m contract with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) for a materials science R&D project, aiming to enhance quantum computing applications and superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors
Tinybirdintroduced version control for real-time data, enhancing developer workflows with Git integration for seamless data project management
El Pais wrote an article on the tokenization of real estate investments. Tokenized real estate allows investing in properties from €100, democratizing access to the sector traditionally reserved for large capital investors. Using blockchain technology, properties are divided into smaller parts represented by tokens
Delivery company Stuart has been ordered to pay €237k for the misclassification of 108 riders as independent contractors instead of employees, covering the period from 2016 to 2019. This judgment, preceding the implementation of the "Ley Rider," aligns with similar rulings against delivery services
Glovo has been fined €550k by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) for improper handling of delivery drivers' data up until May 2020, allowing unauthorized access to unnecessary information. The company has appealed the decision
German neobank N26heats up the competition for freelancer (autónomos) savings by offering a 5% cashback on their monthly fee, up to a maximum of €180 per year
Clone, a French foodtech company, has launched its 'host kitchens' business in Spain, aiming to boost online food brands focused on delivery services. By partnering with restaurants that only need to prepare orders, Clone provides recipes, ingredients, and manages delivery logistics, aiming to expand its presence across Spain with innovative culinary brands
The AI boom has sparked a surge in data center investments in Barcelona and Madrid, with tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Meta driving growth. This interest is set to significantly contribute to Spain's national GDP by 2026. Also on the topic, real estate company Azoraventures into the data center business with the construction of its first center in Tres Cantos, Madrid
The Audiencia Nacional has temporarily suspended a record fine of €194 million against Apple and Amazon imposed by Spain's CNMC for a distribution agreement that restricted competition in the online sales market. This precautionary measure awaits the resolution of the companies' legal challenge against the sanction, which also included a temporary halt on their ability to contract with the public administration
Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk will establish its technology and digital headquarters in Madrid to provide worldwide support. The center will focus on artificial intelligence, data analysis, and pharmaceutical development
BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley are competing for Orange Bank Spain's loan portfolio, valued at €680 million, comprising nearly four million mobile purchase loans
Mutua Ventures has invested €9m in startup companies in the mobility sector, including Mundimoto, Recomotor, and V2C. These investments have strengthened Mutua Madrileña's presence in the mobility
French bank BNP Paribas has launched Floa in Spain, a fintech specializing in BNPL payments (buy-now-pay-later)
Interesting reads 🤓
Avi Meir, co-founder of TravelPerk, wrote “The key to raising – get funding when you don’t need the cash. Here's how we did it.”
Ana Asuero, Product Lead Finance at Factorial, wrote “Ser PM no es (¿sólo?) gestionar backlog“
Iñaki Arriaga, co-founder of Acumbamail, published “Cómo crear una marca B2B“
Podcasts 🎧
Rankia interviewed François Derbaix, co-founder of Indexa Capital
