And… we’re back! 😊

Unsurprisingly, August was a slow month in terms of startup news. However… two deals in the tech consultancy sector rank amongst the most relevant of the year. The acquisition of a 60% stake in Seidor by Carlyle, valuing Seidor at north of €800M, and the apparent future acquisition of Babel by Mubadala for €300M, the investment arm of Abu Dabi.

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Startup funding news 💸

Osapiens, a software platform that provides supply chain visibility and sustainability compliance, raised $120M. The company is based in Munich, but founded by Spaniard Alberto Zamora, who is also CEO

Barcelona-based Wallbox completed a strategic capital increase of €45M, led by Generac Power Systems

Madrid-based Geodesic raised €14M from Moira and CDTI. With the investment, Moira will own a 49% stake in the company. Geodesic develops Geodesic tech for water treatment, conservation and regeneration. More info here

Other rounds of funding:

• Silk: €700k, payments software for both tenants and property managers

• Speakspots: €200k, AI for travel planning
  

M&A news 🚀

Tech consultancy firm Seidor sold a 60% stake to Carlyle. According to Expansion, the deal values Seidor at €800M to €900M. The founders of the company (the Benito brothers; Josep, Andreu and Santiago Benito) and other executives will control the remaining 40% stake. Seidor, founded in 1982, specializes in providing tech services to businesses and public entities, generating €894M. The company expects to reach €1B in sales this year, and EBITDA of €80M. More info here

Also on the tech consultancy front: according to Cinco Dias, Babel is in the final stages of being sold to Mubadala, the investment arm of Abu Dabi. The deal could reach €300M. Babel did €150M in sales last year, and expects to reach €220M in 2024. Most of Babel is owned by the founders, with just a 30% stake in the hands of investment firm Aurica Capital

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

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Inveready reached €52M in the first closing of its new fund, surpassing its original target of €40 million. The fund, which aims to reach a final size of €80 million. On the topic of new firms and funds, Expansion wrote an overview of the sector, which has been quite active in terms of fundraising in the past few months: “Los fondos vuelven a armarse de nuevo capital”

Spanish investors active abroad:

• Bird Eats Bug, a Berlin-based company backed by Nauta, got acquired by Browserstack

• Profile of Splight, a US-based renewable energy startup backed by Red Electrica
  

Startup news 💡

Javi d'Erausquin, co-founder of US startup Gala Health, published a thread on how to “How to Successfully Move to the US 🇺🇸 and Start Your Own Company”

Cubbo, the Mexican logistics startup co-founded by Spaniard Ignasi Vegas, publicly shared their latest investor report: “Invested $378K to Generate $13.5M”

CEO Diego Ballesteros announced the launch of Linda, an AI platform from BEWE, designed to help small businesses through real-time data analysis, image generation, advanced technical support, and task automation

Voicemod launched an SDK for its 'Sing-to-Sing' AI voice technology, allowing users to alter singing voices in pitch, timbre, and tuning

Various profiles published in August:

• Exottica and TravelPerk were featured in an article highlighting recent fundraising efforts from both Barcelona-based travel tech companies

• Coinscrap: fintech that offers software for financial planning to banks and insurers

• DocExploit: cybersec startup specialized in DevOps environments

• Leemons: SaaS platform that facilitates the creation and management of data-driven learning experiences for schools and companies
  

Big company & policy news 🤓

Spain's competition authority (CNMC) fined Booking.com $413M for abusing its dominant market position by imposing unfair terms on hotels and restricting competition from rival travel agencies. Booking.com holds a 70% to 90% market share in Spain. The Dutch firm will appeal. More info here

Digi has advanced in the sale of part of its Spain’s fiber optic network to Onivia for €750M after receiving approval from the EC

Online revenue accounted for 13% of total sales of Decathlon in Spain in 2023. Total sales were €2.1B

Amazon has imposed a new requirement for its sellers in Spain, requiring a Commercial Liability Insurance with a minimum coverage of 500,000 euros starting from September 1, 2024

Ikea launched Ikea Preowned in Madrid, a marketplace that allows customers to buy and sell used furniture among themselves

Interesting reads 🤓

Miguel Carranza (RevenueCat) reflects on his journey from a teenager in Spain to now co-leading RevenueCat from Southern California

Miguel Arias (Kfund) wrote “El corporate venturing en España, un viaje hacia la innovación abierta”

Podcasts 🔈

Nova Podcast interviewed François Derbaix (Indexa, Bewater)

Itnig interviewed Joaquin Cuenca (Freepik) to chat about their recent AI product launches

Historias de Crecimiento interviewed Emily Gonzalez (Froged)