This week’s intro is to issue a correction on the Red Points news item that we included in last week’s newsletter.

The original summary, and according to Expansion, mentioned that the company had performed a round of layoffs last year. Laura Urquizu, CEO of the company, reached out to me to say that this is not true.

“We did not do any round of layoffs last year. In fact, in 2023 we hired 60 people. What we did do is to become as efficient as possible, especially through technology developed in-house.”

On a different note, we now also have Dealflow France 🇫🇷 and Dealflow LatAm to follow startup and VC news in each ecosystem. Subscribe if you’re interested!

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Startup funding news 💸

HappyRobot, a US startup co-founded by Spaniards, announced a $15.6M round led by a16z. More info here and here. The company specializes in AI-powered voice solutions for logistics

Barcelona-based Sateliot closed a €30M venture debt deal with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to expand its nanosatellite constellation, enabling satellite IoT connectivity with 5G standards

Barcelona-based Genomcore, a healthtech startup specializing in genomic data management, raised €5M from US fund Qvidtvm and FC Barcelona

Honei, a Barcelona-based startup digitizing restaurant management, raised €1.45M, led by 4Founders Capital

Not a funding round, but related:

• Expansion published an article titled “Por qué hay rondas de inversión que se ocultan”. On why startups often keep investment rounds private to avoid revealing strategies to competitors, protect valuations during challenging market conditions, or maintain discretion for debt-heavy deals

Other rounds of funding:

• Naturr: €162k, marketplace of artisanal products
  

M&A transactions 🎉

Coruña-based tech consultancy Altia has acquired IN2, a Barcelona-based firm specializing in digital transformation solutions for healthcare, tourism, and industry 4.0. The deal, valued at €4M with a potential €3.5M earnout, brings 150 professionals to Altia

Spanish medical equipment company Prim, through its subsidiary Herbitas, has acquired Grupo Led3D, an Alicante-based firm specializing in 3D printing technology for custom plantar orthotics

Luxembourg-based firm Kartesia has sold Veta+, a Spanish leader in home-claims management, to Italian firm MSA Mizar, owned by Columna Capital. Veta+’s proprietary AI-enhanced platform complements MSA Mizar’s international expertise, creating a European leader in innovative claims outsourcing

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

GVC Gaesco and Next Tier Ventures have partnered to create a €50M fund focused on B2B AI startups. Named Next Tier GVC Gaesco SCR, the fund will invest in 30–35 startups in Europe, the US, and LatAm

Spanish investors active abroad:

• Adara co-led a $10M round in UK satellite data company SatVu, to further its work in thermal imaging satellites for climate and industrial applications. Adara wrote about the deal here

• Nauta co-led a €4M round in Berlin-based cybersecurity company Netbird

• Rodrigo Martinez’s helloworld participated in the $3M round raised by Stackfix, a UK company that has built a software comparison platform
  

Startup news 💡

Glovo CEO Oscar Pierre defended the company’s past use of self-employed riders in court, despite announcing a shift to an employment model the day prior. The change, affecting 15,000 riders in Spain and up to 60,000 retroactively, aims to comply with regulations and avoid further conflicts. Glovo faces €267M in fines and a €295M lawsuit from Just Eat for unfair competition. Parent company Delivery Hero expects a €100M EBITDA impact in 2025 but maintains the platform will remain profitable. This move could set a precedent for Spain’s gig economy

“Dersu, una app al filo de lo imposible”. Interview with Borja Delgado of Dersu, an Aragón-based startup focused on mountain activities like hiking and skiing. The article shows the other side of entrepreneurship that is often not discussed in the press, which is the difficulty to scale and/or find PMF. Borja is exploring partnerships with outdoor brands or industry players to survive, while admitting the company faces closure without a key partner by year-end. Dersu is a Kfund portfolio co.

Alberto Soriano, CEO of HR SaaS company Sesame, disclosed that they’ve reached €1M in MRR (€12M in ARR) in November

Interview with Diego Bestard, CEO of Urbanitae, the real estate crowdfunding company. The company surpassed €400M in investments across 180+ projects and will close 2024 with €12M in revenue and €3M EBITDA. Urbanitae is a Kfund portfolio co.

Profile of Canary Islands-based XRF, one of Spain’s few defense-focused startups, uses AI and AR to create virtual command centers for military operations, allowing real-time planning and monitoring through 3D environments and AR glasses. XRF is a Kfund portfolio co.

Holaluz has withdrawn its 2025 business forecasts, citing external factors such as regulatory uncertainties and market volatility. The renewable energy company plans to reassess its strategy amid challenges in the sector

PLD Space, the Spanish company specializing in reusable launch vehicles, has announced plans to finance a new launch base in Teruel for its Miura 5 rocket. The company will receive an €11M loan from Cofides to finance the new base

Foreign startups active in Spain:

• Revolut closes 2024 with over 4 million clients in Spain, adding 1.5M new users this year, making it the country’s leading bank for new account sign-ups

• French energy startup Hello Watt has opened its first international office in Valencia, marking its entry into the Spanish market. The company offers an energy platform combining tariff comparison, smart consumption tracking, EV charging, and solar solutions
  

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Big company & policy news 🤓

Tesla, alongside Zunder, Fastned, Electra, Allego, and Powerdot, has founded AORU (Association of Ultra-Fast Charging Operators) to address bureaucratic and regulatory barriers in Spain’s EV charging infrastructure

Lino Cattaruzzi, Google’s new head for Spain and Portugal, highlights Spain’s unique opportunity to leverage AI, projecting a €100-120B economic impact over five years and up to 8% GDP growth in peak years. He stresses the need for better infrastructure, AI skills training, and increased R&D investment to capitalize on this potential

Interesting reads 🤓

Julio Martinez, co-founder of Abacum, published “Why Silicon Spain’s tech scene is perfectly poised for explosive growth“. Also on a similar topic, VC firm Samaipata pubished “Accelerating the Spanish entrepreneurial system: The role of founder mafias, stock options and exits“

Interview with Carles Reina, VP Revenue at ElevenLabs. He talks about positioning as a vertically integrated AI company, moving upmarket, and advice for founders

Joaquin Cuenca (CEO of Freepik) published a thread on what Europe can do to compete against the US and stop the brain drain

David Bonilla (Petalo) wrote “¿El fin de la era de las compañías abiertas?”

Samuel Gil (JME) wrote “Co-inteligencia”