Last week we published an interview with entrepreneur and investor Iñaki Berenguer in our Kfund podcast. I got to spend a couple of hours with Iñaki and also my colleague Miguel Arias, who Iñaki knows well and is a friend of his. I learned a ton and apparently a lot of people enjoyed it too. I think Iñaki was comfortable and also had a great time.

If you want to listen or watch it, go here

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Bisiesto:

Productos digitales memorables enfocados al marketing y las ventas

En Bisiesto no resuel problemas únicos con soluciones paquetizadas ni creemos que se pueda trabajar con una sola tecnología porque esté de moda o valga para todo.

Creamos proyectos digitales sofisticados donde el diseño y la tecnología se convierten en herramientas de negocio y de marketing.

Desde la definición y comprensión de la marca y el contexto estratégico de mercado, la analítica digital y la búsqueda de objetivos, articulamos nuestra metodología para generar o mejorar activos y ecosistemas digitales de empresas de tipo SaaS, Pymes, consultoras o grandes corporaciones con madurez digital.

Encajaremos si:

• Contáis con un proyecto maduro que requiere mejoras para poder alcanzar vuestros objetivos de ventas o de marketing.

• Necesitáis conseguir un proyecto que sea altamente autogestionable y accionable desde el equipo de marketing minimizando dependencias técnicas.

• Valoráis profundamente contar con un partner de confianza con profesionales empáticos y con hambre que hablen el mismo idioma.

• Trabajáis en un entorno exigente donde el rendimiento, la optimización y el enfoque a marketing y conversión son clave y no se pueden negociar.

• Buscáis a un partner acostumbrado a trabajar proyectos flexibles, escalables, que trabaje con transparencia y que entregue el código ordenado y documentado.

  ¿Hablamos?

Startup funding news 💸

Barcelona-based HR software company Factorial has secured an €80m investment from US VC firm General Catalyst in the form of a "contained" debt. The funds will be used exclusively for new customer acquisition, with repayment coming from the revenue generated by these customers. More info in this podcast episode

Madrid-based data startup Onum has raised a $28m Series A led by Dawn Capital, just seven months after its launch. Previous investors Insight Partners and Kibo Ventures also participated in the deal. Onum helps companies manage and analyze large datasets. Dawn capital wrote about the investment here

Madrid-based TaxDown, a startup that aims to transform the tax sector in Spain and LatAm, raised €5m in funding. The round included the participation of Base10, JME, Abac Nest, 4Founders, and ENISA. More info here

Bilbao-based Nymiz, an AI-Driven data anonymization software company, raised a €2.8m in a round led by Swanlaab Venture Factory

Valencia-based Kokoro Kids, an edtech and gaming company, closed a financing round of €2.25m thanks to the support of the LEGO Foundation

Valencia-based Vidext has closed a €2m funding round led by 4Founders Capital, with participation from Draper B1 and Sabadell Venture Capital. Vidext offers a video generation tool using AI. More info here

Other rounds of funding:

• Rafa Nadal invested in Playtomic

• Hamelyn said that it had raised additional funds from OK Ventures

• Mango invested in shared mobility startup Hoop Carpool

• Solarcrop: energy and agritech, €180k

M&A activity 🎊

Indra is preparing to sell its subsidiary Minsait Payments separately from its parent company Minsait, after detecting high interest in the payment industry. The subsidiary has an EBITDA of €40m

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

CriteriaCaixa has revamped the board of its venture capital management arm, Caixa Capital Risc. This change follows a broader move to streamline its administration structure for operational efficiency. Isidro Fainé has stepped down as president, alongside other key departures. The firm continues to focus on investing in early-stage, innovative companies across various sectors with a portfolio that includes tech, biotech, and industrial ventures.

Startup news 💡

Startup financials and revenue milestones:

• Travel startup Exoticca reached €200m in sales in 2023 and plans to enter five more LatAm countries in 2024. The company has also secured €4m from BBVA Spark to support its expansion in LatAm

• Online sports retailer Deporvillage reported a revenue of €166m in 2023, marking a 10% increase from the previous year. The company anticipates further double-digit growth for 2024

• Gigas, a telecommunications and cloud services company catering to the business market, reported a revenue of €67.7m in 2023, a 10% YoY increase, and EBITDA of €16m (+1.3% YoY). Portugal represents more than 50% of Gigas’ revenues. The company, which is listed on the BME Growth, has a market cap of €89m

• Creditas, the Sao Paulo-based fintech founded by Spaniard Sergio Furio, plans to maintain minimal net profit to reinvest in growth and is considering a US IPO within two years. After focusing on growth, it shifted strategy in March 2022 towards profitability. Despite slowing growth to 30%, Creditas achieved a revenue of $390m last year and reached break-even in December. The company was valued at $4.8b in its last round of funding. The company has successfully secured $40m through global bonds and is contemplating the possibility of raising an additional $60m in the bond market

Startup and founder profiles:

• Profile of Frenetic: the Spanish deep tech startup played a critical role in SpaceX's CRS-30 mission to the International Space Station by designing and assembling three key magnetic components. Frenetic's expertise in magnetic components has also led to collaborations with NASA and NASA JPL, utilizing their design algorithms and technology to enhance project integrations

• Profile of GrabrFi, a Spanish and Argentine fintech startup that has developed a digital platform that allows users to open US dollar accounts without needing to travel or reside in the US

• Profile of Pablo Fernandez, co-founder of Clikalia, Clidrive, Clicars and several other companies

Company and product launches:

• Bartek Kunowski, former CPO of Glovo, announced his new company: Joey, with the goal to build a space for safe social interactions, starting with pre-adolescents, the most vulnerable group in the online space

• Pet health startup Barkibu is expanding its insurance product for dogs and cats to France after finding success in Spain and Germany

• Packlink launched Packlink Pro Plus, a premium subscription plan designed to facilitate the growth and simplify the logistic process of large companies in Spain

• N26 has introduced a joint account option in Spain aimed at easing the management of shared finances

• Penpot, the Spanish open source alternative to Figma, announced Penpot 2.0, a major release that introduces CSS Grid Layout, revamped component libraries, and a sleeker and faster user interface. Hacker News discussion here

• iAhorro introduced a digital solution, 'Hipoteca as a service,' which has managed €72m in mortgages in a pilot phase with one major bank. This service aims to streamline mortgage processes, significantly reducing both the processing time and associated costs

• Sendgoodemails is a side project of David Bustos, a curated database of proven email sequences used by successful companies

Other news:

• The owner of Glovo, Delivery Hero, plans to launch a capital increase of €11.5m to pay bonuses to the top management and staff of Glovo. Also last week, the Catalan company announced that it had laid off 25 people due to the integration process with its German parent company. The affected individuals are mainly software engineers, and some processes will be transferred to Berlin

• UK neobank Revolut has opened its first tech hub in Barcelona, making the city its main development center in southwestern Europe. It is expected that the workforce will double to 600 professionals in the medium term
  

Big company & policy news 💡

Chinese car manufacturer Chery has chosen Spain to install the first Chinese electric car factory in Europe. The former Nissan factory in Barcelona will be the location where the Omoda 5, a medium-sized SUV that will have an electric version, will be produced. The factory will create around 1,000 direct jobs

The Valencian semiconductor cluster is establishing an international university campus for training engineers in microelectronics and photonics, supported by prominent figures like María Marced, former European CEO of TSMC. This initiative, part of Spain's strategic semiconductor project (Perte), aims to develop a specialized education hub to address the skilled labor shortage in the semiconductor sector

Meta’s COOJavier Oliván becomes the highest-paid executive at the company, with a total compensation of $25.56m in 2023

TikTok is launching a new rewards app called Coin App (TikTok Lite) in Spain, France, and other countries to incentivize users to watch videos, invite friends, and perform other actions

Interesting reads 🤓

El Pais published "Unicornios españoles: cómo conseguí que mi empresa valga 1.000 millones de euros". The article discusses the phenomenon of unicorn companies and Spanish examples, featuring Jordi Romero (Factorial), Juan de Antonio (Cabify), Avi Meir (TravelPerk), Juan Urdiales (Jobandtalent) and others

Business Insider published “Mallorca: la nueva "Miami de Europa" para emprendedores de Alemania”. The article discusses how Mallorca is emerging as an attractive destination for German entrepreneurs, with a growing technological ecosystem and tax advantages

Ignacio Arriaga (Acumbamail) published “10 lecciones tras diez años en el SaaS“