La newsletter de esta semana está patrocinada por Minimalism.

Minimalism, ropa básica de calidad y complementos prácticos para el día a día. Productos creados con materiales orgánicos y reciclados, fabricados de manera responsable sin usar químicos en ningún momento del proceso. Nos obsesiona la durabilidad de los productos para cumplir con nuestra premisa de "compra menos pero mejor", alejarnos del hiperconsumo y de la moda estacional entendida como entretenimiento.

Somos una comunidad creando una marca con la creencia de que le vida minimalista, consciente y responsable es la única capaz de provocar cambios. Esto se hace tangible en cada unos de los productos que lanzamos.

Por cierto, somos una startup 100% transparente y puedes ver todas nuestras métricas en abierto en nuestro blog.

Startup funding news 💸

• Madrid-based Hellotickets raised €2 million from Boston VC firm Pillar, Faraday Ventures, Lanzame and Successful Ventures
• Vigo-based nanosatellite company Alen Space raised €1 million from BeAble Capital
• Valencia-based tour and activities platform GuruWalk raised €1 million from various business angels
• Barcelona-based sports betting startup TipsterChat raised €1 million
• Madrid-based HR startup Erudit raised €200,000 from Bbooster Ventures
• Barcelona-based big data company AllReads raised €100,000 from Bbooster Ventures

M&A activity 🎊

• According to Cinco Dias, Facebook could soon acquire Madrid-based gaming streaming company PlayGiga
• According to El Confidencial, Glovo has acquired dark kitchen company Instamaki for €8 million
• Mexican IT consulting firm Softtek bought 75% of Spanish IT firm Vector ITC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed
• Spain's regulator CNMC approved the acquisition of Just Eat by Prosus. Prosus is also one of the main shareholders of Delivery Hero. The latter has a big stake in Glovo

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

• Conector announced a new accelerator program with pharma company Novartis aimed at startups working on cancer research and solutions
• Suma Capital announced the first closing of a new €125 million vehicle to invest between €6 to €8 million in companies with positive EBITDA
• Madrid-based VC firm Mundi Ventures participated in the €235 million round raised by German insurtech company Wefox
• Talenta is preparing a new €10 million fund to invest in startups

Startup news 💡

• Sponsored
  Ecommerce and fashion brand Minimalism is one of the most transparent startups in Spain. If you want to learn how much revenues they make, their conversion rates or how they operate, you should read their blog.
• What the city of Bilbao plans to do to attract more startups and other types of technology and industry projects
• The Financial Times published an article about Barcelona's ability to attract foreign talent and tech companies to the city
• Barcelona has quickly become a hub for gaming companies, with not only startups but also established studios such as King, Zeptolab, Bandai Namco and Scopely opening offices in the city
• Ecommerce startup TradeInn expects to close 2019 with more than €140 million in sales
• El Referente published a map of all logistics startups currently active in Spain
• El Mundo profiled Joaquin Cuenca, the entrepreneur behind projects such as Panoramio and Freepik
• Auro New Transport Concept is one the main providers of VTC licenses to Cabify in Spain. The company is backed by former Tuenti executives and co-founders. The company is now apparently going to compete with Cabify directly, by launching its own transportation app
• Adtech startup Tappx to develop and launch the world’s first programmatic server-side ad insertion platform for the digital TV advertising
• Cinco Dias interviewed Rob Cassedy, Wallapop's CEO, to talk about the company's strategy in Spain
• Boat renting startup BoatJump claims to have generated more than €10 million in sales since its foundation in 2016
• El Español interviewed Federico Venancio, country manager of VOI in Spain. The Swedish e-scooter company claims that Malaga has the highest usage rate of all Spanish cities where the company is present
• Cinco Dias profiled Fi Network, an MVNO that started in Alicante that expects to reach €35 million in sales in 2020 and 1 million clients in two years
• El Español profiled another telco MVNO, Digi, which expects to get to 2 million customers this year and already has sales greater than €137 million
• Startup profiles: FraudScore, OpSeeker, Footters

Mentiría si no dijese que algunos patrocinios de la newsletter hacen más ilusión que otros.

El caso de Minimalism es diferente porque conozco a Víctor y Pepe personalmente, y porque más allá de estar desarrollando una marca basada en principios muy concretos, son dos de las mejores personas que me he encontrado en este pequeño sector startupero español.

Minimalism no son solo camisetas, mochilas, carteras (¡que están en todas partes!) o sudaderas, sino una forma diferente de hacer las cosas y de construir productos útiles alrededor de una marca.

Así que si todavía no has comprado tus regalos de Navidad o si quieres auto-regalarte algo, échale un vistazo a lo que ofrecen.

Big company news 🏦

• Luca de Meo (CEO of Seat) wrote 'Who said reshaping mobility would be easy?'
• Tesla only paid €165,000 in taxes in Spain last year
• According to El Confidencial, Prisa could be thinking about selling or taking public its online learning division

Tech and policy 💂🏼‍♂️

• El Pais looked at what the Catalan government is doing to create a hub of biotech companies in the region to compete with other leading hubs in Europe

Interesting reads 🤓

• Eldiario talked to various startups offering unlimited vacation time to its employees
• Cris Busquets (uiFromMars and lead product designer at HolaLuz) wrote 'Design better with less ego'
• uiFromMars interviewed Aurora Pleguezuelo, product designer at GitHub
• Alex Bacardit (Marsbased) wrote 'Why Barcelona is a safe haven for digital nomads'

Podcasts 🎧

• Itnig interviewed Rafa Blanc of Vasquiat
• K Fund interviewed Victoriano Izquierdo of Graphext
• Lunes Inspiradores interviewed Laura Urquizu of RedPoints
• En.digital interviewed Pablo Tejela of Metricool