Google for Startups - Stories of 2020

2020 has been a year full of stories that are worth telling. Discover Google for Startups’ 2020 yearbook, including interviews and testimonies from over 30 startups, sharing how this year has been for them, how they have tackled unexpected challenges, and taken advantage of new opportunities.

You can also watch these video conversations between founders from tech companies (Destinia, Lingokids, Bnext, K Fund…), who discuss how 2020 has impacted their businesses, and industries.

Startup funding news 💸

• According to a study from Atomico, Spanish startups have raised 56% less in funding than in 2019
• Barcelona-based 011h raised €10m to build low-carbon wooden “smart buildings”. 011h’s team is led by the founders of Privalia, Lucas Carné and José Manuel Villanueva
• Valencia-based online and retail pet store Maskokotas raised €7m led by Milano Investment Partners
• Barcelona-based electric motorbike maker Ray Electric Motors raised €3m from various investors
• Barcelona-based edge computing company Nearby Computing raised €2m
• Malaga-based dark kitchen startup Booh! raised €1m from various business angels
• Madrid-based Fashionalia raised an undisclosed round of funding from Dimas Gimeno's new fund, Kapita
• Startups looking for funding: 24Genetics

M&A activity 🎊

• German company Bauer Media Group announced the acquisition of Spanish insurance comparison site Acierto.com. Terms of the deal were not disclosed
• In September 2020, Telefonica reached an agreement to buy 50% of Prosegur Alarmas. It was an all-stock deal (no cash was involved) when Telefonica's stock had a price of €6.1, valuing the company at €305m. Telefonica's stock is now at €3.8 per share, which means of a potential loss of €110m

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

• Dimas Gimeno, former CEO of El Corte Ingles, announced the launch of Kapita, a €100m investment firm to back retail startups. More details here
• Raul Marcos published a Twitter thread about his experience launching Carbono, a crypto-focused advisory firm that specialized in crypto-assets and blockchain technology. Carbono's founders own a well-known crypto exchange, and they manage over $6m worth of crypto-assets for different family offices and companies
• Elewit, the tech subsidiary of Red Electrica, has been closely working with several startups in a variety of sectors as part of its Venture Client program. In the past few months Red Electrica has also invested directly in various VC firms
• El Español interviewed Aquilino Peña, founding partner of Kibo Ventures and president of Ascri, to talk about his opinion on the evolution of the Spanish investor and tech ecosystem
• Barcelona-based Talenta announced the launch of Mastertech II, a fund to invest in startups and other VC firms

Startup news 💡

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  2020 has been a year full of stories that are worth telling. Discover Google for Startups’ 2020 yearbook, including interviews and testimonies from over 30 startups, sharing how this year has been for them, how they have tackled unexpected challenges, and taken advantage of new opportunities. You can also watch a few of their video conversations here.
• Cris Busquets of uiFromMars published the results of its 2020 survey of design salaries. The study focuses on the analysis of salaries of employees within the Spanish design ecosystem, in roles such as UX/UI, product design, graphic design and other categories
• Javi Lopez, co-founder of Erasmusu, is leaving his position as CEO of the company. He published a lengthy letter about his decision to leave the company, what they've achieved to day and what might be next for him. As for Erasmusu, the company as a new CEO, Miguel Angel Diaz Ferreira (Red Karaoke)
• Ecommerce company PC Componentes achieved sales of €80m during Black Friday 2020, more than 50% the number of sales of 2019
• Typeform, arguably one of the Spanish startups that has built a better and most recognizable brand, has put together a series of thoughts on how to build brand awareness: 'Because there's only one thing in the world worse than being talked about. And that's not being talked about. Don't be that brand—here's what to do.'
• CARTO announced the creation of a scientific committee, which has the goal of making the work of Spatial Data Scientists more productive and enjoyable, making it easier for developers and analysts to collaborate with them
• Business Insider published a profile of crypto exchange Bit2me. The company recently raised €1m led by Inveready and this year it expects to reach €2.5m in sales
• Packlink signed a partnership with PayPal that will allow PayPal customers to manage their logistics with PackLink Pro
• Wetaca published an interesting photo story about the impact they experienced by the pandemic. Most of the photos and text focus on their kitchen operations and how they faced the first few days of the covid outbreak
• Startup profiles: Meep, Flywire, Barbara, Sabbatic, Colvin, Bigle Legal

Big company news 🏦

• BBVA announced the launch of its bitcoin trading and custody service through its Swiss subsidiary. Beginning with bitcoin, BBVA plans to expand its services for other cryptocurrencies
• According to Adolfo Pellicer, managing director of Workday in Spain, 20% of companies in the Spanish Ibex 35 index are customers of Workday

Tech and policy 💂🏼‍♂️

• El Español talked to Rodrigo Garcia de la Cruz, head of the Spanish Fintech Association, about the current state of the local fintech ecosystem: why it remains much smaller then in other European countries, what can be done to improve things, what role can regulators and investors play and the impact the fintech sandbox might have
• David Guasch, head of Stuart Spain, talked to El Español about the regulation of last mile delivery companies and on the fact that most of the focus tends to be on Glovo and Deliveroo, and not on many other companies that are affected by regulation

Interesting reads 🤓

• Azahara Garcia Espejo, business development director at Crowdcube, published a must read article about how women get penalised at a professional level when they become mothers
• Miguel Carranza, co-founder and CTO of mobile subscription management company RevenueCat, published an interesting article about his 'evolution of his role as founder CTO'
• Ivan Hernandez, VP of Engineering at Ontruck, wrote about how the company approaches career development plans, in a post titled 'What can you offer as a manager to Software Engineers that will last?'
• Simon Muñoz, Platform Product Management at Voicemod, published 'three phases and attitudes of Product Development'
• Ignacio Arriaga, of Acumbamail, published a Twitter thread about how technical co-founders can promote their product to try to find clients, by mostly focusing on content marketing and trying to find early acquisition channels that work
• Carlos de Otto, former co-founder of Rockola.fm and Livetobe, has a newsletter about entrepreneurship called Senda and last week he wrote about founding teams: 'The character and opportunity to differentiate yourself'
• According to a study by Mobile World Capital and LinkedIn, software and IT were the two sectors that generated more job opportunities in Barcelona in the last year, ahead of manufacturing, consumer goods and others

Podcasts 🎧

• En.digital interviewed Gerardo Cañellas, of Perfume's Club
• MarsBased interviewed Jeff Dunham, CTO of Wallbox
• Itnig interviewed Pau Garcia Mila (EyeOS)
• Novicap interviewed Rosa Esteva, founder of hospitality group Tragaluz
• MasQueStartups interviewed Mark Villacampa, formerly of Cabify and now at Lana
• UpBizor and Itnig held a roundtable on the topic of the Spanish VC landscape