As your business grows, automating manual and repetitive tasks become crucial. This not only saves time, but also reduces costs, minimizes errors and frees up time to focus on higher value-added tasks.

We understand that invoice validation can be a tedious and time-consuming task that takes away from your core business operations. That's where zenital comes in. We specialize in optimizing and automating data systems to ensure quality at scale.

For instance, we can help you streamline and optimize your invoice validation with a combination of market tools that cater to your specific needs. Download our benchmark report to find the best solution for your needs today.

Startup funding news 💸

• Sevilla-based Universal DX closed a €64.16m Series B round for FDA approval of Signal-C®, a blood test for colon cancer. UDX is a biotechnology and bioinformatics company
• Barcelona-based fintech startup ID Finance reached a €12m financing agreement with a listed European bank. The fintech is a leader in Spain and Mexico, focusing on consumer credit
• Madrid-based proptech BeMate secured €11.5m in funding led by Barlon Capital. BeMate manages apartment buildings for tourism and corporate use
• Castellon-based Arkadia Space raised €2.8m in a round led by DraperB1. The company specializes in chemical propulsion systems for satellites and spacecraft
• Madrid-based Fence raised €1.8m in a pre-seed round led by Semantic.vc. Fence is a fintech developing software for debt operation automation and optimization
• Barcelona-based Ocean Ecostructures raised €1.6m in funding with participation from Ship2B Ventures, Inclimo Climate Tech, and BStartup. The company focuses on regenerating marine biodiversity
• Madrid-based Floatech raised €1.2m, led by GROW Venture Partners. Floatech develops "high-performance silicon anodes for leading-edge technology industries"
• Barcelona-based Kibus Petcare raised €1m, led by EASO Ventures
• Other rounds of funding: Cüimo, Nanological, Dolfin

M&A activity 🎊

• Swedish insurtech startup Clar acquired Barcelona-based startup Finteca. Finteca, incubated by Nuclio and founded in 2017 by Silvia Escámez and Carlos Blanco, works with more than 3k real estate agents and manages over 20k mortgages each year. To date, it has handled more than €800 in mortgages

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

• Spanish-Israeli VC firm Swanlaab Venture Factory and Scipio Capital partnered to launch Scipio Swanlaab, a fund that will invest in Search Funds globally
• Eoniq.Fund announced that it has made 7 investments in Valencia to date, for a total of €765k (Clotsy Brand, Eco-one, Aunoa, Bitstartups, Euler Tools, Agua Nea and Mas Leads)
• El Mundo published a profile and interview of Carlos Blanco, founder of Nuclio and Encomenda, among many other things
• Interview with Miguel Arias, colleague of mine and General Partner at Kfund. He talks about AI, investing and other topics
• Major Spanish private banking firms do not consider lowering the minimum access to private market funds (PE and VC) to €10k, despite the regulatory change that allows it for retail clients as long as it is under advice and the invested amount does not represent more than 10% of their financial wealth

Startup news 💡

• Long interview with Bernardo Quintero, founder of VirusTotal and also Security Engineering Director at Google. He talks extensively about the development of the Malaga startup ecosystem, which he help get to its current stage, and the new cybersecurity centre that Google will open in the city on Wednesday
• Javi Lopez and Emilio Nicolas, previously founders of Erasmusu (acquired by Spotahome), unveiled Magnific AI, an "image upscaler and enhancer that feels like magic"
• Latitude launched its 3.0 version on Product Hunt, a "data workspace that helps analysts streamline their workflow and build interactive data apps quickly". Co-founder Cesar Migueláñez published a video explaining the new changes, which you can watch here
• Zubi Labs, the venture studio created by Iker Marcaide, announced the launch Matteco, a new startup "focused on new materials for a better future - starting with green hydrogen production"
• Antai Venture Builder announced the launch of its last project, Miinta. A mental wellbeing platform for Gen Z
• Deale, the digital M&A platform, announced the hiring of Pepe Borrell as COO (formerly of Crowdcube)
• Proptech Brickbro, the platform that connects owners of commercial properties with potential buyers or tenants, signed an agreement to manage the properties of Ralco Capital, an investment vehicle with €20m AUM
• The bankruptcy administrator of Jeff exonerates the top management from the bankruptcy. The administrator of the Valencian startup does not see negligence in the actions of the administrators before the request for bankruptcy proceedings
• Pablo Postigo co-founded Frontity 10 years ago, which was years later acquired by Automattic. Pablo has recently changed positions within Automattic and won't be leading the Frontity team anymore. He wrote about the change and the Frontity journey here. Frontity was a Kfund portfolio company
• Javier Andrés, founder of Luzia and former head of Ticketea, discussed his entrepreneurial career and Luzia's progress. Luzia, an AI-driven personal assistant using WhatsApp, has raised €12m in funding to date
• The EU raided Glovo's offices in Barcelona for alleged anti-competitive practices. Technicians from the EU raided the offices of the startup for allegedly agreeing to illegal commercial practices against free competition. Glovo said that the fact that the Commission is conducting an investigation "does not mean that it has concluded that there is an infringement nor does it prejudge the outcome of the same"
• Startup profiles:
• Docuten: SaaS for e-signatures, digital invoicing and document management

Big company news 🏦

• Escribano Mechanical & Engineering, a defense-focused company based in Madrid, increased its stake in Indra to 8% and could have a set on its board. Expansion published a profile of the Escribano brothers, now managers of the engineering and defense company, which employs 800 people and expects to reach €150m in sales this year
• Built for Mars published a critique of Zara and its mobile apps. It says that "Zara should have a product team obsessively optimising, experimenting on, and seeking feedback about their entire checkout process. Every incremental improvement would yield a ridiculous return on investment. And yet, it's borderline unusable, littered with bugs and full of missed opportunities"

Interesting reads 🤓

• Elena Madrigal authored Suma Positiva: "Jardines Digitales contra la SobreInformación"

Podcasts 🎧

• Freepik and Joaquin Cuenca interviewed Diego Rodríguez and Víctor Pérez, co-founders of Krea.ai
• Minds Behind Maps interviewed Javier de la Torre, co-founder of CARTO
• Itnig interviewed Rui Stoffel, co-founder of Busup
• SeedRocket interviewed Luis Gosalbez, founder of law firm Metricson
• Product Hackers interviewed Andrea Di Palma, founder of Connectif