Awaiting keywords...

Jobandtalent's valuation cut by 25%. Wayra backs Perplexity.

October 21, 2024 • Issue #437

Redefiniendo espacios para organizaciones con visión de futuro.

En 2BOLD colaboramos con empresas para convertir sus espacios en herramientas estratégicas.

Somos un estudio de innovación y diseño espacial, y generamos espacios que catalizan el cambio, fomentan la creatividad y potencian las conexiones emocionales con sus usuarios.

Ya sea una oficina, un espacio de venta o una instalación efímera, creamos experiencias que inspiran y potencian el éxito de tu organización.

Hablemos para traducir tu visión en un espacio único.

Startup funding news 💸

  • Tolerance Bio, a Philadelphia-based startup founded by Spaniard Francisco Leon, secured $17.2M in seed funding. The round was led by Columbus Venture Partners, based in Valencia. The company specializes in immune system-related diseases. More info here
  • V2C, a Valencia-based electric vehicle charging infrastructure company, raised €5M from SC Net Zero Ventures, a venture capital fund managed by Suma Capital and backed by Repsol
  • Barcelona-based Saigu Cosmetics closed a funding round of €1.5M led by Zamit Capital
  • Other rounds of funding:
  • Zexel: €850k, payments platform for influencers and creators
  • Corium Biotech: €500k, sustainable fashion, alternative materials

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

  • Real Ventures, a new VC based in Barcelona, will invest €30M in emerging consumer brands. The fund is co-founded by Inés Ures (formerly of Deliveroo), Josep Casas (founder of Naturitas), and Jonathan Vaisman (ex-EY investment banker)
  • Portuguese VC Armilar launched its fourth investment fund, AVP IV, with the aim of raising €250M. Armilar aims to make its first closing at €120M by the end of 2024 and hopes to invest in over 20 startups, with 50-60% based in Spain and Portugal
  • Zubi Capital is dissolving Zubi Wealth Management, a division that focused on advisory services to family offices and institutional investors
  • Corporate venture capital (CVC) is becoming a key tool for large companies to invest in startups, focusing on innovation that adds strategic value to their businesses. A report by BackFund highlights that 82% of Spanish corporations have invested in startups, often using dedicated CVC vehicles
  • Ignacio Arriaga (Acumbamail) published “Search Funds: la inversión a la que se ha ido el venture capital español que prefería ser un poco menos aventurero”
  • Spanish funds active abroad:
  • Wayra invested in US startup Perplexity, famous for its AI-powered search engine and ChatGPT competitor. Telefónica has also integrated Perplexity’s AI into Movistar Plus+ for a unique voice-controlled search experience
  • Ship2B Ventures invested in the German startup ViViRA, which is developing a digital application to treat back pain

Startup news 💡

  • Swedish investment firm Kinnevik has significantly reduced its valuation of Jobandtalent, the Spanish temporary employment platform, by 25%. This is the second valuation cut of Jobandtalent that Kinnevik has done in the past few months. The firm now values Jobandtalent at €1B, half of its peak of €2B in 2021. In its report, Kinnevik says that “despite continuing profitability improvements in the quarter, our valuation decreases due to the ongoing slow-down in the underlying staffing market”
  • On other hand, Kinnevik considers Travelperk one of its six core investments. It also says that “the fair value of our investment in TravelPerk increased by 6% in the quarter, with our NTM revenue and gross profit multiples remaining relatively unchanged at a 25% discount to the peer group’s average on a gross profit basis. Our underlying valuation is slightly above the valuation in the funding round announced earlier this year. In 2023, the company grew revenues by 70% and gross profit by 90%”
  • PcComponentes returned to growth in 2023 after a post-COVID slump. The company saw a 2% increase in revenue, reaching €542M, and boosted its profit to over €9M. It has also paid a €2M dividend
  • Glovo is enhancing its food delivery app by integrating social features to improve food discoverability and assist users in making meal decisions. Video with the new features here. More info here. In a press event, the company also said that:
  • It expects to reach positive adjusted EBITDA in the second half of this year
  • GMV has grown by 50% over the past 2 years
  • Its groceries business is growing at +50% YoY, currently at €280M in sales
  • Wired put together a list of the “hottest startups in Madrid”. The publication also highlighted that “Madrid has emerged as a leading startup hub, surpassing Barcelona in investments, with significant growth in transportation, mobility, and fintech sectors”
  • The Catalan government has paused a €10M rescue loan for Holaluz, an energy company facing financial difficulties. Holaluz, which needs to restructure its debt by December, is exploring various alternatives, including industrial and financial investors
  • Julio Martinez, co-founder of Abacum, said in a post that the company has grown 2x QoQ in the past 2 quarters and shared 3 learnings from the past three months. Abacum is a Kfund portfolio company
  • Profile of Deale, a Barcelona-based digital platform to assist in the process of buying and selling SMBs and other businesses. The company has assisted in more than 70 transactions, worth EV of €100M
  • Profile of Embat, a fintech startup founded in 2021 that offers a cloud-based treasury management solutions for medium and large companies.Embat has raised more than €20M in funding from Creandum, Samaipata, 4Founders Capital and others
  • El Referente put together a list of 15 startups related to the circular economy to keep an eye on in 2024

Big company news 🏦

  • CaixaBank signed a partnership with Apple to offer installment payments for e-commerce purchases made through Apple Pay, being the first agreement of this kind in Spain
  • Meta is about to begin construction of a data centre in Talavera de la Reina. At the same time, the company plans to establish another center in Aragón
  • UGT and Uber Eats have signed a memorandum to improve working conditions for digital platform workers in Spain
  • Crescenta es la primera gestora digital de Capital Privado para invertir en fondos exclusivos, con rentabilidades objetivo de +15%*. Hasta ahora estaban reservados a altos patrimonios, pero hemos democratizado esta inversión dándote acceso desde 10.000€ (a desembolsar gradualmente). EQT, Cinven, Insight... fondos de primer nivel a golpe de clic.
  • Invierte en Crescenta.com | Consulta los fondos
  • Referencia a resultados históricos simulados. Rentabilidades pasadas no implican rentabilidades futuras. Más info sobre riesgos: crescenta.com/condiciones

Interesting reads 🤓

  • Spain’s Ley Crea y Crece is going to introduce changes in the way Spanish companies and freelancers have to invoice their customers. Here are two useful guides from Docuten and Quaderno
  • Daniel Solis, former founder of Blueliv and now building a new cybersec startup, published “AI in Cybersecurity: Let’s Break the Hype“
  • Samuel Gil (JME) published “De wrappers a arquitecturas cognitivas. La increíble historia de cómo una IA creó una criptomoneda de 150 millones de dólares”

Subscribe