M&A in Spain. Supercell backs Applivery. Clikalia's profit.
March 17, 2025 • Issue #458
BYTETRAVEL S.A . is a Spanish TravelTech company specializing in developing ancillaries (auxiliary services) for tourists and business travelers worldwide. Born in 2021, the company was the first Spanish tech company listed in the BME Scaleup Stock market.
Even though many companies are dedicated to providing transportation, accommodation and activities/tours at the destination, several consumer and multinational companies demands (in some cases essential) are not yet optimally addressed. ByteTravel aims to be the leading company that provides these services in an efficient and reliable way through the mass use of technology, automation, biometrics and artificial intelligence.
With offices in Barcelona, Madrid and Miami and a team of 58 professionals from 15 different nationalities. Initially, they started with VISAGOV, an online service focused on processing tourist and business travel visas to 70 countries and later expanded to ROAMIC, an eSIM provider guaranteeing internet access in 190 countries Additionally, they are actively developing other products both internally as business units and in collaboration with partner companies to facilitate future cross-selling opportunities.
Startup funding news 💸
- €5M to €10M
- Barcelona-based HolaCamp, a camping management company, secured €10M from Proptech firm Amavi Capital. The company reported €22M in revenue for 2024 and expects to reach €30M in 2025
- Basquevolt, the solid-state battery gigafactory project in Álava, received a €10M investment from Ekarpen fund, Stellum, and CDTI Innvierte. The company also announced that its CTO, Fernández Santos, will now serve as CEO
- €0.5M to €5M rounds:
- Flowww, a Valencia-based SaaS startup providing software solutions for healthcare and beauty medicine businesses, raised €4M led by Swanlaab Venture Factory and Bonsai Partners
- Biointaxis, a biotech spin-off from the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) in Badalona (Barcelona), has secured €2.17M in public funding to advance its gene therapy for Friedreich’s ataxia, a severe neurodegenerative disease affecting mobility and personal autonomy
- Smart Vitamins, a spin-off from the University of Santiago de Compostela, raised €2.1M to finance the first clinical trial of its SV B-I therapy for influenza prevention
- Inveready provided €900k to Hannun, a company listed on BME Growth that manufactures eco-friendly furniture and home goods. Hannun reported revenues of €7.26M, up 5% year-over-year, though its adjusted EBITDA remained negative at €1.63M
- Companies looking for funding:
- Fracttal: maintenance management software
- ARSoft: VR solutions that help surgeons plan and practice complex procedures before entering the operating room
- Other rounds of funding:
- Applivery, the Madrid-based endpoint management and app distribution platform, received a strategic minority investment from gaming giant Supercell
- BeWater Funds announced an investment in Okify, a startup focused on digital solutions for business management
M&A activity 🎊
- Tech consulting firm Altia acquired Verne Technology Group's Data and AI business unit, including its specialized training area (Verne Academy), for €4.15 million. The acquired units generated €7.7M in revenue and €0.9M in EBITDA in 2024
- Joshua Novick and Bondo Advisors published a report on M&A activity in Iberia: “El mercado ibérico y europeo del software 2024”. The report has very interesting data about M&A, quite useful for founders and investors
Investor & accelerator news 🚀
- New funds or accelerator batches:
- The Barcelona City Council is launching the Barcelona Investment Fund, a new €30M fund of funds aimed at retaining high-growth startups in the city. This marks the third such initiative after Barcelona Accelera (€10M, 2020) and Barcelona Deep Tech Fund (€10M, 2023)
- Lanzadera added 125 new startups to its latest batch. Full list available here
- Spanish investors active abroad:
- CyberGuru, an Italian cybersec company backed by Adara, acquired French company Mantra
- Cardumen backed TastyUrban, a digital restaurant franchise
- Other news:
- Profile of Mark Kavelaars, co-founder of Swanlaab
Startup news 💡
- Company financials:
- Proptech Clikalia returned to profitability in 2024 after strong investments in technology and growth. The company reported a record revenue of €270M, up 7.6% YoY, and achieved a positive EBITDA. Clikalia is exiting Mexico to focus on Europe, particularly France and Portugal, where it is already profitable. It also refinanced debt with Macquarie, reducing financing costs by 30%
- Holaluz finalized an agreement with its creditors to refinance approximately €60M in debt
- Profile of Barkibu the pet healthcare company. Barkibu did €25M in sales last year. It has 63 employees and is currently active in Spain, Germany, France and recently launched in Portugal and Italy. Barkibu is a Kfund portfolio company (that’s doing fantastically well!)
- Percentil, the second-hand fashion retailer, filed for bankruptcy in early February 2025 due to declining sales amid intense price competition in the sector. As of 2023, Percentil reported negative equity of €529,869 and liabilities nearing €4M, with annual revenues between €3M and €4M
- Profile of Universal DX, a Seville-based biotech company specializing in early cancer detection through liquid biopsy technology
- New startups and products/features:
- Core Capital Investments has launched Cartagon AI, a platform for AI infra, with an initial investment of more than €30M
- Tinybird introduced “Forward,” a significant evolution of its platform aimed at enhancing the developer experience for building real-time data applications. The update emphasizes a local-first development approach, allowing developers to work within their preferred environments
- Shakers announced a set of AI features that cover the end-to-end of freelance work
- Wallapop has expanded its logistics network by incorporating more than 9,400 non-home pickup and delivery points through a partnership with InPost. Also, Wallapop partnered with TaxDown to inform users about how second-hand sales are taxed
- Interesting article about Freepik and how it has successfully transformed itself into a generative AI powerhouse. I joked on Twitter this week that “how long until Adobe acquires Freepik?” after Adobe published its latest earnings report
- N26 is increasing its savings account interest rate to 2.79% APR for new customers, positioning itself to compete with traditional banks
- CJ Gustafson featured Abacum in his 2025 Tech Stack Report as the most popular and only 4th Gen FP&A solution in the mid-market
- According to Finnovating, Madrid has emerged as the fourth global fintech hub, following London, Singapore, and San Francisco
Big company news 🏦
- AI:
- Spain approved a bill to regulate AI-generated content, imposing fines up to €35M or 7% of global turnover for companies that fail to properly label AI content. The legislation aligns with EU's AI Act and aims to combat deepfakes and harmful AI practices
- Indra launched IndraMind, an AI-powered intelligence platform designed to enhance automation in critical operations and defense strategies
- Financial services:
- BBVA launched cryptocurrency trading and custody services for Bitcoin and Ethereum in Spain after obtaining a MiCA license from the CNMV. Users can manage crypto assets through BBVA’s app, which includes an in-house custody platform. Santander is also hiring a CPO to run crypto
- Retail:
- Inditex’s online sales grew 12% in 2024, reaching €10.16B and representing 26.3% of total revenue. The company saw 8.1B website visits (+10%) and had 218M active app users
- Mercadona reported that online sales became profitable for the first time, contributing approximately 2% to the total revenue, equating to €840M
- Magnificent 7:
- Microsoft has relocated its digital sales hub for Western Europe from Dublin to Barcelona. The new hub, already staffed with 44 professionals from nine nationalities, will serve 13 European countries and is expected to grow to 200-250 employees within two years