Heura gets €20M. CDTI is on fire. Percentil & WAK face similar fate.
May 19, 2025 • Issue #467

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Startup funding news 💸
- Rounds of €10M to €20M:
- Heura secured €20M in venture debt from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The company did €38M in sales in 2024, same amount as in 2023. The company has cut its workforce by 60% in the past 2 years
- Xoople closed a new €16.7M round, bringing its total funding to €115M. Backed by CDTI, ICO and other public and private investors, the Madrid-based Earth intelligence startup is building an AI-powered satellite constellation
- Shakers raised €14M in a Series A led by Partech, with Kfund, Brighteye Ventures, Athos Capital and Wayra also joining. The Madrid-based platform connects tech freelancers with companies like Microsoft and Inditex. Funds will boost its AI-driven matching tools, launch Freelancer OS, and support European expansion. More here
- Lingokids raised €10M via a convertible note as a bridge to a larger equity round expected later. The Madrid-based edtech startup aims to grow by integrating more popular kids’ content brands and expanding its U.S. presence
- Rounds €1M to €10M:
- BusUp raised €2.84M from True Global Ventures to support its global growth. The Barcelona-based B2B mobility startup, which offers shared commuting solutions for companies, reports over €9M in ARR.
- Flopp Eco raised €1M to accelerate its growth and expansion into Latin America. The eco-friendly home cleaning brand added Alexia Putellas, the Alcántara brothers, and Santi Aldama as new investors, joining Marc Gasol (10% stake since 2024)
- Other rounds of funding:
- Modular DS raised €615k in a seed round led by Juan Pablo Tejela (Metricool), with participation from Draper B1, ENISA, Sodical, and notable angels. The León-based SaaS startup offers a platform to automate and centralize WordPress site management for agencies and web professionals
- Innporting, a startup digitizing the logistics sector, closed a funding round led by Successful Fund
M&A activity 🎊
- Percentil, the Spanish second-hand fashion platform, avoided bankruptcy after being acquired by Israeli company MySize. The deal allows Percentil to continue operating and integrating with MySize’s AI-based sizing tech. The deal valued Percentil at €600k
- Borja Oria, partner at Arcano Partners, discussed the impact of rising geopolitical tensions and tariffs on the M&A landscape. He anticipates that sale processes will become more demanding, with buyers requiring deeper due diligence and stronger strategic rationale. Oria also highlighted a rebound in private equity interest in Spain for the second half of 2025
Investor & accelerator news 🚀
- Seaya is working with the EIB on a new growth-stage megafund of up to €1B under the European Tech Champions initiative. It would follow Mundi Ventures’ €350M-backed Kembara fund, still in fundraising
- The CDTI and EIF launched a new €300M initiative under the “Innvierte Deep Tech Tech Transfer” program to boost the commercialization of disruptive technologies in Spain. The public-private effort aims to channel funding to VC firms
- Nazca Capital secured €294M from CDTI to launch its new defense-focused fund. The vehicle will target dual-use and strategic technologies aligned with national and European security priorities. The fund has a target size of €600M
- New funds:
- NextBlock launched a new $40M fund to invest in crypto assets and blockchain projects globally. Headquartered in Madrid, the firm plans to back 25–30 startups across DeFi, infrastructure, and tokenization, with ticket sizes ranging from $250k to $1.5M
- Another profile of former CIA officer Eric Slesinger, who is betting big on European defense tech with 201 Ventures, a €22M seed fund based in Madrid. In a region where investing in defense has long been taboo, Slesinger sees opportunity in “gray zone” technologies
- Tritemius Capital launched a new €21M fund focused on early-stage startups in web3, blockchain, and digital assets. Backed by Abante and regulated as an FCRE, the fund aims to grow to €30M–€50M and back 15–20 companies, reserving 50% for follow-ons. First investments will include startups in web3 cybersecurity, tokenized microcredit guarantees, and digital asset operations
Startup news 💡
- New startups and products:
- Alinia launched Investment Guard, an AI-native compliance layer tailored for financial services. The tool enforces MiFID II-aligned guardrails on AI assistants, detecting when they cross into unqualified investment advice.
- Startup financials:
- We Are Knitters entered insolvency using a prepack structure and will be acquired by an undisclosed buyer offering the best terms for creditors and job preservation. The deal sees founders and key investors like Corpfin, Cabiedes, and Bewater losing their stakes. Once a pandemic success, WAK failed to sustain growth, despite a 2023 restructuring and late-stage capital injection
- Ecotechers did a deep dive on Wallbox’s current situation. The company navigates a rough patch on the NYSE after falling short of its ambitious SPAC-era projections. The EV charger maker closed 2024 with €164M in revenue vs. the €770M forecast, while losses persist despite major cost-cutting. Its stock has plunged ~75% in the last year, triggering a delisting warning. Backed by Iberdrola, Generac, and Gestamp’s Riberas, Wallbox is now weighing options including a reverse split or a potential buyout. The company also hired Houlihan Lokey to explore a debt and capital restructuring, amid pressure from NYSE over its sub-$1 share price
- Bytetravel, the Catalan traveltech firm listed on BME Scaleup, reported €11.2M in revenue and €2.54M in net profit in 2024, its first year as a public company
- Other news:
- 🤦🏼 The Catalan government approved a law requiring a 6-hour advance booking for VTC services like Uber and Cabify. That this is still happening in 2025 is nuts! Also on more VTC news: Bolt criticized the Madrid region for granting 8,500 VTC licenses exclusively to Cabify, calling the move discriminatory and anti-competitive
- TaxDown deepens its Mexican expansion. TaxDown partnered with Openbank México to help individuals claim tax refunds from the SAT through a seamless, digital process
Big company news 🏦
- RootedCON filed a constitutional appeal after a judge sided with La Liga and Telefónica to block access to certain websites, a move the cybersecurity community argues violates digital rights. The organizers of the long-running infosec conference claim the ruling infringes on freedoms of expression and information, calling it a dangerous precedent. They are demanding public debate and cautioning against authoritarian internet controls
- CoreWeave, the U.S. AI cloud giant valued at €24B, entered Spain by leasing 60% of Merlin Properties’ data center space in Barcelona and Álava
- Airbnb defended its model against growing regulatory pressure in Spain. Jaime Rodríguez, GM for Spain and Portugal, argued that tourist rentals represent just 1% of housing stock in Madrid and Barcelona and are being used as a “convenient scapegoat.” He criticized new restrictions and promoted Airbnb’s role in rural economic activity
- The Bizum-like systems from Norway (Vipps) and Poland (BLIK) joined the EPI Company consortium, alongside Spain’s Bizum, Italy’s Bancomat Pay, and Portugal’s SIBS. The goal is to create a unified European instant payment platform to rival Visa and Mastercard
- Apple posted €575M in retail revenue in Spain for FY2024, up 7.4%
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Interesting reads 🤓
- Julio Martínez, CEO of Abacum, outlined how the role of the CFO evolves from generalist to strategist and eventually specialist as startups scale from pre-seed to IPO
- Jose Ramon Perez Agüera (MercadonaTech) published “La estrategia de GTM más validada de la historia”
- Ivan Landabaso (JME) published “The Agentic Revolution: How AI Agents Will Reshape Software, Startups, and Work“