What links giants like Freepik, Wallapop and Luzia?

• Do you know what Freepik, Wallapop and Luzia have in common? They are all using Google Cloud AI to solve complex challenges at incredible speeds.
• From revolutionizing retail to structuring medical data, discover 7 “Made in Spain” success stories that are leading the way.
• Learn more

Startup funding news 💸

• Eranovum secured €16M across three financing rounds in Spain, Belgium, and France to expand its electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The financing appears to be a mix of equity and project finance
• Home services startup Webel closed a €4.3M round led by Trind Ventures
• Health Lean Analytics, a Barcelona-based AI-powered hospital operations platform, raised over €2.1M. The round included strategic partner Novanta, plus €1.4M from family offices and an ENISA
• Bcount, an Alicante-based fiscal advisory digitization platform for SMEs and freelancers, raised €1M in seed funding led by Archipélago Next. Bcount automates tax, accounting, and labor obligations
• LUDA Partners closed a €750k funding round for its digital pharmacy network. Over 60% of investors are pharmacy professionals
• Stuveo raised a pre-seed round led by Abac Nest to transform academic guidance for students
• Olimpro, the Seville-based artisanal protein ice cream brand, closed a €300k funding round

M&A activity 🎊

• Indian gaming company Nazara Technologies acquired a 50% stake in Barcelona-based gaming company Bluetile Bestplay for $100M. Bluetile is known for social casino and puzzle games across multiple platforms. The company was founded in 2019 and, according to his CEO Raymond A. Stauffer, “has grown into a top worldwide studio with over 350M+ lifetime installs and 150M+ yearly revenue”. You can find Raymond’s post about the exit here

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

• Resilient Infratech Ventures launched a €70M fund targeting digital infrastructure startups across Spain, France, Italy and Portugal. The Barcelona-based fund, formed by GVC Gaesco Alternative Investments and GNE Ventures, plans 30-35 investments
• The Universidad Pontificia Comillas launched Fondo Comillas, a university-led investment fund in Spain that will invest €5k-€25k per project in early-stage startups founded by students, alumni, and staff
• CDTI Innvierte closed 8 co-investment operations in February totaling €12.6M, plus €8.7M in a strategic investment in Payload Aerospace, an Alicante-based small satellite launch technology developer. Since January 2026, CDTI Innovación’s investment arm committed €20.3M across 15 companies and €61M in 2 investment vehicles, with an additional €37.5M committed to another fund in February
• Ecotechers interviewed Atomico partner Luca Eisenstecken. Atomico has been quite active over the years in Spain, and currently counts with Factorial, TravelPerk and Jobandtalent as portfolio companies
• COFIDES committed up to €15M through its Social Impact Fund (FIS) to French firm Partech Partners’ €300M impact vehicle
• Spanish investors active abroad:
• GridBeyond, a company backed by Alantra’s Energy Transition Fund, closed a €12M funding round with Samsung Ventures joining as a new investor

Startup news 💡

Startup profiles

• Jordi Noguera and Ivan Landabaso (both of JME) published a profile of Freepik and how it’s grown from 32M to 150M+ monthly users by pivoting to AI after gen AI threatened its stock illustration business. elDiario also published an interview with CEO Joaquin Cuenca
• Profile of how Pompeii transformed its business model after struggling to expand beyond Spain’s upper-class market. The playbook was gradual: first fix the product, then use online marketing to identify the right customer, and finally scale through wholesale agents, trade fairs and selective partnerships. Today, 85% of Pompeii’s wholesale sales and 60% of its online sales come from outside Spain
• Profile of fintech startup Íkualo, which recently launched digital remittance services from Europe to Venezuela and Cuba. The company projects channeling over €50M in remesas by 2026

New startups and product launches

• Data centre cooling company Submer announced a €1B investment to build its own 100MW data center in Catalonia, marking a pivot from liquid cooling systems to full data center operations. Submer will fund the project 80% through project financing and plans to launch a €300M+ funding round in H1 2025 for international expansion and a second US factory
• Factorial launched its AI Acceleration Fund, allocating €10M to help under-digitized companies adopt AI-powered HR and business management services. The program offers €5M in direct cost reductions and €5M in AI platform credits to companies with 20-1,000 employees signing annual contracts. More info here
• Multiverse Computing launched a self-serve API portal giving developers direct access to its compressed AI models that can run locally on devices

Startup financials

• Barcelona-based invisible orthodontics startup Impress generated €103M revenue in 2025, up 30% annually. The company also reached positive EBITDA
• Event ticketing platform Hellotickets generated €120M in sales for 2025, establishing Spain as its second-largest European market after France. Hellotickets was founded in 2017 by Jorge Diaz Largo, former VP of Marketing and Product of Ticketbis

Other news

• Delivery Hero‘s second-largest shareholder Aspex Management threatened to replace management unless the company sells major assets. Could this impact Glovo?
• Also about Glovo… the company faces legal action from union CCOO, which filed a complaint with Spain’s National Court alleging the food delivery company executed a “disguised ERE” through massive layoffs exceeding 30 dismissals in 90 days
• Tax filing startup TaxDown expects 2.5M users and 400k tax filings in Spain this year, 2x YoY. The company says it was profitable last year. It also operates in Mexico and plans further LatAm expansion
• Criptan obtained MiCA authorization from Spain’s CNMV, becoming the 8 company to receive crypto operating licenses. Criptan can now offer regulated crypto services across all 27 EU member states
• HelloFresh ceased operations in Spain after just over three years. The meal-kit company struggled against Spain’s growing prepared food market, posting €9M losses over two years despite 62% revenue growth to €9M in 2024
• Teya, the €7.75B-valued British fintech, launched operations in Spain targeting small and medium retailers with payment terminals and credit services

Big company news 🏦

• Catalan pool equipment company Fluidra opened a new global R&D center in Shenzhen, China, joining its existing innovation hubs in Carlsbad (US) and Polinyà (Barcelona)
• Starlink restructured its pricing in Spain with three new residential tiers: €29/month for 100 Mbps (Residential 100), €39/month for 200 Mbps (Residential 200), and €59/month for 400+ Mbps with traffic priority (Residential Max)
• Microsoft Ibérica expects 13% revenue growth in 2026 to reach €2.3B, driven by cloud computing, AI, and security solutions. The company’s 2025 revenue increased 20% to €2B thanks to Microsoft Azure improvements, with cloud services generating €1.75B (+25%). Operating profit rose 25% to €65M

Interesting reads 🤓

• Carlos Arboleya published “Europe’s AI Champions. And the GTM playbook behind their growth”
• Samuel Gil (JME) published “Un ingeniero, un perro y el futuro de la medicina”

Podcasts 🎧

• Itnig interviewed Ramiro Iglesias of Crescenta
• SeedRocket interviewed Arvin Abarca, founder of GrandVoyage
• Outliers interviewed Biel Seuma, general manager of Factorial’s IT initiative
• NoBullshitTalks interviewed Francesc Font, co-founder of Incapto Coffee