We’re The Fish, a digital and ecommerce agency for brands that rock. Based in NYC, Madrid, and Galicia, our approach blends captivating design, enriching content, and accurate analytics to improve conversions and grow your business.

With 20+ years of experience, we helped grow leading fashion brands, popular online magazines, and future-minded startups. Contact us to drive innovation and success to your brand.

Startup funding news 💸

• Biotech startup GlyCardial Diagnostics raised €2.4 million from Caixa Capital Risc and HealthEquity
• African startup Baluwo raised €600,000 from Cabiedes & Partners, Seedrocket4Founders and other investors
• Digital agency Smartbrand raised €300,000 from Seed Capital Bizkaia

Startup exits 🎊

• US real estate unicorn, WeWork, has acquired a significant stake in Basque company WaveGarden, creators of one of the best artificial surf waves in the world
• Lola Market and Comprea are now the same company. As a result of the merger, the Comprea brand will disappear

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

• Spanish VC firm Mundi Ventures had its first exit, as its portfolio company Qumram got acquired by Dynatrace
• Mauricio Prieto (eDreams): ‘VC returns in the US and some additional thoughts on the Spanish VC market’
• Enel and Endesa have launched its fifth innovation hub in Madrid
• Law firm Cuatrecasas announced the name of the six startups that will participate in its new accelerator program

Startup news 💡

• Clothing marketplace Chicfy expects to reach sales of €4 million this year, slightly up from 2015 (€3.7 million), and plans to launch new verticals
• Vostok New Ventures has decreased the value of its stake in Wallapop by 24%. According to the firm, the company is now valued at €397 million
• A flood of new VTC licenses is expected in the market, which will help Cabify and Uber increased liquidity. Taxi drivers are not too happy, obviously
• Pablo Viguera is the new Spain director of UK fintech startup Revolut
• Spanish online fashion brand Black Limba to start its Latam expansion
• Interview with Marta Alvarez, the Spanish director of last mile delivery company Stuart
• According to a study, the proptech sector generates 5,000 jobs in Spain right now. Sounds a bit too much, but there’s no question that it’s growing significantly lately
• Startup profiles: Darwinex (trading platform), Emerita (legaltech), Citibox (ecommerce deliveries), Hackity (smart citizenship)

Big (local) company news 🏢

• Room Mate’s Kike Sarasola says that the number of tourists allowed to visit Spain should be limited. Controversial
• Since partnering with Amazon, Dia’s online supermarket sales have tripled

Big (foreign) company news 🏦

• BlaBlaCar to soon launch a new service in Spain for urban trips. More competition for traditional urban transportation systems
• El Pais interviewed Deliveroo’s country manager in Spain. Topics covered in the piece include current Spanish legislation of the gig economy and how the labour market is about to change in the next few years
• Airbnb has finally shut down Trip4real, the Spanish travel startup that it acquired a few months ago for €5 million
• Uber’s revenues in Spain reached €1.4 million last year
• Rakuten has shut down its Spanish subsidiary
• Tesla opened its first retail store in Madrid last week

Interesting reads 🤓

• Financial Times: ‘Spain’s start-up sector spreads beyond Madrid and Barcelona’
• El Confidencial published a very interesting profile of Rebeca Minguela, co-founder and CEO of Blink Booking (acquired by Groupon) and now at the helm at Clarity, her second startup
• Transactions on online marketplaces such as Wallapop, eBay, Amazon and many others will soon be taxed at a 4% rate. Here’s how some of these companies are planning to tackle this
• Car2go, emov and Zity: is the Madrid urban transportation market big enough to accommodate three big players?
• How Tenerife and the Canary Islands want to attract tech talent
• The craziness of being a woman entrepreneur. VozPopuli talks to, among others, Rated Power’s CEO and co-founder Andrea Barber
• How several Spanish startups and big companies use AI and big data to improve their business
• Ecommerce will account for 25% of Spaniards’s Christmas budget
• 11% of all commerce transactions in Spain are online

Podcasts of the week 🎧

• K Fund interviewed Candela Milan and David Bonilla, co-founders of Otogami/Runnics and of the now famous Tarugoconf
• Interview with Jorge Dobón, co-founder of startup accelerator and studio Demium Startups
• MasQueStartups interviewed Tomas Santoro, CEO of SumaCRM