April breaks a new record with respect to the accumulated public investments in Spanish startups and is placed as the second highest monthly figure in the last four years in terms of investment: 280 million Euro, surpassed only by the 439 million Euro of August 2018 thanks to the stratospheric round of Letgo.
In part, this figure is achieved at the last minute after announcing yesterday April 30 the largest round carried out by Glovo, a series D of €150 million led by Lakestar, European venture capital that also invested in Holded this month (€9 million). But the most important thing is that this month closes with 22 public investment operations, 5 of which have exceeded rounds of 17 million Euro and another 11 rounds more than or equal to one million Euro. A clear indication that many startups are already closing series A and B in addition to bridge rounds that places them on a scale above the seed phases, an excellent sign for investment to continue in the future.
The rounds that have raised most capital along with Glovo (€150M) are Red Points that managed to close a round of €34M (after the round of €10M closed in 2018), Fintonic closed a new round led by ING Ventures and PSN of €19M (also closed a round in 2017 of €25M); Movo, which has closed its first big €20M round thanks to Seaya Ventures; or Returnly, the startup based in San Francisco and Madrid, has closed a €17M round led by TheVentureCity. The first quarter of the year closed with a cumulative figure of €365,326M, slightly higher than the figure obtained in the first quarter of 2018, where this figure reached €288.86M, which is €76.46M more than last year.
If you want to find out about all the investment in Spanish startups as well as the 100 most active investors in Spain, don’t forget to download our first Report on Investment in Spanish Startups of 2019.
APRIL INVESTMENT ROUND
Glovo: One of the most relevant and fastest growing companies in the delivery sector in the world, led by Óscar Pierre and with investment from important Spanish investors such as Seaya Ventures, Bonsai or Antai Venture Builder or business Angels such as Hugo Arévalo, Félix Ruiz, Bernardo Hernández or David Tomás, announced today at the end of the month a round of Series D financing of 150 million Euro ($169M) led by the venture capital firm, Lakestar, in which Drake, Korelya Capital and Idinvest also participated.
Red Points: the leading company in the detection and elimination of intellectual property infringements on the Internet, has closed a $38 million (34 million Euro) round of funding that brings the company’s total capital to $64 million. This consolidates the company’s global footprint in brand protection on the Internet. The round was led by Summit Partners with the participation of existing investors: Northzone, Mangrove, Eight Roads Ventures and Banco Sabadell.
Fintonic: the startup has closed a round of financing with an investment of 19 million Euro that values the company at 160 million. The operation was led by ING Ventures, which holds a 22% stake in the company, and was also backed by other relevant shareholders, including the PSN group. The company has recorded 74% growth in active users in the last 14 months, and currently has 700,000 and more than 2.8 million downloads. In the same period, it recorded a quarterly increase in revenues of 45%, which it expects to maintain thereafter to breakeven in Spain in the next six months.
Movo: The Spanish micromobility startup Movo closed a financing round of 20 million Euro, led by the insurance company Mutua Madrileña and the venture capital fund Seaya Ventures. Thanks to this operation, Mutua Madrileña and Seaya Ventures become, together with the Spanish firm Cabify, the main shareholders of Movo and reinforce its plans to lead the micromobility market in Spain and Latin America.
Returnly: the company that helps online stores and brands carry out returns has closed a $19 million round led by Craft Ventures. TheVentureCity has also invested in it. Returnly defines itself as a post-purchase payment company that allows consumers to make purchases using the money, they are refunded to buy the product they want, generating loyalty and increasing purchases. Returnly is headquartered in San Francisco and has two additional locations in Chicago and Madrid.
Clicpiso: Grupo La Finca, a leading company in the development of exclusive real estate projects and a pioneer in the construction of urban complexes that stand out for their security, privacy and quality, has invested 8 million Euro in Clicpiso, the startup that for the first time in the history of the sector has managed to digitize the purchase and sale of homes offering a 5-star customer experience.
Holded: the company has closed a 6 million Euro round of Series A financing led by Lakestar; existing investors such as Nauta Capital and Seedrocket 4Founders Capital have also participated in the operation. The new capital will accelerate the growth of the Barcelona-based startup in international markets and will allow the company to double its team and continue to develop the platform.
Playtomic: the reservation and match management application has captured 6 million Euro to continue working on the digitalization of the sector and the socialization of sport. The funds Optimizer Invest, GP Bullhound, as well as Felix Ruiz, founder of Tuenti and investor in numerous startups and Magnus Gottas, former Bridgepoint director, have participated in this round of financing.
Kantox: the company specializing in foreign exchange solutions for companies has closed its second venture debt agreement with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world’s most innovative companies and their investors. This 5 million Euro loan is the second financing agreement between Kantox and SVB, following the one in December 2017. The new agreement demonstrates the attractiveness of Kantox’s growth and confirms SVB’s profile of betting on the most disruptive projects.
X1Wind: PivotBuoy, X1 Wind’s new Single Point Mooring (SPM) system, has received 4 million Euro in investment funds from the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 program. A nine-partner consortium, led by X1 Wind, will install a prototype of the PivotBuoy in the test area of the Canary Islands Oceanic Platform (PLOCAN); the project has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of floating offshore wind energy. This new anchoring system aims to reduce the weight of the platform by up to 80% and the total costs by 50%, which would make floating wind power competitive. The aim of the project is to validate the advantages of the PivotBuoy system and other key innovations to reduce the costs of installation, operation and maintenance, opening the way to reach 50€/MWh in wind farms on a commercial scale.
Colvin: the startup has announced an extension of 2 million Euro in addition to its previous round; this time with the support of MIP and Mediaset Italy, which has accelerated Colvin’s international expansion process towards northern Europe. The startup has also announced its arrival in one of the world’s main cut flower markets: Holland, with the launch of shipments via the website. The e-commerce founded by Sergi Bastardas, Andrés Cester and Marc Olmedillo, has raised more than €11M in financial operations since the beginning of 2017.
Exoticca: the startup has closed a financing round of 2 million Euro led by Harbert European Growth Capital. The online platform specializing in long-distance travel adds to the €3.5m capital round that it closed in May 2018 with K Fund and Sabadell Venture Capital.
Exoticca is leading the digital transformation of the long journey market through its technological platform that allows travelers to buy long trips with multiple components completely online and at the best prices. The startup offers travel packages to more than 50 destinations around the world under the concept of “affordable luxury” with high level suppliers, but at reduced prices thanks to the disintermediation and curation of their products.
Decelera: Decelera, the worldwide deceleration program for techno-sustainable startups, has raised 1 million Euro in its second capital increase via prominent family offices and business angels such as Lucas Carne, co-founder of Privalia; Leandro Sigman, Chairman of the pharmaceutical corporation Insud Pharma; Tammy Beaulieu, business angel and member of the Beabloo management team; George Anson, founder of HarbourVest Partners and former president of Invest Europe-EVCA; Juan Carlos Ureta, Chairman and founder of Renta 4 Banco, and Karin Moussa, Private Equity CO-CEO EFG Hermes Investment Bank. Along with them, previous partners of the Decelera program have supported this capital increase, including Martin Varsavsky, Borja Escalada or the investor Manuel Matutes.
Bdeo: the Spanish insurtech company has closed an investment round of 1 million Euro with the support of the Spanish funds Big Sur and K Fund. Julio Pernía Aznar, CEO and co-founder of Bdeo, highlighted the significance of this operation for the company: “Not only is it important because of the financial support it provides, but especially because of the strategic support we receive from two of the most important investment funds in the Spanish scene”. Pernía insists: “The product is developed, and we already have success stories in Europe and Latin America. The objective of this round is to strengthen the team to scale the company, consolidating ourselves in the markets in which we already operate as the leading visual intelligence solution for companies”.
Trilema: Creas Impacto invested 1 million Euro in Trilema with the aim of supporting its consolidation as a leader in teacher training, its geographical expansion in Latin America (Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina in a first phase), the development of online training, as well as the creation of new digital products that support its new educational and management model. Trilema is a group that has developed its own educational model, the “Rubik model”, which includes its proposal for transformation through the simultaneous improvement of six fundamental aspects of school life: curriculum, methodology, evaluation, organization, leadership and personalization.
Syntonize: the Spanish digital consultancy firm Syntonize has exceeded 1 million Euro in investments for startups within its Farm project, a technological development program in which the company not only shares its knowledge, but also 10% of its annual turnover to bring to life the projects carried out from disruptive ideas that improve the life of the community and the productivity and efficiency of customers. So far, Syntonize has helped dozens of projects come to life thanks to its support, including Waybizz, Welever, Lola, Retiplus, Q-artzo, Airbify, Cityzn, Bookel, Brabbo, Fundera, Runin or Tender.co.
Mr.Noow: The manager of the mobile application Mr Noow has closed a new round of financing of a total of 900,000 million Euro, with the entrance of investors such as Lánzame Capital and entrepreneurs such as Germán Loewe, Iñaki Ecenarro, Andreas Mihalovits, Eduardo Sanchez-Colorado and Ellis Fuller, the latter two founders of SCRM Social Bigdata.
Sheetgo: the startup that allows you to create workflows from online spreadsheets has closed a round of financing led by Caixa Capital Risc. Sheetgo already has the backing of Angels, Juan Roig’s investment company; and Seedrocket 4Founders. The total amount of the round, including an ENISA loan, has reached one million dollars, around 890,000 Euro. Sheetgo will use these funds to expand and perfect its technology, aimed at improving the productivity of professionals and individuals, and continue its international expansion.
Cobee: the startup that unifies, simplifies and automates the management of social benefits and flexible remuneration for employees, has successfully closed an investment round of 375,000 Euro in which Banco Sabadell BStartup has participated. The operation was led by Encomenda Smart Capital and also has the participation of Lanai Partners and Abac Nest. This injection of capital comes after almost a year of operation, in which Cobee has developed a technological tool capable of simplifying and automating all the procedures necessary for any company to have a flexible remuneration plan that allows it to retain talent and increase the motivation of its employees.
Eccocar: the company has closed a financing round of 495,000 Euro that will be used to implement its technology and promote the digitalization of the Rent a Car sector. The Spanish car sharing startup has benefited from the leadership of the Valgine Group, CMC XXI and Pinama, accompanied by the Galician capital funds Xesgalicia and Vigo Activo, and several business angels.
RheoDx and Derma Innovate: the crowdfunding platform Capital Cell closed the first two campaigns of the year for a total of 750,000 Euro. RheoDx and Derma Innovate have raised 350,000 and 367,075 Euro, respectively. Europe’s online investment platform specializing in biomedicine has several campaigns worth 3 million Euro active now or in preparation for the next three months, including Mowoot, Glycoscience, Innitius and Abi Global Health.