July ends with €137M invested in Spanish startups

investments july 2019
  • At the end of July, the overall total of 2019 reached 613.253 million euros compared with 619.957 million euros last year.
  • All the signs are that investment will decrease in the next years compared to last year.

July closed with 137,027 million euros invested in startups in Spain, a very interesting figure but somewhat lower than the investment seen in the same month in 2018 (188.56 million euros). This figure reflects that the accumulated investment in Spain following the closing of the seventh month is maintained at very similar numbers to those seen last year.

July closed with an accumulated investment of 613.253 million euros compared with the 619.957 million euros seen in the same period of 2018, a difference of 6.7 million euros. All the signs are that investment will decrease in the upcoming months, given that last August 2018 the 400 million euro investment committed by Naspers in Letgo catapulted the accumulated investments and led 2018 to close on a record high of investments in startups.

In terms of the number of transactions, July ended with 24 transactions, with a yearly summary of 114 public consultations compared to 128 seen last year, in 2018.

Concerning the most outstanding investment rounds, for yet another year Travelperk managed a new round of 53 million euros, attracting foreign funds like Kinnevik, partners of DST Global, Target Global, Felix Capital, Sunstone, and LocalGlobe.

A new investment round by Fever also stands out, with four having been carried out in the past years, of 31 million euros which provides continuity to the investment round carried out in July 2018 to a total of 17 million euros. Rakuten, Atresmedia and Accel Partner are the funds leading the current round. Other operations also stand out, including Prontopiso (14M€), Overture (17,95M€) and Ironhack (4M€).

OPERATIONS IN JULY 2019

TravelPerk: Founded in 2015 by Avi Meir (CEO) and Javier Suárez (CPO), TravelPerk is at the forefront of the business travel revolution. The startup closed a round of 53 million euros with support by Kinnevik, Partners of DST Global, Target Global, Felix Capital, Sunstone, and LocalGlobe. These investors had already taken part in the last round in October. The resources of this round will go towards TravelPerk’s expansion, which expects to grow 300% compared to 2018. The capital increase will also boost recruitment within the company, which today counts with 240 employees. This figure is expected to reach 430 by the end of the year and 580 in 2020.

Fever: Fever has closed an investment round of 31 million euros led by Rakuten. The transaction has also attracted previous shareholders including Atresmedia and Accel Partners. Fever aims to use the funds it has collected (62 million euros) towards its international expansion, disembarking every two or three months in the main cities of Europe and the United States. The company, which already generates 70% of its business outside Spain, is tapping into a business line christened ‘Fever Originals’, which actively uses available data to help brands to design new entertainment experiences. This model, in which Fever charges a fee per user, already makes up 20% of the company’s income.

Prontopiso: The real estate agency that guarantees the sale of a home in less than 90 days has extended its credit line to around 14 million euros. The extension has been led by Inveready and has also involved the participation of Sabadell Venture Capital and other private investors. The company will allocate this funding to finance transactions throughout 2019 and 2020.

Ironhack: The Spanish company with 9 campuses in the United States, Europe and Latin America, has announced an investment round – the second in two years – of 4 million dollars (3.6 million euros) led by JME Venture Capital. The total raised by Ironhack up to now amounts to 7 million euros. All Iron Ventures and Brighteye Ventures are among investors in this round. This capital injection will enable Ironhack to position itself as the leading technology school at a global level, increasing the products it offers as well as strengthening its expansion in Latin America. Additionally, it will enable Ironhack to grow its staff, creating new jobs within the company.

Finizens: The wealth management company specialising in investments and heritage assets has announced a capital increase worth 3.3 million euros, with 8 million euros having been injected by shareholders in the company since it was founded. This capital increase asserts Finizens’s position as the robo-advisor in Spain that has gained the most investor support and institutional backup. This transaction translated into new investors injecting capital in the company both at a national and international level, and shareholders stepping up their participation.

Predictiva: The technological company specialising in Artificial Intelligence to automate quality and compliance control processes in call centres, has closed a funding round of 2.6 million euros. The capital injection will enable the company to accelerate its growth in Spain and to undertake its international expansion plan in the U.S and Latin America. The round of financing was led by Swanlaab Venture Factory, a Spanish-Israeli fund manager with offices in Madrid and Tel Aviv, alongside Sabadell Venture Capital and the European financing programme I+D+i Horizon 2020. The advisors for this transaction were Fourlaw and Across Legal.

Validated ID: Specialising in electronic signature and digital identity, the Barcelona-based firm Validated ID has closed a financing round of approximately 2 million euros. The round was led by Caixa Capital Risc, Criteria Caixa’s asset risk management company, and by Randstad Innovation fund, Randstad’s corporate venture fund. It also involved the participation of founders, former partners and Cuatrecasas Ventures, an investment vehicle focusing on startups, launched by law firm Cuatrecasas.

Sp Control Technologies: The company has closed a financing round of 1.3 million euros to foster the entry of its software Frenetic, based on artificial intelligence into the market. The investment round was led by German fund 42Cap, and also saw the participation of investors of the first round last October, namely Big Sur Ventures, Bankinter and Busy Angels.

GeoDB: Spain’s Blockchain and Big Data startup GeoDB has closed a financing round of 1,080,000 euros through investment crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. With resources obtained, the company will invest in the platform’s technological development and international business and will expand its technological development team, which is currently made up of nine engineers. In total, 604 people of 48 different nationalities have invested in GeoDB’s financing round, which has Next Chance Invest, Levo Capital and PadeInvest among its main investors.

Picker: The Catalan company Picker has closed an investment round that attracted 650,000 euros. The company aims to boost its technological development and to expand its line of business. In this round, Picker has attracted private equity worth 592,000 euros and public capital from the Enisa fund amounting to 58,000 euros. Investors in this round include the funds Lanai Partners and Reus Capital Partners and other Business Angels like the founders of the app Badi, Albert Armengol and Cesar Isern, a former executive of Pinterest. Picker’s aim is for users to discover the best products shared by people they know, who are referred to as ‘Pickers.’

Dentaltix: The online platform for dental products, Dentaltix has raised 500,000 euros in a new financing round led by the funds Cabiedes and Bewater Funds. Dentalfix seeks to transform and digitise the dental sector and therefore the total sum of money raised in the financing round will be allocated to the platform’s consolidation in Spain and Europe. In Europe, where they are already present, they are seeking to strengthen their position in France, Portugal, Italy and the United Kingdom.

LexGo App: The company has closed its first financing round worth 330,000 euros in a transaction led by Akola Venture, IESE investors and other business angels, and received a loan by ENISA. LexGo App aims to replicate the model that brought it success in Mexico and Portugal in 2020. They also aim to become the leading technology platform for legal assistance in southern Europe. Its plans also involve the possibility of investing in the technical development of the platform to optimise the process of providing legal services.

Project Lobster: The online brand of graduated sunglasses has closed its first seed investment round at 300,000 euros in a transaction led by Cabiedes and Partners, together with other investor members of great relevance including Abac Nest and Angel Club. With this new capital injection, Project Lobster plans to continue growing and to reach a turnover of a million euros in 2019. That’s why, as well as the establishments it already has in Valencia and Barcelona, the startup continues to expand and is getting set to open new shops this year, including an innovative space in Madrid in which customers will be able to enjoy an experience that goes beyond shopping.

Emérita legal: Five months after Emérita Legal came into the market, the startup has managed to close a financing round it had set itself to reach the next phase of its business model. The financing round was opened in Startupxplore with the aim to raise 100,000 euros, but they have managed to reach, and significantly exceed, the maximum of 125,000 euros allowed by the Spanish Securities Market Commission (CNMV) in just four days, completing the 135,000 euros secured through private investors and incorporating different legal and technological profiles that contributed to improving its position in the market.

Allergeneat: The app revolutionising the food sector has closed its first seed investment round worth at 200,000 euros in a transaction led by  GESTCAP ASESORES, a Barcelona-based independent financial advisory company. The app offers users an improved experience when shopping, by avoiding having to see the labels of food products and therefore reducing time spent shopping. It also offers brands and supermarket chains a service that provides added value to its clients by getting to know their preferences, enabling them to define their strategies and increase sales. The startup has confirmed that it will announce, in the next months, the integration of five more big supermarket chains which it is already working with to include them in the app.

Hannun: The startup that makes hand-made furniture with quality wood has closed a financing round through the platform Startupxplore in 48 hours and has significantly surpassed the maximum amount allowed by the CNMV. In total, the company has raised 187,500 euros. Aitor Sancho, a business angel with over 20 investments and two exits up to now, was one of the most important investors in this round.

Coinscrap: The startup has closed an investment round of 180,000 euros which saw the participation of Indexa Capital, Fernando Cabello-Astolfi (Aplazame) and BBooster Ventures. This startup of Galician origin led by David Conde, Óscar Barba and Juan Carlos López offers a platform for managing personal finances through automatic saving rules and the principles of behavioural economics. “With this new investment round we want to establish ourselves as one of the main references in Spain among micro-saving platforms,” David Conde, managing director of Coinscrap, said.

“Also, our road map involves scaling the product to international markets for which the participation of Bbooster Ventures is ket,” he added.

Acqustic: The 11th edition of Bbooster Ventures has invested 150,000 euros in Acqustic by the means of a convertible loan. Acqustic is a platform for musicians who are starting their careers. Artists can have access to over 150 concerts every month at bars, restaurants, hotels and brands. They can also upload their music to Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and over 100 streaming platforms while enjoying exclusive rights of use, as well as managing all legal procedures related to their profession online.