The month of July follows the inertia and trend of June and closes the first half of the year with an accumulated investment of €578M, partly thanks to the two good post-pandemic months, the last two:
July ended with €118M and June with €158M invested in Spanish startups. If investment is maintained in the second part of the year, or if it slightly increases, we will be able to confirm that investment in Spanish startups could increase again during 2020. The accumulated investment in the first half of 2019 was €592 million, only 20 million more than this year.
Public operations in 2020 stand at 176 thanks to the 35 operations last July, a smaller figure than those obtained during the same period in 2019: 206. For yet another month, most of the operations take place in Seed and Preseed phases, and the €17M round of GOI Travel led by Moira Capital Partners stands out. Other significant rounds in July were Odilo (€8.7M), Quibim (€8M), Yego (€7.5M) and Voicemod (€7.07M).
Atrys Health: the startup focused on the health sector has completed a capital increase of €35 million, in which high-level investors have participated, including Onchena, Inversiones Industriales Serpis and Inversiones Inmobiliarias Avilés, as well as the company’s own management. The underwriting banks for Atrys’ capital increase were Andbank, the global coordinator of the operation, EBN Banco, GVC Gaesco, and Renta 4, and Norgestión acted as registered advisor. Castañeda Abogados and Pinsent Masons acted as legal advisors to the operation.
GOI Travel: Moira Capital Partners, a private equity investment firm specializing in direct investments in innovative Spanish companies, will acquire around 50% of GOI, the first logistics operator exclusively focused on the transport, assembly, and installation of bulky goods. Moira will invest €17 million through a capital increase, the amount of which will be used to finance the Business Plan, mainly the working capital required to undertake the rapid growth of its income and the strengthening of its human team. In this operation, GOI has been advised by Jordi Nieto from Ennegram Capital Partners.
Odilo: the Spanish scale-up that offers a solution to develop unlimited and collaborative learning experiences adapted to each organization and to the needs of each user, has closed a round of €8.7 million. The operation was led by Swanlaab Venture Factory, also adding new international investors such as Endeavor Catalyst and with the support of CDTI and its current investors KIBO VC, JME VC, Active VP, who are betting on the company once again.
Quibim: the medtech company has raised €8 million of financing in an investment round co-led by Amadeus Capital Partners and Adara Ventures, with the participation of Apex Ventures, Partech, Crista Galli Ventures, and the current shareholders, including TechTransfer UPV, a fund managed by Clave Capital, and Angels, an investment company owned by entrepreneur Juan Roig.
Yego: the startup focused on the mobility market, specifically in the motorcycle sharing market, has closed a financing round that reaches €7.5 million with the main investor being Ponooc, of Dutch origin. Yego designed a roadmap at the beginning of this year, when it estimated the closure of this round, which included a series of objectives including reaching 2,600 vehicles, compared to the 1,800 available so far; as well as the expansion of the platform in two new Spanish cities, in addition to Barcelona and Valencia, where it is already present.
Voicemod: the company focused on the voice avatar system, has closed a Series A financing round with which it has achieved €6.8 million. The operation led by BITKRAFT Ventures will allow the company to develop state-of-the-art gaming tools and voice content to create audio experiences different from those currently available. The funds raised by the company will also be used to launch various mobile applications, expand its presence in Asian markets and invest in voice and speech conversion technologies based on neural networks.
Goin: the startup founded in Barcelona for automatic savings and simplified investment, has closed a new financing round of €5 million to expand throughout Europe. Anthemis, the British fund specialized in fintech, led the operation, and reinforced its position in the company together with K Fund and Encomenda Smart Capital. Other investors have also taken part in the operation, such as the leading communications group in Spain, Atresmedia; the North American fund Hard Yaka, led by the billionaire and leading investor in Twitter, Greg Kidd; the number 2 in Facebook, Javier Oliván; the founder of the first Spanish unicorn (Letgo), Enrique Linares, and TA Ventures, an investor in companies such as Wallapop.
Telum Therapeuthics: focused on the development of an alternative to chemical antibiotics to solve the problem of multi-resistance of bacteria, Telum has closed an investment round of more than €4 million. To do so, it has relied on the main collaboration of the investment vehicle Invivo Ventures. Telum Therapeutics will use the funds raised in the funding round to advance to clinical phases in one of its candidates against infections caused by multi-resistant bacteria and a second compound with a greater range of action to advanced preclinical phases.
Ironhack: the European leader in technology training has closed a round of €3.8 million. The operation took place at the height of the COVID-19 crisis when the pandemic highlighted the need to accelerate the digitization of many sectors and companies and to increase talent with new digital skills worldwide. The round investors were Ironhack’s two main current partners: JME Ventures and BrightEye Ventures, who continue to support the company.
DeepUII: the startup that has developed a new system for the diagnosis of early stage sepsis has closed a round of €3.5 million. An operation in which Alta Life Sciences (Alta LS) and the French company Kurma Partners participated. At the same time, the investment round has counted on the collaboration of investors such as Sofimac Innovation, through its own fund Pertinence Invest 2, advised by Mérieux Equity Partners and Fond-ICOpyme, managed by Axis (ICO). The operation, classified as a Series A round, will provide the biotech company with an injection that will cover its financial needs to validate the technology and start developing the first equipment.
BCN3D: the research group that has created the disruptive 3D printing technology IDEX, has raised €2.8 million thanks to the support of Mondragon Corporation and CDTI (Center for the Development of Industrial Technology). The operation was carried out through Innvierte and the venture capital fund managed by Clave Capital, together with JME Venture Capital, Accurafy4 and Danobatgroup.
Made of Genes: the personalized health company has announced the closing of a €2.4 million pre-Series A capital increase round. The resources will be allocated to the launch and promotion of its VITAL and HEALTH lines, as well as the new product, Made of Genes #REACTIVATE, an innovative worldwide test that combines the integrative analysis of genetic, serological and metabolic markers aimed at offering a comprehensive response to the threat of COVID-19.
Safe365: the company has closed its second round worth €2 million and led by the venture capital firm Mangrove Capital Partners. The round was also attended by Didac Lee and the Atresmedia fund. The company will use the funds raised to improve the product and the strategy to start generating income.
Cuideo: Spain’s leading digital home beauty treatment platform has closed a new financing round of €1.6 million with the aim of starting its internationalization in Europe and establishing its leadership in the Spanish market. The main investor in this round has been Alma Mundi Ventures, through its insurtech fund specialized in technology companies that contribute value in the insurance field. The main historical shareholders of Cuideo have also repeated: the family office Inderhabs Investments, the Majorcan family office Soller Invest and the Godó Group.
Payflow: the company that offers financial well-being to its users, has closed a round of €1.6 million amid the COVID-19 crisis by top-level investors (local and international) such as Rocket Internet, Lanai Partners, Itnig, Abac Nest, Michael Benabou and Clement Benoit, among others. Having been in operation only three months and in spite of the economic situation, Payflow has more than 30 companies that trust in its innovative social benefit and with the injection of this round it intends to expand its team by hiring the best talent and being able to improve its product.
Champions Games: the startup creator of the fantasy sport game Mister Fantasy, has closed a pre-seed funding round of €1 million led by PlayVentures, an international early stage investment fund specialized in gaming, and Encomenda, the fund co-founded by Carlos Blanco and Oriol Juncosa. The startup has managed to close this operation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a difficult climate where investments in the gaming sector have collapsed worldwide.
We Are Knitters: Bewater We Are Knitters FICC (closed-end collective investment fund) is the new fund of Bewater Funds. The investment amount is €800,000 between Bewater We are Knitters FICC and Renta 4 Bewater I FCR. From now on, professional investors who wish to do so can buy units of the fund after registering and qualifying on the manager’s website.
Finnu: the fintech startup has closed a €700,000 pre-seed operation with the aim of launching the solutions developed by the platform and solving the problem of the lack of personal loans in the Mexican and Latin American market. Finnu is a mobile application that allows personal loans to be accessed online without the need for a credit check.
Designable: the Valencian startup has closed a financing round of €488,000, 50% more than expected. Aimed at investors from all over Europe, the operation was carried out through the Crowdcube platform and more than 250 investors from all over the world participated. In total, more than 250 investors from all over the world participated in the round. What is most striking is the origin of the funds, from more than 20 different countries including Spain, the United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, Chile, and the United Arab Emirates.
HUBUC: the platform has closed a financing round of €350,000 in which some of the main investors in the tech ecosystem in Barcelona are participating. Founded by Ignacio Javierre and Hasan Nawaz at the end of 2019, the fintech company is a banking as a platform solution and is currently available in the European market for companies that want to offer banking services to their clients as part of their current product offering. Investors include SeedRocket 4Founders, Lanai Partners, Reus Capital, and renowned business angels such as Albert Armengol and Jesús Monleón, as well as mentors from BBVA, Santander and Deloitte. This is the company’s first round (pre-seed), and it aims to consolidate HUBUC in Europe.
Twenix: the B2B startup in the e-learning sector has closed an investment round of €335,000 led by JME Ventures. This round also had the economic support of different business angels and the accompaniment of internal investors with key profiles for the growth of the company in different areas. This is the company’s second round of investment after the first one in 2019, when it raised €100,015 with the participation of several key entrepreneurs of the ecosystem, mainly from the Internet sector, to help in the B2B sales and digital product areas.
Connected Life: this digital platform has raised €374,418, which is 125% (the legal maximum allowed in Spain) of the total of the round they had planned through Fellow Funders. This has been possible thanks to the support of 33 investors, who have believed in the project from the beginning. The Chamberí Ventures fund also participated in the round, a private investment fund that decided to bet on the project due to the clear innovative component of the project.
Eversense: this project has closed a financing round of €356,000 with the aim of strengthening its commercial position. Sodena (a public company attached to the Government of Navarre) continues to support the company’s business program, with €190,000 corresponding to the participative loans it was granted in 2016, with the University of Navarre’s R&D&I Tech Transfer fund. Eversense has also been supported by Start Up Capital Navarra with a capital increase of €166,000. In addition, it relied on the University of Navarra fund and the management carried out by Clave.
Ufounders: the platform that guides entrepreneurs, helps them understand the market and innovate, has raised in its first round of funding of €350,000 supported by private investors and public entities. Its goal for 2020 is to train 200 entrepreneurs and raise financing for 10 startups.
Mooevo: the internationally patented device developed by the company Genius eMobility Systems, which allows a conventional wheelchair to be powered by a motor platform, has closed a round of €330,147 through Fellow Funders, which is 120% of the total target of the round. The operation was supported by 138 investors, many of them non-professionals.
Futboltek: the Basque company specialized in the design of technological tools for the individualized training of football players, has closed its second capital increase for a sum of €300.000. The objective of the operation is to grow at an international level. This increase has been led by two renowned entities: GEROA PENTSIOAK EPSV and ITZARRI EPSV. Their belief in the startup is based on the assurance of the need for this injection to be able to face the commercial efforts in foreign markets.
AuthUSB: the startup has closed its first round of investment, which reached €250,000, and in which it has had the legal and strategic advice of Taboada Abogados and Marine Instruments as the main investor. It also participated in the Xesgalicia round, a risk capital entity of the Xunta de Galicia oriented to support the growth of the Galician business network, through its Fondo Galicia Iniciativas Emprendedoras, and VigoActivo, a risk capital entity mainly participated by the Consorcio de la Zona Franca de Vigo, which promotes the renovation of the Galician industrial network by betting on innovative projects in sectors with emerging technologies.
Gamersfy: the platform that makes it possible for anyone to earn money from anywhere while playing their favorite video games, has closed a funding round of €230,000. The initial goal was €200,000, but within minutes the startup reached 115%, the maximum that the company wanted to accept, with waiting lists for investors who got left out.
Codeoscopic: The venture capital firm Bonsai Partners has signed an agreement to take a stake in the insurtech Codeoscopic, a leader in the Spanish connectivity market thanks to the more than 1,700 brokers that operate with Avant2, its insurance multitasking system. The operation expands Bonsai’s portfolio in the technological startup scenario and will allow Codeoscopic to deepen the line of growth of the last few years, as well as to explore new business lines and its expansion to international markets.
Nozomi Networks: Telefónica, through its corporate venture capital vehicle, Telefónica Innovation Ventures (TIV), has made an investment in Nozomi Networks Inc, a leading company in security and industrial control systems present in 16 countries that allows real-time visualization of cyber risk, as well as management and improvement of the resilience of industrial operations. This investment represents a strategic commitment to increase Telefónica’s collaboration with this cybersecurity leader, which specializes in protecting operational technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructures in sectors such as energy, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, logistics and the automotive industry.