I am a VC at Armilar, covering Enterprise Software/B2B SaaS and Blockchain/Fintech.
In my free time, I write startup-related topics, including this newsletter (Yes, I agree, I am boring!). Content, opinions, and typos are my own!
Feedback is welcome.
- Web Summit is back! It is the largest and most international event in Portugal and I am looking forward to it!
- I will also attend Slush, one of the largest startup events in Europe. Let me know if you will be around
- 2021 Q3 activity
- During Q3, there were 168 rounds (of which 32 in Portugal and 136 in Spain) and €1.4Bn (!!!) invested in Iberia (of which €377M in Portugal and €1Bn in Spain)
- Versus the previous quarter, there were -4% rounds (175 vs. 168). Pre-seed and seed rounds in Spain were particularly impacted during the summer (- 29 rounds in total and -23% vs. q2). On the opposite side, post-seed rounds in Iberia increased (+20 rounds and +75% vs. q2) – it seems series A and beyond investors didn’t have summer…
- Versus the previous quarter, more money was invested in Iberia (+78% vs. q2; €1.4Bn vs. €769). Besides the higher number of series A and beyond rounds, 4 €100M+ rounds contributed to a good Q3
- Going forward and until the end of the year, I expect a quarter in the line with previous (55-75 financing rounds a month, high valuation multiples, etc.)
- Last few days, 3 new unicorns were announced with Spanish Roots – JobandTalent, Devo, and Copado. I have also heard rumors of a new unicorn in Portugal… this could represent an increase of 2x the number of unicorns in the last 12 months, if still announced this year
- New funds announcement
- Eatable Adventures announced its first fund, dedicated to Foodtech startups and with a €50M target
- Faber announced a new fund focused on Climate and Ocean tech startups, backed by European Investment Fund (EIF), Banco do Fomento, Sociedade Francisco Manuel dos Santos, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and Champalimaud Foundation with a €30M target
- Faber also announced new additions to the team, including 3 new partners, dedicated to Ocean and Climate tech
- EIF and Banco do Fomento announced a few months ago €75M fund of funds for Blue Ocean, so it is foreseeable additional funds being announced soon
- Portugal Ventures announced a €10M pool to invest in tourism startups (apply here until November 15)
- Trojan Horse was a Unicorn announced a new fund targeting Portugueses creative industries, with a €10M target and backed by SIC
- Barlon Capital announced a €6M fund
- In Portugal, the 2 main business angels association “merged” and created a new entity named Investors Portugal. Startup Portugal also announced a new leadership
- Spanish tech report
- Venture Capital Survey sentiment by EIF
- Q3 ’21 European VC fundraising note by EuroVC
- Your Cap Table is your life! by Carlos Espinal
- Three Methods of Venture Capital: A Guide to Navigating a Manic Market as a Venture Capitalist by Gil Dibner
- Alpha, beta, and an inverted venture risk curve by Gil Dibner
Click here for additional resources, including
August
Portugal
| Startup | Amount (‘000€) | Investors |
|---|---|---|
| JScrambler https://jscrambler.com/ | 13,000 | Ace Capital Partners, Sonae IM, Portugal Ventures |
| Uphill https://uphillhealth.com/ | 3,500 | Brighteye Ventures, Mustard Seed Maze, Bynd Venture Capital, Caixa Capital, Grupo Luz Saúde |
| Swood https://www.useswood.com/ | 2,500 | ao³/IOB |
| Taikai https://taikai.network/ | 2,000 | FinLab EOS VC Fund, Bright Pixel, Portugal Ventures |
| Reckon.ai https://www.reckon.ai/ | 1,500 | Armilar Venture Partners, Portugal Ventures, Wisenext, Bright Pixel |
| Bairro https://bairro.shop/ | 1,200 | Leonid Dovladbegyan (Vprok.ru – X5 Retail Group,) Dmitry Shklyar, Alex Vasiliev, Andrey Tsytsenko |
| DocDigitizer https://www.docdigitizer.com/ | 800 | Bewater |
| Paycritical https://www.paycritical.com/ | 400 | Wisenext |
| Watgrid https://www.watgrid.com/ | Unknown | Portugal Ventures |
| Track On Performance https://trackonperformance.com/ | Unknown | Olisipo Way |
| Appsnacity https://appsnapcity.com/ | Unknown | Olisipo Way |
| VelvetFormula https://velvetformula.com/ | Unknown | Shilling Capital Partners |
Spain
| Startup | Amount (‘000€) | Investors |
|---|---|---|
| Copado https://www.copado.com/ | 118,926 | Insight Partners, IBM Ventures, Declaration Partners, DG Ventures, Softbank Vision |
| Factorial https://factorialhr.com/ | 67,958 | Tiger Global,CRV, Creandum, Point Nine, K Fund |
| Seedtag https://www.seedtag.com/ | 33,979 | Oakley Capital, Adara Ventures, All Iron Ventures |
| Genially https://genial.ly/ | 17,000 | 645 Ventures, Owl Ventures, DN Capital, Brighteye Ventures, JME Ventures, GP Bullhound, FJLab, Market One Capital, Athos Capital |
| Housfy https://housfy.com/ | 10,000 | Seaya Ventures, Torch Capital, DN Capital, Cathay Capital, Aldea Ventures, CDTI |
| Onna Technologies https://onna.com/ | 9,400 | Unknown |
| WoW https://www.wowshop.com/ | 8,000 | Athos Capital, FJ Labs |
| Ukio https://www.stayukio.com/ | 7,645 | Breega, Heartcore, Partech, Iñaki Berenguer (Coverwallet), Avi Meir (Travelperk), Bynd |
| 53Biologics https://53biologics.com/ | 7,000 | GAEA Inversión, Inveready |
| Skydweller https://skydweller.aero/ | 6,796 | Leonardo S.p.A, Marlinspike Capital, Advection Growth Capital |
| Troop https://www.trooptravel.com/ | 6,796 | Madrona Venture Group, Epic Ventures, Plug And Play, Conexo Ventures, All Iron Ventures, Travel Tech 1-Top Seed Labs, Founders Factory, Madrona Venture Group, Epic Ventures, Plug And Play, Conexo Ventures, All Iron Ventures, Travel Tech 1-Top Seed Labs, Founders Factory, Rolf Schromgens (Trivago), Rob Greyber (Egencia) Barney Harford (Uber), Jim Lucier, Mike Eberhard |
| Katoo https://www.katooapp.com/ | 6,116 | K Fund, Expa, FJ Labs, Soma Capital, Shilling Capital Partners,GFC, Otium Capital, Sasha Michaud, Marcos Alves |
| Seqera Labs https://seqera.io/ | 4,690 | Talis Capital, Speedinvest, BoxOne Ventures, Iniciativa Chan Zuckerberg |
| GreenE https://greene.es/ | 4,547 | CDTI, Moira Capital Desarrollo Kappa |
| Frenetic https://frenetic.ai/ | 4,500 | Bonsai Ventures, Join Capital, 42Cap, Big Sur Ventures, Bankinter |
| Gamestry https://gamestry.com/ | 4,200 | Goodwater Capital, Target Global, Kibo Ventures, 4Founders Capital |
| The Breach Studios https://thebreachstudios.com/ | 3,500 | MY.GAMES Venture Capital |
| Aelix Therapeutics https://www.aelixtherapeutics.com/ | 1,858 | CDTI, Caixa Capital Risc, Ysios Capital |
| Vonzu https://www.vonzu.es/ | 1,500 | Conexo Ventures |
| GoKoan https://www.gokoan.com/ | 1,200 | Sabadell Venture Capital, Athos Capital, Draper B1, Instituto Valenciano de Finanzas (IVF) |
| Gurucall https://gurucall.io/ | 1,200 | Félix Ruiz, Paco Ávila, Hugo Arévalo, FJ Labs, Eduardo Sicilia |
| RepScan https://www.repscan.com/ | 1,200 | Dídac Lee, Javier Llorente, David López, Josep María Frigola, Javier Asarta, Juan Carlos Tous, ENISA |
| Ixorigue https://www.ixorigue.com/ | 1,000 | Finaves, Araelec, Desarrollos Agro Intensivos, Antón Arriola, Borja Moreno de los Ríos |
| Jotelulu https://jotelulu.com/ | 1,000 | Big Sur Ventures, Bankinter |
| Prestalo https://prestalo.com/ | 1,000 | Unknown |
| ScrapAd https://www.scrapad.com/ | 1,000 | Unknown |
| Getlife https://getlife.es/ | 1,000 | Chris Adelsbach, Marshmallow, Railsbank, Atom Bank |
| Nuclio Digital School https://nuclio.school/?lang=en | 1,000 | Sabadell Venture Capital |
| Taclia https://www.taclia.com/ | 1,000 | Abac Nest, Finaves, Nacional Re, Juan Velayos |
| The Beemine Lab https://thebeeminelab.com/ | 900 | Faraday Venture Partners, R2, Keith Ventures, Juan Luis Ramírez Salgado, Miguel Ángel Capriles, Juan Capurro Boltendhal |
| FrontWave Imaging https://www.frontwave.io/ | 750 | Capitall Cell |
| Celtarys Research https://www.celtarys.com/ | 650 | XesGalicia, VigoActivo, Unknown Business Angels |
| Ubikare https://ubikare.io/ | 650 | Mutua Madrileña |
| Rand https://www.rand.network/ | 600 | Inveready, JME, The Data Venture, Outlier Ventures, Unknown Business Angels |
| Pulpo https://pulpo.es/ | 550 | Hedosophia, Ocean Flow, Lanai Partners, GVC Gaesco, Oscar Pierre (Glovo), Sacha Michaud (Glovo), Carlota Pi (HolaLuz), Jose Manuel Villanueva (Privalia), Inés Urés (Deliveroo) |
| Tugesto https://tugesto.com/ | 350 | Angels Capital |
| Tot-em https://www.tot-em.com/ | 315 | Startupexplore |
| Beseif https://beseif.com/ | 300 | Easo Ventures, Startupxplore |
| TradEAsy https://web.tradeasy.tech/ | 280 | Startupxplore, Top 5 Partners, ENISA, Unknow Business Angels |
| Yakk https://yakk.es/ | 249 | Unknown |
| Bersity https://www.bersity.com/ | 240 | The Valley Venture Capital, Apprentium Ventures, Unknown Business Angels and Family offices |
| Cash The Closet https://itcloset.com/ | 215 | Cabiedes |
| RawData https://agrawdata.com/ | 200 | Fondo Bolsa Social |
| VENPED https://www.venped.com/ | 200 | Draper B1, Unitatea, Unknown Business Angels |
| InVerbis Analytics https://web.inverbisanalytics.com/ | 100 | Unirisco |
| GameSquare https://gamesquareapp.com/ | 100 | Startupexplore |
| Nuage Therapeutics https://nuagetx.com/ | Unknown | Asabys Partners |
| Nectios https://nectios.com/es | Unknown | 4founders capital |
| Amphora Logistics https://amphoralogistics.com/ | Unknown | Encomenda |
| Xpeer https://xpeer.app/ | Unknown | Encomenda |
| Doctomatic https://www.doctomatic.com/ | Unknown | Encomenda |
| Napptive https://napptive.com/ | Unknown | Encomenda |
| Delitbee https://delitbee.com/ | Unknown | TheVentureCity |
| Taste It https://tasteit.es/ | Unknown | TheVentureCity |
Iberian investors, investing abroad
| Country of the investor | Investor | Amount invested (000’€) | Startup |
|---|---|---|---|
| ES | Kibo Ventures | 577,642 | Sorare |
| ES | Mundi Ventures | 178,389 | Bolttech |
| ES | Seaya Ventures | 25,484 | Xepelin |
| ES | All Iron Ventures | 3,518 | Tooth Fairy |
| ES | Nauta Capital | 2,718 | Trustshare |
| ES | Nina Capital | 2,718 | Cardiomatics |
| PT | Bynd | 1,173 | Smartia |
| ES | THCap | 1,006 | Gallea |
| ES | Conexo Ventures | Unknown | Predidatect |
| ES | Encomenda | Unknown | Remitee |
| ES | JME Ventures | Unknown | Get Juno |
| ES | JME Ventures | Unknown | Vital |
- October 3: From Start-to-Table application deadline
- October 3: DataChallenge application deadline
- October 5-7: South Summit Madrid
- October 8: Portugal Ventures Call Fostering Innovation in Tourism application deadline
- October 14: Telefonica Open Future application deadline
- October 15-16: Future.Works Tech Conference
- October 17: Las Rozas Incubation program application deadline
- November 1-4: Web Summit
- November 2: Women in tech Global Awards
- November 2: ESA Business Application Calls deadline
- November 5: BerriUp 14th Acceleration program application deadline
- November 7: La Nave Acceleration program application deadline
- November 12: Demium Madrid, Malaga, Barcelona, Valencia and Lisbon application deadline
- November 14: Portugal de Startup em Startup application deadline
- Novermber 29: Wannased application deadline
- November 29: Portugal Ventures Call Açores application deadline
- November 30: Fundo + Plus Casa do Impacto application deadline
- December 15-16: Valencia Digital Summit
- Open: Wayra Blockchain Activation Programme application
- Always open: Made of Lisboa perks – Lisbon Growth program; Startup Lisboa incubation; CTT 1520 startup program; Gohub; Ufounders; Lanzadera Decks and Docks, Nauta Labs
Country | Startup | Type of transaction | Value of the transaction
- PT | Huub | M&A | Unknown
- PT | Zaask | M&A | Unknown
- PT | Mercadão | M&A | Unknown
- ES | Lola Market | M&A | Unknown
- PT | Moxy | M&A | Unknown
- ES | PlayOn Content | M&A | Unknown
- ES | PlaySace | M&A | Unknown
Activity report
See also