How much money have raised the 17 most relevant technological startups of 2021 and what they have used: international expansion, product development and talent

One of the formulas - and possibly the most important - that startups have to get capital is through financing rounds.

This instrument is a process for which a company, thanks to the participation of investors, achieves an amount that needs for the development of your business, Debitoor explains.Investors become part of the entity's share capital, becoming partners.

This method is an easy way to find financing for emerging companies that resort to banking entities, so it is used by many companies to grow and achieve their objectives.

Within the financing rounds you can find several types such as the Seed (seeds, in Spanish), the first one that is done and that, normally, comes from the savings of the founders themselves, or the A series, series B...in which a greater capital is invested and that are dedicated to different purposes.

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Business Insider Spain has analyzed the financing rounds issued so far by the most relevant technological startups to which, according to investors, we must take into account during 2021 in order to discern what the capital collected with.

Although the objectives are different depending on the activity that each company develops, most are included in aspects such as the consolidation of its growth, the development of the product, the increase in the template or the international expansion.

In most cases these purposes are combined after what has been received in the same round, for example, to hire more personnel and prepare the opening of new offices, or each of those carried out is used in a specific purpose.

Next you can see how many financing rounds have issued, the amount of money they have raised, who or who has led them and what said capital has been destined, according to their own CEO or founders.

For the development of your product

One of the main purposes chosen by startups to invest the money collected in the rounds is everything that has to do with the development of its own product.This objective is usually the most common, above all, in the Seed.

Capchase, which helps SAAS companies to finance the growth of their operations with cash immobilized in future monthly payments, has been one of the companies that has issued financing rounds in this regard, specifically 2.

On the one hand, the entity launched a Seed at the end of August 2020, where they built 4.6 million dollars and "some of Silicon Valley's Seed Funds participated," according to one of its founders, Ignacio Moreno, such as Bling Capital, Scifi VC, Caffeinated Capital, as well as various angels (executives of Uber, LinkedIn, Google...).

Moreno points out that this has been used to build equipment, product and demonstrate that the model works, since the first advances to Saas companies left their own balance.

The second round, closed in early January, was led by i80 and closed at 60 million dollars.This focuses exclusively on financing the advances of the financial product, according to the co -founder, which allows them to advance more capital to more companies and reduce the cost, as well as the amount that should leave their equity."In other words, it allows us to take our financial product to a new scale," he says.

For its part, Goin, a Spanish mobile application that saves in a simple way and invest without having to have financial knowledge, has also dedicated part of the proceeds in its 3 rounds of financing to the product.

The startup has raised more than 10 million dollars, among which are those provided by the capital venture and the aid of the State, according to its CEO and co -founder, David Riudor.

The first, which took place in January 2018, worth 700.000 euros, was dedicated entirely to improve the product;The second, in 2019, reached 1.6 million euros and focused on the attraction of talent;And the third, in May 2020, for 5 million euros was a mix between product, talent and international expansion.

Riudor points out that, in obtaining said capital, Kfund, Encomenda, Atresmedia, Tentures, Hardyaka, Eneko Knörr, David Guapo, Javier Oliván or Enrique Linares, among others, among others, have participated, among others.

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Holded is another of the startups that has focused its financing rounds to the development of its product to grow nationwide.In total, the company whose software helps small businesses to control all aspects of a business from a single platform, has launched 4 for a total value of 22 million euros.

Javi Fondevila and Bernat Ripoll, the two founders of the startup, explain that the first one had a value of 240.000 euros and was led by Seedrocket, as well as by some Business Angels;The second, in 2018, reached 1.3 million euros and was paid by Nauta Capital;In 2019 they closed the third, a series A worth 6 million euros, led by Lakestar.

Finally, in February 2021 they have issued the last one, a series B worth 15 million euros, led by the European Venture Fund Elaia with Lakestar, Nauta Capital and Seedrocket.

The co -founders point out that all the money collected has been invested in improving the product to grow more in Spain and be able to start operations in other markets."We plan to open office in France, fold the equipment and continue investing in technology to have the best platform," they advance.

Kokoro Kids has also decided to dedicate part of what he has obtained in the financing round he has done to improve his technology and, thus, his product.In it, the Spanish startup consisting of a mobile application whose objective is to enhance the development of cognitive and emotional skills of children from 2 to 6 years through activities and games, has added 550.000 euros.

This round was made in September 2020 and paid by the Spanish Venture Funds Spanish K Fund, The Valley Venture Capital, Bankinter (through its Venture Capital program) and R2 Seed.In addition, according to his CEO, Carles Pons, has been complemented with a participatory loan from the Valencian Institute of Finance 250.000 euros.

Pons points out that the entrance of this capital has allowed them to expand the product and technology team to improve the development of their learning and customization methodology adapted to the needs of each child.In addition, marketing investment has increased to attract new users.

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In the same line is Cryptan, a Valencian startup for the sale of cryptocurrencies, which has carried out 2 rounds of financing focused, among other things, to the product development.

Jorge Soriano, the company's co -founder and CEO, explains that the first one was carried out at the beginning of 2020 for a total of 150.000 euros and was paid by Viriditas, Jesús Pérez, Sergio Fernandez, Louis Jinhwa Kim or Juan Leal, among others.The money collected, in addition to product development, was invested in the expansion of the equipment.

The second was carried out at the end of 2020 and 500 were reached.000 euros thanks to Draper B1, Javier de la Rosa or Fabien Causeur, among others.Soriano points out that, in addition to the product and the template, this money focused on marketing.

Nantek has been another of the emerging companies that has used the money raised in improving its technology.

According to Carlos Uraga, CEO of the Company, in February 2020 they issued a financing round of 150.000 euros suffered by Yago Arbeloa through its fund, Viriditas Ventures.Uraga himself also participated in the financing of the STARTUP through its own funds to cover the year and a half of development and R&D.

In addition, they have received 120.000 euros from the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and Basque Government.

The CEO points out that this money has been used, mainly, for "technical validation".Uraga explains that, in addition to paying for the salaries of the workforce and technicians, it has been used to pay evidence that has served to validate the technology and the resulting product.

To consolidate growth

Another of the objectives to which the capital has been collected in the financing rounds by the startups has been the consolidation of their growth before making other decisions such as international expansion.

Among the companies that have opted for this road are BIPI, a car subscription platform known as the 'spotify of rental cars', which has added more than 26 million euros in 3 important financing rounds to date to date.

The first took place in 2018, reached 2.5 million and was led by Kibo Ventures;The second, in June 2019, was a series A of 6.5 million euros, led by Maniv Mobility, in addition to other investors;The third, a series B round in October 2020, was completed for 10.5 million and was led by Adevinta Ventures, Toyota to Ventures and the Atresmedia communication group.

The last one they have carried out, just a few weeks ago, in February 2021, reached 6 million and was led by the Italian fund P101 SGR, through its second P102 fund and the Italy 500 fund 500.

According to Hans Christ, CEO and co -founder of Bipi, each of the rounds has dedicated himself to a specific purpose, but all have been focused to a greater or lesser extent on the consolidation of the platform at the national level.

Specifically, the first focused on expanding the team and investing in technology;the second to re -increase the template and reach new strategic agreements, as well as accelerate growth and expand the offer.

The third was used to accelerate growth in the Spanish market and consolidate as a leader in the car subscription model, for which the equipment was extended (from 80 to 100 people) and was invested in marketing and technology, in addition to opening aNew Delegation in France.

The most recent round aims to accelerate national growth, expand the template and invest in technology and new products, while preparing expansion to the Italian market.

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Mox is also another startup that has dedicated part of its income in financing rounds to its consolidation in the national market.In total, the company, dedicates to the logistics of the last mile, has issued 4 rounds that total 5.2 million euros.

The first, a pre-was carried out in the last quarter of 2017, reached 320.000 euros and the main investor was dribbles and sainetes;The second was a 168 Crowd Equity Round.000 euros in early 2018;The third, at the beginning of 2019, was a Seed round of 1.7 million euros led by Just Eat.

The last one, carried out at the end of 2019 was a series of 3 million euros led by Vas Ventures.

Pedro Rueda, head of Capital Funding and Investor Relations in Grupo Mox, points out that, in the former, the objective was to expand in Spain and expand template, while in the last money was destined to increase the network of warehouses and reach newTypes of customers.

Josep Arroyo, founder and CEO of Baluwo, a Spanish Fintech who bases his business model on helping African immigrants residing in Europe to transfers their countries of origin, also points out that their rounds have focused on this purpose.

The company has made, to date, 4 financing rounds: the first, by 592.000 euros, took place in December 2017 and was captained by Cabiedes and Partners, Seedrocket 4founters and Viriditas;The second, in August 2018, by 400.003 euros was led by Big Sur Ventures, Cabiedes and Partners and Seedrocket 4fonders.

For its part, the third reached 500.002 euros in August 2019 and Seedrocket 4Founters, Big Sur Ventures and Lanai Capital Partners participated, as in the last, in July 2020, where 550s were reached.296 euros.

The founder explains that this capital has been used in developing the business plan, as well as continuing its expansion through countries in Africa and its sales network.

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Devo, a startup that allows, through its software platform, to analyze a large number of datasets (logs) in real time, it has also focused its financing rounds, among other things, to this goal.

According to Miguel Martín, CFO of the Company, the company has made 4: the first, in January 2017, worth 11 million dollars in which onkibo Ventures, Investing Profit Wisely (IPW) and Atlantic Bridge Capital participated;The second, in September 2017, was a B series of $ 35 million led by Insight Venture Partners and Kibo Ventures.

The third, a series C, took place in June 2018 and reached 25 million dollars thanks to the participations of Insight Ventures Partners and Kibo Ventures;And the last, in September 2020, a D 60 million series, was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Insight Partners.

Martín explains that the last round has focused on boosting the aspects of the business that allowed to maintain an "intense rhythm of growth" and accelerate "the leadership of the company in the Security Analytics market".

Regarding the previous ones, these have aimed to expand operations to meet demand, including the expansion of sales and marketing operations in the United States;the acceleration of customer collection or the scope of the company in the market, in addition to financing the development of products.

To increase the template

Hispanolist/Getty images

Quite related to the 2 previous objectives, startups have also used the capital obtained in expanding their template, since, in most cases, it at first only had the founders themselves.

This is the case of Belvo, an Open Banking API platform in Latin America founded in May 2019 that allows users to connect their bank accounts to a management application, which has made 3 financing rounds.

The first took place in August 2019, reached a million dollars and was paid by Venture Friends, Kalonia Ventures and several Business Angels.The second occurred just a few months later, in January 2020, for 2 million dollars and its main investors were Maya Capital, Ycombinator, a Popular Ventures and some Business Angels including David Vélez, founder and CEO of Cloud.

Finally, the third round and last round that they have made so far occurred in May 2020 for 10 million dollars and was seconded by Porfonders Fund and Kaszek Ventures.

Pablo Viguera, the CEO and co -founder of the startup, explains that all the rounds have been destined to grow the team, since they started being 2 (their partner Oriol Tintoré and he) in May 2019 and now there are 60 people.

In addition, they have also used capital to expand their geographical presence, since they started in Mexico and are now in Brazil and Colombia.

Truckster, a startup that optimizes the world of logistics and long -distance merchandise transport industry with a service based on a relay system, has participated in 3 financing rounds, raising a total of 2 million euros.

The first, made in August 2018, had a value of 75.000 euros and was paid by Axel Springer, the Porsche group and the Undanet group;The second, in July 2019, was worth 900.000 euros and the previous investors participated, to which Bigsurventures and Metavallon VC joined, as well as private investors such as Telmo Perez (Director of Innovation of ACCIONA), Carlos Severino (Partner de Parthenon) or Sacha Michaud (co -founder of Glovo).

The third, in July 2020, had a 980 capitalization.000 euros and the previous investors also participated, to which they joined, among others, The Valley Venture Capital and private investors of the IESE Network.

The co -founder of Trucksters, Gabor Balogh, explains that this financing has been dedicated, mainly, to expand the technological team "in order to provide more intelligence to the relay system" and consolidate international corridors.

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In the same scenario is Meetptics, a metabuscator with artificial intelligence specialized in photonics, which issued a pre-seed financing round of 100.000 euros in June 2020.

According to Bárbara Buades, CEO and confunds of the startup, this was paid by Spanish and American Business Angels, and dedicated himself to increasing the team of 3 to 7 members with technical and business profiles.

Buades points out that this expansion of the workforce has allowed, in just 4 months, to multiply the billing by 3 and a monthly user growth of more than 20%, with almost 40.000 products on the platform.

Johanna Gallo, co -founder of Aplanet, whose objective is to help SMEs and corporations structure everything that has to do with corporate social responsibility (CSR), points out that they have also used the proceeds for new hiring.

The Startup lifted its first round in August 2020 for a total of 1.7 million euros and was led by All Iron Ventures, to which Bstartup participations of Banco Sabadell and Draper B1 were added, as well as Business Angelscomo Íñigo Juantegui, Yago Arbeloa or Pablo Alonso.

Gallo points out that this money has been used to accelerate its growth through new hiring, especially for the technology team, with the aim of following the rhythm of the changes that are occurring in the sustainability and business development sector"For our products to reach more organizations".In fact, it has advanced that the Aplanet team will grow more than 50% in 2021.

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Econcrete is another startup that has used the money raised to grow his equipment.The company, a platform that develops infrastructures that enhance the regeneration of marine biodiversity, has made 3 financing rounds.

The first, a pre-seed worth 1.7 million dollars, was launched between 2013 and 2015 and was paid by Business Angels;The second, a Seed worth $ 3 million, was led by Elah Fund;The last, in 2020, reached 5 million dollars.

According to Shimrit Perkol-Finkel, co-founder and CEO of the company, the funds have been used to hire staff, for the development of intellectual property, for research, marketing or international expansion.

For its international development

On the other hand, once the product has been developed and the business at the national level, the startups use the capital obtained to begin its international expansion as in the case of Mediquo.

This startup, based on a platform that offers an online service of medical consultations 24 hours a day, made its first round in 2017.It was a Seed led by the founding team, Dr. Guillem Serra and Jose López and Albert Castells, both co-founders and co-zoos of Isalud.com.

As explained by Bruno Cuevas, CEO of the startup, just a few months later, in 2018, the first Business Angely entered later, in that same year, also did new investors, both individual and corporate, among which there were Global Target, with a new round.

In 2019 the platform closed the last value of financing worth 2 million with current investors.In total, to date, the company has added more than 4 million in this modality, although it is currently in the process of closing a new.

Cuevas points out that the technology they have developed has been carried out from the company itself, so the funds have been destined for the product and technology team, in addition to the marketing and operations team.On the other hand, the money obtained has also been used to gain land internationally, especially in Latin America.

This has allowed the company to add more than one million consultations during the last year, with more than 600.000 Downloads, which has made the startup one of the most relevant telemedicine applications, both in Spain and in Latin America.

Other forms of financing

However, financing rounds are not the only way to access financing that emerging companies have.Humanitcare, a telemedicine platform based on artificial intelligence aimed at health professionals, is a clear example of this.

Nuria Pastor, CEO of the startup, explains that, where appropriate, they have not received investment of funds, but that these have come from other sources such as the European Commission, which has provided them with about half a million euros.To this amount have been added direct aid of the European Union, of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Science.

The directive also pointed out that they bet on the bootstrapping, that is, for the financing process through existing resources.