Scaling Europe
00:01:41 · Carlos Trenchs Sainz de la Maza
[00:01:41] S1: So far, this is this is my bet. No. But I I think that Barcelona today is in this inflection point. So where if things are going as expected, probably in five, six years, the amount invested and the number of companies can be five, six, seven times the size that is today. And this is thanks to three different things. Now the first one is, this ecosystem mature. So it means that in this moment we have around 200 founders that previously sold companies. So they have the right level of ambition and to start again, no, with with another, I will say, more global focus. Second, they have some money, no, and and and they can also back other first time investor, founders, no, in in the things. So I think this is very important. The second is Barcelona is becoming a international talent magnet. Know? I think the quality of life here is helping to attract good talent from almost everywhere in Europe and and America. And and this talent, most of them are also founding companies, or they have companies in the swede... Swedish, Sweden, London, Germany, other, but they live here. No. The CEO live here. No? And and this helps not to to increase the connection. No? And the third is Barcelona today have different research centres and specifically in the AI world, we have the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre. This is one of the largest facilities in in Europe, you know, regarding AI. And around this centre are emerging different kinds of founders and initiatives that are being very important. So especially in AI today, the number of companies that are emerging in the city is quite, quite massive. So for these three reasons, mature ecosystem, international talent, and I will say the new wave of AI, you know, around different facilities, things are still happening. The last point is money is not local anymore. So today, European and global funds are investing almost everywhere. So, probably Spain has a lack of, size, no, in terms of the number of PCs and growth funds. But in Barcelona, every week there are six, seven, eight funds, no, scouting, and coming from different parts of Europe. No. So I think that as VC is becoming at least a regional business, no, it's very easy to fundraise from other things.
00:04:13 · Sebastian Johnson
[00:04:13] S0: And how did you find the fundraising process itself going out and raising that fund from as you mentioned, 70 LPs, did that thesis around Barcelona, did that resonate with a lot of the ecosystem and all the LPs that you've got? Or did you kind of have to sell them on the vision?
00:04:28 · Carlos Trenchs Sainz de la Maza
[00:04:28] S1: So my previous experience, as you know, I co founded Aldea Ventures, that is one of the largest, I would say South European fan of funds, And we back emerging managers, no? So what we realized when we were in Aldea is that the new generation of, VCs, that back, precede and sit rounds, were mostly focused on those, I will say, established ecosystems. London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Zurich, a little bit on the on the Nordics. So outside this ecosystem, you know, they only invest opportunistically. And and we saw clearly an opportunity to connect. So I start, no, as I did angel investing, no? So identify one founder and instead of putting my money, so let's connect with this, I would say, two, three specialized funds. And if they decide to invest, I will co invest with them. So I started doing this one, two, three times, you know, and it happened. So I saw an opportunity to say, look, there is an opportunity to scout locally, you know, and connect internationally. And at the same time, if any of these funds, no, have a portfolio company with a founder that wants to be relocated to the city, we can help them, no, to to to better. So I start sharing this vision, no, among other people? No? You know my friend, Tidak Lee, no, and other, I would say, well known individuals in in in the city. And everyone realized the same. So we decided, okay, let's start the fun, no, and let's pitch, no, to other individuals that think things the same. No? So I think that, we started with the first 20. With the first 20, we we did the first close of the fund. And we start doing investments, no, at the same path as we were adding other other LPs. No? So finally, in July, we closed the fund with this 18,000,000, 70 plus individual investors. And but at the time we have now 45 portfolio companies. So I think that we built in parallel, the fundraising process and the portfolio construction.
00:06:31 · Sebastian Johnson
[00:06:31] S0: It talks to a bit about the portfolio because you've already got some companies within the portfolio that have gone on to raise some mammoth rounds from some of the best investors in the world. Can you maybe pick out a few of those most exciting companies?
00:06:45 · Carlos Trenchs Sainz de la Maza
[00:06:45] S1: Yeah. So I can put you these three examples of three different companies. One could be Bayors. Bayors is AI for health and they are, I would say, disrupting the I would say, the processes, no, among drug discovery and other things. This is a clear example of international talent landing in the city. So in this case, one fund that was backed by Aldea decided to invest, no, in a Portuguese guy, no, moving to Barcelona. And and we we co invest and we help him, no, to to to better land in the in the city. No. So Bayors is is amazing. Today, Bayors is they are around 200 people. Officers, not only in Barcelona, also in Austin and New York. They raise a well known series A and and and is growing, growing very, very fast. A clear example of AI and health that probably are two areas where Barcelona is is is quite is quite strong. This is one one example. And another example probably is Prosper. I don't know if you know the the guys. These are two Catalan guys, living in New York. And and they do, also AI, but for, I would say, the healthcare, hospitals, no, and and and systems, And how to improve processes there. In this case, the company is an American company. They have super investors, the tier one investors in The US. But they also create a subsidiary in Barcelona with all the tech, people created here. So we also were lucky to to co invest of them. And another possibility is, local people. Is a company in Spain called, Format, for instance. People, they do AI for fashion. So they are working today for most of the most of the well known brands, no, and helping them not only on the design process, but also on the manufacturing side. So three examples, no, of Catalans building here, international talent landing here, no? And and and in this case, people in the world know with links in in Barcelona that raise, I will say, from, I will say, well known fans. And we help them, no, to better connect, no, in this in this ecosystem.
00:09:06 · Sebastian Johnson
[00:09:06] S0: And talk to me about Masia House. This is like a really exciting thing that you've just announced. What is it? Who's it for? So