In the last month we have seen venture capital divestments in Spanish companies, some of which, such as the sale of Tyba, have been beneficial for investors. Others, such as the sale of Otogami, have been made so that the company can continue its activity.
Sunstone Capital and Impulse International divest from Tyba
Tyba is a recruitment platform focused on young talent (universities and business schools) looking to work in startups and technology companies. This company was founded in 2011 by a group of students from IE Business School, and until now its investors have been Sunstone Capital, Denmark's leading technology venture capital fund with assets valued at over €500M and Kuwait's Impulse.
Tyba had previously raised two rounds of funding, one in 2013 and another $3.1M 2014, in which the company was valued at €13.5M and now announces that it will Graduateland, the Danish leader in job search for university students has taken over the company.
The online employment sector in Spain has been very active in terms of venture capital movement in the last year. Top funders include Jobantalent , which raised $25M in 2015, CornerJob , which received 10M in February 2016 and Jobtoday, which has received another 10M.
8kdata technology buys Otogami for €500,000, owned by Vitaminak, Plug&play, Civeta, Faradayvp, Danka and Autentia.
8Kdata Technology has acquired 100% of the company's shares in the company Otogami Technologies 500,000, by transferring cash and shares to the current owners, in addition to assuming the company's accounting liabilities.
Otogami is a portal where users can compare the different prices of a video game and then buy the one with the best offer.
The startup, which was launched in October 2012, managed to raise, only a year after its birth, a seed financing round of 330,000 euros led by the fund Vitamin K, although their results were not entirely good.
In November 2014, the company received a further €366,000, of which €18,000 was a grant, while the remaining €348,000 was a loan.
With a twist in their business model, they managed to become profitable, but they needed a fresh injection of capital and to achieve this they had to grow further. Otogami was in a fairly common situation for an internet start-up: sales are rising and the company is profitable, but profits (or failing that, growth) are not increasing enough for investors to be interested in a new injection of capital.
Even if a company does not achieve the results it wants, there are many other factors that can indicate it is doing well: its management capability, the potential of its technology, the talent of its human team... For this reason, quite frequently a start-up that does not grow enough arouses the interest of another company looking to acquire some of its other added value.
The Otogami team decided to put the company up for sale and received offers from several companies. Finally, in April, 8KData took over the company.
For 8kdata, the attraction of Otogami Technologies lies in its human talent, as it counts among its ranks renowned technicians with extensive professional experience.
Acquihiring is an operation whereby a company buys another company to acquire the talent of its team and integrate it into its own workforce. This operation is very common in other technology markets, although it is still very rare in Spain.
If you are looking for financing, contact us, Abra-Invest has an expert team in alternative financing at your disposal, call + 34 946424142 or fill in the contact form.