Caixa Capital Risc joins forces with Iberdrola in new funding round, enabling edge computing start-up to expand activities in Europe

Investment is aligned with Caixa Capital Risc long-term strategy to invest from an early stage in disruptive, B2B SaaS and deeptech companies

Caixa Capital Risc has led Barbara IoT’s new financing round for a total of €2.5 million ($2.6M), through its Criteria Venture Tech fund. Iberdrola also participated through Perseo, its program to promote the development of technology-based companies. The round was also backed by GoHub, Bizkaia Seed Capital and Basque Fondo.

Founded in 2016, Barbara IoT has developed a cybersecure operating system that connects and protects industrial equipment using an anti-hacker shield. Managing the risk of cyber-attacks is key for critical sectors such as electricity, water management and critical infrastructure services, as well as transport and logistics.

Through its software, Barbara IoT collects data from sensors and industrial equipment, and runs artificial intelligence algorithms to detect anomalies or automate processes in real time. The system, which does not require use of the cloud, significantly reduces the cost of data processing and the risk of cyber-attacks.

Barbara IoT will use the funds to consolidate its leadership in the smart grid industry and expand into new markets in the critical infrastructure sector.

Xavier Alvarez, director of Caixa Capital Risc Tech Funds, said: “We are thrilled to support Barbara IoT in its expansion and the deployment of its innovative solutions in Europe. We strongly believe in Barbara IoT’s technology; it addresses critical infrastructure problems using an edge computing platform while managing the risk of cyber-attacks.”

Roma Jelinskaite, principal at Caixa Capital Risc and new member of Barbara IoT board, added: “We are glad to back the founders, David Purón, CEO, and Isidro Nistal, chief product officer, given their extensive experience in tech and as entrepreneurs. Their strong, client-driven, solutions-oriented model with an excellent, scalable product, agnostic to hardware, will help Barbara IoT become a leading cybersecure edge computing platform provider for industrial companies in the key infrastructure sector.»

Since 2007 Caixa Capital Risc’s fund has invested in tech startups with strong innovation capabilities in cutting-edge B2B, SaaS and deeptech markets, including Industry 4.0 and cybersecurity, and in technologies such as edge computing, artificial intelligence, Big Data and fintech.

Caixa Capital Risc acts as a long-term VC partner investing in and supporting, from an early stage, the most innovative tech companies in Europe, with a focus on Spain and Portugal. To date it has, as one of the main venture capital investors in Spain, achieved 25 exits to leading tech groups including Apple, Meta and Airbnb.

Caixa Capital Risc tech portfolio includes Appentra (Codee), Build38, Validated, Zinklar, Immfly, Travel Compositor, Smartvel and others.

To learn more about our investment strategy in tech companies:
https://www.caixacapitalrisc.es/en/areas-de-inversion/tecnologias-de-la-informacion/

More about Barbara IoT: https://barbaraiot.com