The German 'startup' Build38 will double its presence in Barcelona

The startup Build38 was born straddling Munich, Barcelona, and Singapore. Hence the number 3 in its name, accompanied by an 8 indicating the members of the founding team who were spread across different locations. The headquarters were established in the German city because the first investor was from there, but the Catalan capital has ended up becoming the nerve center of this startup that is responsible for protecting the myriad of apps that flood mobile screens.

The company's founders worked at the German Giesecke + Devrient Ventures, with offices in El Prat de Llobregat, when they realized that the technology they had developed for mobile payments could serve for much more, but that, in a large multinational, it would be difficult to do so. They convinced their superiors to create a startup to be more agile and flexible, and thus Build38 was born.

Since then, the technology provider has raised over 16 million euros and has just closed a Series A round for 13 million euros. Tikehau Capital, through its European fund focused on cybersecurity, led the operation, in which other existing investors such as eCAPITAL Entrepreneurial Partners and Caixa Capital Risc, Criteria Caixa's venture capital manager, also participated.

Build38's co-founder and CRO, Pedro Hernández, explains that the resources obtained will be dedicated to strengthening the offices in Barcelona, where a large part of the global workforce is concentrated, with 35 employees, complemented by 5 in Munich and another 2 in Singapore. "From the beginning, we saw that in Barcelona we could grow more sustainably," Hernández points out, "the cost of living in Munich is higher and attracting talent to Barcelona is easier." To strengthen their position in the Catalan capital, they work with agents such as Tech Barcelona, Acció, ICEX, and CDTI. "We consider ourselves a Spanish and Catalan company. We want to create a European champion against Silicon Valley companies. The technology here is very powerful and we have to find a way to compete with others," Hernández emphasizes.

The cybersecurity startup's goal is to double its employees in Barcelona, reaching 70 by the end of 2023. To do this, they will move from the coworking space they are currently in, on Sardenya street, to their first own offices, on Tarradellas Avenue. The profiles they will be looking for will be technological, to improve the product, and sales and marketing, to continue their international expansion, reinforcing their presence first in Europe and Asia, and then in the Middle East and Africa. Currently, they focus on Germany, Spain, and France, where their investors are located, but they also have clients in Switzerland, Sweden, Singapore, China, and the Philippines.

Build38's clients are mainly companies that create mobile applications to interact with their users, such as banks, rather than app developers. Verimi, Minesec, Netcetera, Coppernic, Chang'an Auto, Republic Bank of Ghana, and Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen are some of the companies they work with, with a special prominence given to those from the financial, digital identity, automotive, and health sectors.