Masia closes €18M debut fund and opens Barcelona hub for AI startups
Startups Magazine Roshini Bains ● Covered by 2 sources
Barcelona VC Masia closed its first fund at €18M and opened a new founder hub. It’s betting the city can pull AI startups, investors and talent into one place.
Based on reporting by Startups Magazine, Roshini Bains — read the original for the full story.
Summary, retelling and take written by AI under human oversight; images are AI-generated illustrations. How we work · Report an error
Barcelona venture firm Masia has wrapped up its first fund at €18 million and opened Masia House, a new base in Gràcia built for early-stage AI and frontier tech founders with ties to the city.
The firm says the fund has already backed 46 companies since it launched in 2025, covering 60 founders, and has co-invested with 60 international and specialist venture firms. Its backers now include more than 70 limited partners, among them founders, executives, experienced investors and two institutional investors.
Masia is not trying to play local hero and stop there. The firm says the point is to use that network to help portfolio companies reach international markets and scale beyond Spain. Carlos Trenchs, the co-founder and chairman, said Barcelona is at a tipping point and that the firm wanted to connect successful LPs and overseas VCs with founders building global frontier tech from the city.
Masia House is meant to turn that idea into something physical. The space stretches across more than 1,000 square metres on four floors and includes work areas, meeting rooms, accommodation for visiting investors and a terrace. The plan is to use it for working sessions, private dinners and casual meetups that can lead to actual business instead of just polished pitch decks.
The timing is no accident. Masia points to Barcelona startups raising €1.175 billion in the first nine months of 2026, up 14 per cent year on year, and to the city’s place as the EU’s sixth-largest hub for deeptech startup funding between 2020 and 2024, with €610 million. The firm’s portfolio already includes Biorce, Prosper and Didit, alongside co-investors such as Common Magic, Nina Capital, Point Nine and Lunar Ventures. Some early bets have already moved on to Series A and into the US, according to founding partner Pepe Borrell.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is the right kind of startup theatre: a fund with a door, a terrace and a purpose. Barcelona doesn’t need another empty logo parade; it needs places where money, operators and founders bump into each other until something useful happens. The real test is whether Masia House becomes a magnet or just very expensive real estate for people in lanyards.
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