While Spain’s VC ecosystem is in an earlier stage of maturity compared to its European counterparts like France, Germany, and the UK, it is at a pivotal point of growth. This is evidenced by the growing number of successful startups and favourable investor sentiment.
One of the most notable indicators of Spain’s growing venture ecosystem is the rise of unicorn companies. Between 2020 and 2022, several Spanish firms achieved unicorn status, including Copado, Devo, Factorial, Fever, Flywire, Idealista, Jobandtalent, Travelperk, and Wallbox.
A 2023 survey by Endeavor revealed that nearly 90 per cent of Spanish venture capitalists are optimistic about the state of venture capital in the country.
This growth is fueled by new entrepreneurship tax incentives, strengthened trade connections with Latin America, improved digital infrastructure, and a relatively stable investment environment compared to its global counterparts.
As we enter the second quarter of 2024, let’s explore some of the notable funding rounds in Spain in the first quarter.
Iberdrola
Founder(s): –
Founded in: 1992
Funding: €3.5B
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here.
Bilbao-based global energy and electricity provider, Iberdrola, aims to advance renewable energy initiatives and combat climate change on a global scale.
In January, the company secured a €300M ESG-linked green loan from the World Bank aimed at funding renewable energy projects in countries heavily dependent on coal, such as Morocco, Poland, and Vietnam.
The green loan is tied to Iberdrola’s strategic sustainability targets, which include a commitment to reduce absolute direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by over 60 per cent by 2030 compared to the 2020 baseline.
Additionally, Iberdrola aims to more than double its clean energy installed capacity by 2030, building upon its existing portfolio of over 41,000 clean MW.
TravelPerk
Founder(s): Avi Meir, Javier Suarez, Ron Levin
Founded in: 2015
Funding: €530.3M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here.
Launched in 2015, TravelPerk transforms business travel management through its comprehensive platform.
After acquiring unicorn status in 2022, the company has been recording remarkable growth. This includes a revenue increase in 2022 by over 70 per cent YoY and a gross profit surge of more than 90 per cent YoY.
TravelPerk’s platform contains industry-leading travel inventory combined with supportive management features. Notable clients of TravelPerk include Revolut, Wise, Red Bull, GetYourGuide, and Aesop.
TravelPerk has total funding of €530.3M, with a recent Series D funding round amounting to €95M in January, making it one of the most well-funded startups in its sector.
With the new investment, TravelPerk aims to further expand its operation and improve its product with new inventory and AI-driven automation.
ID Finance
Founder(s): Boris Batine, Alexander Dunaev
Founded in: 2012
Funding: €249.1M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here.
Founded in 2012 by ex-bankers Boris Batin and Alexander Dunaev, ID Finance is a fintech company with a mission to bridge the gap in financial services for the underbanked population.
In 2021, ID Finance launched its flagship financial wellness app, Plazo, which provides users with transactional, savings, and credit solutions to empower them to take control of their finances and enhance their financial stability. Since its launch, Plazo has attracted over 190,000 customers.
The company recently announced that it has secured $150M (€139.59M) in debt financing from the New York-based i80 Group to further develop Plazo’s services.
MyInvestor
Founder(s): Andbank España, Carlos Aso Miranda, Pablo García Montañés
Founded in: 2017
Funding: $110.7M
Hiring: No
Established in 2017, Madrid-based neobank MyInvestor provides a full range of banking services and investment solutions for mortgages, loans, and remunerated accounts. The company is backed by Grupo Andbank, El Corte Inglés Seguros, AXA España, and others.
MyInvestor is currently the largest fintech in Spain, with over €4,000M in business volume. Striving to help its clients place the best investment regardless of their acquisition power, it offers exclusive investment products with no minimum entry fees.
On January 4, the neobank announced that it had raised €45M in a round C funding led by Nortia Capital and Arama Futuro. Other participants include Andbank, Casticapital, Aligrupo, and Reig Patrimonia.
The investment, which brought new shareholders to the company, enabled MyInvestor to reach the top of the solvency ratio rankings of Spanish banks.
Multiverse Computing
Founder(s): Alfonso Rubio Manzanares, Enrique Lizaso, Mehdi Bozzo-Rey, Román Orús, Samuel Mugel
Founded in: 2019
Funding: $54.7M (€50.2M)
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here.
Multiverse Computing is a provider of quantum-inspired computing solutions based in San Sebastián. With offices in Paris, Munich, and London, Multiverse Computing is one of the largest quantum software companies in the European Union.
Its flagship product, Singularity, has now been utilised in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, logistics, finance, chemistry, space, and cybersecurity.
In March, the company recently secured an investment round totalling €25M led by Columbus Venture Partners with significant contributions from Quantonation Ventures, European Innovation Council Fund, Redstone QAI Quantum Fund, and Indi Partners.
Multiverse Computing plans to utilise the new funding to accelerate the development of Singularity and its recently released LLM compressor CompactifAI.
Wallapop
Founder(s): Agustin Gomez, Gerard Olive, Miguel Vicente
Founded in: 2013
Funding: €259.6M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here.
Founded in Barcelona in 2013, the mobile marketplace Wallapop facilitates the sale of secondhand goods for over 19M users in Spain, Italy, and Portugal. The company is backed by Korelya Capital, NAVER, Accel, Insight Venture Partners, 14W, and Northzone.
Wallapop aims to create an ecosystem of reused products for a more humane and sustainable consumption model. Using its geo-localized technology, the platform has sold over 640 million products to date.
The company announced in February that it has raised €20M in a Series G financing round led by AXIS. With the funding, Wallapop plans to focus on its international expansion efforts in order to consolidate its position as Southern Europe’s leading secondhand goods platform.
Embat
Founder(s): Antonio Berga, Carlos Serrano, Pablo Nebreda, Tomás Gil
Founded in: 2021
Funding: €21.2M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here.
Founded in 2021 by former JP Morgan executives Antonio Berga, Carlos Serrano, and Tomás Gil, Embat aims to digitise and automate finance processes in treasury management.
Embat’s growing client base of 150 corporate clients includes companies such as Playtomic, Cabify, Wallapop, and Fever. Its platform streamlines accounting, bank reconciliation, and corporate treasury functions, which results in efficiency gains and cost savings for finance teams across Europe.
The company closed a Series A financing round amounting to $16M (€14.7M) led by Creandum in February, with participation from Samaipata, 4Founders and Venture Friends.
The funding will support Embat’s upcoming product development, market expansion, and partnerships.
Luda Partners
Founder(s): Daniel de Carvajal
Founded in: 2017
Funding: €14.9M
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here.
Created with the mission to help pharmacies digitise, LUDA Partners was founded in Madrid by Daniel de Carvajal in 2017. The company was established after employers experienced a medicine shortage that affected pharmacists, distributors, and patients altogether.
One of the things that LUDA Partners do to overcome shortages is to connect pharmacies in real-time, enabling them to locate the missing medications that their patients need. More than 3,700 pharmacies have joined LUDA Partner’s neural network, which has generated 340,000 references.
The company announced in February that it raised €12M from private equity investment firm Moira Capital Partners. LUDA Partners plans to further develop sustainable technologies to connect pharmacies, as well as expand to European markets such as Ireland.
Cabify
Founder(s): Adrian Merino, Brendan Wallace, Francisco Montero, Juan De Antonio, Sam Lown, Vicente Pascual
Founded in: 2011
Funding: $600.5M (€550.6M)
Hiring: Yes, check job opportunities here.
Cabify is a Madrid-based ride-sharing platform competing with Uber in Spain and Latin America.
The platform has over 42 million registered users and 1.2 million drivers across eight markets, including major cities in Spain, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay.
The company aims to triple revenues within the next three years and expand to 25 additional urban centres with populations exceeding 200,000.
In January, Cabify secured €15M) in venture debt from Madrid-based bank BBVA Spark, which will be used to further expedite its strategic plan.
It will focus on driving social, financial, and environmental growth by increasing sustainable and accessible urban mobility across more than 40 cities in Spain and Latin America.
Palobiofarma
Founder(s): Julio Castro
Founded in: 2005
Funding: €16M
Hiring: No
Palobiofarma, a biopharmaceutical company located in TecnoCampus, is focused on developing treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Prader-Willi syndrome, and non-small cell lung cancer.
Palobiofarma’s clinical trials have attracted significant attention from investors. It closed an investment round of €7M led by Inveready Biotech IV, Sodena, and the company’s promoter team in February.
The investment will be used to complete three phase II clinical trials studying the effectiveness of its products — PBF-680 in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, PBF-999 in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome, and PBF-1129 in non-small cell lung cancer patients.
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