Spain’s startup ecosystem has come a long way in the past 10 years. Despite the government abruptly ending its “Spain Entrepreneurial Nation” after just three years, the Spanish startup ecosystem has continued to power through and grow its relevance both regionally and internationally.
According to the Spanish Tech Ecosystem Report, the combined value of Spanish startups skyrocketed from €8 billion in 2014 to €105 billion last year (with a post-pandemic valuation boom helping even further).
The country is now a decent player in Europe’s wider startup ecosystem; not yet on the same plane with countries like Germany and France, but still a very valid competitor.
Of course, a major influence in the traditional triple helix of developing successful startup ecosystems is academia. And Spain — along with the rest of Europe — has increasingly put an emphasis on teaching entrepreneurship and innovation in its university programs.
IE University’s Venture Lab, ISDI’s Impact Accelerator, and the UVemprén StartUP incubator from the University of València are just a few examples of higher education taking a leading role in driving entrepreneurship.
ISDI, for example, recently began offering a Specialization in Entrepreneurship program to its Masters in Internet Business students. Led by co-directors Jesús Tapia and Nacho Hortal (both from ISDI’s IMPACT Accelerator), the program is fully comprised of professors and speakers who are successful entrepreneurs.
Some of the notable lecturers and mentors include:
- Leonor Barrueco Egido, CEO of Nubalis, a consulting firm to scale digital startups. Before launching her company, Barrueco was also a Senior VP of Growth at Cabify.
- Avinash Sukhwani, co-founder of Payflow, an innovative fintech which allows employees to access their salaries at any time. The company was part of Y Combinator’s S21 batch.
- Enzo Alejandro Zamora D’Alessandro, co-founder of HOMYHUB, which provides advanced technology for garages.
Students that take part in the program benefit from masterclasses, case studies and mentorships that will allow them to validate an idea for their company; create a prototype; develop a go-to-market strategy; and develop an understanding of the legalization and financing of a startup, including raising funding.
The students will also walk away from the program with a fine-tuned pitch deck they can use to pitch investors.
On May 8, eight projects from ISDI’s Specialization in Entrepreneurship program got to test drive their pitch decks in front of a special jury which included Gonzalo Duarte Señor, an investment manager at Kibo Ventures, as well as María José Serranillos, a prominent Spanish journalist with Expansión who covers the startup space.
Projects that pitched at the event included:
- gAld Edu — Founded by Gloria Serrate, a teacher who is looking to develop a hardware-software combination to combat the use of AI inappropriately in schools.
- SEBAD MVMNT® — Developed by Sebastián Garzón García, SEBAD MVMNT aims to be the anti-fast fashion brand, offering the next generation clothing that’s urban, genderless, and ethical with soul.
- Eatopia — Founded by Laia Calvet and Marta Falgàs, Eatopia aims to help people with food allergies navigate their diet issues through an AI-powered app which recommends items on restaurant menus that are compatible with dietary needs.
- CAPLY — Ideated by David Sakal and Irene Gonzalez Cruz, CAPLY optimizes the analysis and selection of startups for VC funding through advanced technology and strategic consulting.
- MY PROKER — Designed by Daniel Mirabet and Iann Gonzalo, MY PROKER is a gamified poker app that integrates courses and session analysis with AI, offering balanced and personalized feedback for players on each hand.
- Circular — Conceived by Nicolás Herrera, Circular is a platform that connects homes and restaurants with an efficient and traceable system for collecting organic waste such as coffee grounds and used oil.
- DeepBound — Founded by Pablo Albert and Pedro Thiebaut, DeepBound strategically connects marketing and sales to generate high-quality B2B leads.
- Fintonio — Created by Edwin Rodriguez, Esmeralda Magdaleno and Jesus Alvarado, Fintonio, a digital financial companion to help navigate everyday life and its expenses.
