Spain Funding Ecosystem

Analysis by: Aitor Almendros, Investment Analyst at Cardumen Capital Tel Aviv Office.

Foreword by: Gonzalo Martínez de Azagra, Co-founder and General Partner at Cardumen Capital Tel Aviv Office.

Following the success of our Israeli funding ecosystem report, the research and analysis team of Cardumen Capital has created a map of the Funding Ecosystem in Spain.

Foreword

The funding ecosystem for entrepreneurship in Spain has grown at an accelerated pace in recent years. Investment in venture capital has almost tripled since 2014, reaching €1.1B in 2020.

One of the key market drivers has been the launch of FOND-ICO Global in 2014, initially promoted by Cardumen Capital’s chairman, Gil Gidron. FOND-ICO Global was the first public venture capital Fund of Funds created in Spain. Endowed with €1.2B, it is aimed at promoting the creation of privately- managed venture capital funds. This great initiative took as a reference the Israeli Yozma, a programme of similar characteristics launched in 1993 by the government of Israel that revolutionized the Israeli venture capital sector. In 1993, before launching the Yozma programme, investment in venture capital was around $63M, in 2020 it reached $9.93B, positioning Israel as the leading country in investment per capita worldwide.

In Spain, six years after FOND-ICO was established, investment, funds, accelerators, corporate investment teams, and entrepreneurship subsidies have grown significantly. The…