Its strengths — community, capital and distributed growth — are undeniable. But its model may no longer be enough. In a world where density, speed and global visibility are key, Spain needs to evolve if it hopes to remain competitive.
Unlocking the next phase of growth will require bold steps: stronger public-private alliances, a clear strategy to invest in frontier technologies, and deeper international connections.
Having two strong but separate hubs may dilute critical mass, reducing each city’s ability to compete globally. In fact, using our Innovation Ecosystems Life Cycle Framework, both Madrid (390 scaleups) and Barcelona (with 499) are still stuck in the “Early Scaleup” stage. And at their current pace, neither is expected to transition to the next stage by 2025.
Origen: Spain’s Startup Economy: Sustainable Model or Achilles’ Heel?
As detailed in our just-released Tech Scaleup Spain 2025 Report — produced by Mind the Bridgeand Crunchbase with the support of Acciona (download here) — the country benefits from strong fundamentals:
- A vibrant startup community, energized by more than 15 world-class tech events each year (especially South Summit and Mobile World Congress), attracting hundreds of thousands of participants.
- A solid investment base of 120-plus active investors (fully and freely accessible through the MTB Ecosystem platform).
- A growing pool of 1,194 scaleups that have collectively raised $22.6 billion in capital, ranking Spain fourth in Europe.
- A deepening maturity, with 42 scalers raising more than $100 million and two super scalers surpassing the $1 billion milestone.