The Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem has consolidated itself in recent years and generates around 100,000 new jobs each year. This is according to the 2024 report on the ecosystem of technology and innovative companies in Spain prepared by Ecosistema Startup, a database created by the magazine El Referente.

The report indicates that Spain currently has more than 7,000 active technology companies. 3,640 of those are startups (less than five years old) which generate more than 19,422 direct jobs and have an economic impact of close to 1 billion euros. Another 1,185 are scaleups, the name given to companies that have grown by more than 20% annually in the last three financial years. All of them have a turnover of more than 1 million euros per year and, altogether, generate 64,569 jobs and an economic impact of 9.762 billion euros. The remaining 2,203 companies fall into the SME category.

Specialised industries
In total, startups, scaleups and SMEs contribute 11.541 billion euros annually to Spanish GDP. Barcelona and Madrid lead the rankings of cities with the most scaleups and startups, and their respective autonomous communities are home to more than 50% of technology companies.

The industries with the highest number of companies in the study are health (eHealth), education (EdTech), biotechnology (biotech), gastronomy (Foodtech) and finance (Fintech). According to Ecosistema Startup, the growth of these industries reflects the diversity and specialisation of the Spanish technology ecosystem, as well as its ability to adapt to the needs of the global market.

Investment in technology startups
Investment in technology startups has undergone a significant evolution over the last decade, with sustained growth since 2016. The best year on record remains 2021, with more than 4 billion euros raised in 468 rounds. In 2023, 394 deals were closed and investment amounted to around 2 billion euros. The industries that have attracted the most investment in recent years have been health and biotech, energy and climate change-water, and fintech and insurtech.

The mega-rounds, those exceeding 20 million euros, continue to demonstrate the capacity of Spanish entrepreneurs to capture the attention of large investors. Some operations have been particularly relevant, such as the 464 million euros raised by Jobandtalent in 2021 and Glovo's 450 million euros in the same year.

^{Photo: El Referente}