2022 Annual Report Startup Observatory

Investment Volume

Investment in 2022 has been characterised by high activity (greater number of operations) but lower investment volume. Despite this reduction compared to 2021 (-20%), this year is the second best figure in the historical series, which shows the high degree of resilience of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Spain.

Investment rounds

This reduction is also due to the average reduction in investments, with a 34% reduction in mega-rounds (>€50M) but growth in investment in early phases with €1475 raised (+10%) in 405 operations (+3%). the series that has grown the most and has received the most investment is Series C (+60%), which shows the maturation of startups in Spain.

Investors

Although VCs continue to be the investment leaders in Spain with 53% of investment, their activity has fallen by 14%. However, it is worth noting the notable increase in the investment volume of Corporate Investors (+96% vs 2021).

Investment sectors

There has been a decrease in investment in the sectors they led in 2021: Business & Productivity goes from almost €800m in 2021 to €530m in 2022, although it continues to top the list of sectors, both in terms of investment volume and number of operations.

There are two sectors that stand out in 2022:
– Travel/Tourism investment almost triples, from €174M in 2021 to €469M in 2022.
– Advertising/Marketing, which has almost multiplied investment by ten in the last year.

Foreign Investment

Foreign investment plummets (+40% vs 2021) following the international investment trend that has led to a year-on-year decrease of 35%. The good news is thatforeign investors continue to bet on the Spanish ecosystem as long as they go hand in hand with national investment, as shown by the slight growth in mixed investments.

Exits

The number of company sales increased compared to 2021 (+19%) but decreased in value by 64%. The €1285.4M of exits in 2022 is also lower than (-49%) the sales volume of 2020. The chart shows the main sales operations of the year.

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