AI-generated summary
In the first nine months of 2025, investment in Spanish startups has grown by 15% year-on-year, surpassing €2.6 billion across 288 financing rounds, a 9% increase in deals. Venture capital funds dominated, participating in 71% of rounds, with Series A rounds most frequent and a significant 77% rise in Series C rounds, indicating heightened interest in mature startups. Despite a 36% drop in investment during Q3 due to fewer megadeals, the average deal size rose, reflecting the ecosystem’s maturity. Public funds and corporate venture capital also played key roles, and mixed domestic-foreign investments nearly tripled, accounting for 48% of total capital.
Barcelona led Spanish cities in attracting investment (€1.1 billion), followed by Madrid and San Sebastián. Top-funded sectors included software (€527 million), driven by AI startups like Multiverse Computing, which raised €189 million, travel/tourism (€346 million), and business productivity (€272 million). Notable large rounds also involved Travelperk and Splice Bio. Exits increased by 15% with 49 deals, highlighted by Hotelbeds’ IPO valued at €2.84 billion and significant sales of Vlex, Wallapop, and others. Overall, 2025 is a strong year for Spain’s startup scene, marked by growing investment volumes, maturing funding stages, and expanding exit activity.
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Key Points
- The volume of investment has increased by 15% in the first 9 months of 2025 compared to the same period of the previous year, exceeding 2,600 million euros.
- Series A rounds concentrate the largest number of operations (69). In terms of year-on-year growth, Series C increased considerably, reflecting a growing interest in more mature startups.
- Venture capital leads in volume and has been present in 205 operations. This means that 71% of the financing rounds in Spain had the participation of at least one venture capital fund.
- Multiverse, Travelperk and Splice Bio star in the biggest rounds since January. In the third quarter, only Lingokids has closed a round of more than 100 million euros.
- Barcelona has consolidated its position as the Spanish city with the highest number of operations and investment volume attracted in the first nine months of the year.
- The number of exits increased compared to the previous year (+15%), with Hotelbeds going public.
Startup Observatory
The year 2025 is being positive for investment in Spanish startups.
In the first three quarters, the total volume of investment has increased by 15% compared to the same period in 2024, reaching 2,606 million euros. This capital has financed 288 operations, which represents an increase of 9% in the number of rounds.
When analysing the third quarter, there is an increase in the number of operations compared to the same period of the previous year (99 rounds), although the amount raised has fallen by 36%.
However, the volume of investment in startups during the third quarter of 2025 was 36% lower than in the same period of the previous year.
This decrease is explained by the reduction in the number of megarounds (those with amounts greater than €50 million) that have been halved, with only two operations closed in this quarter.
As the total capital invested increased more than the number of rounds, the amount per trade also increased:
- Arithmetic mean: €10.6 M, +7%.
- Median: €2.3 M, +53%.
Phased investment
In the first 9 months of the year, Series C rounds (amounts from €20 million to €50 million) have been particularly noteworthy , growing by 77% compared to the previous period, demonstrating investors’ interest in startups in more mature stages.
The number of transactions in series B and A has also increased. Series A have been the most frequent operations, reaching 86 operations so far this year. This casuistry is due to the fact that Series A startups can demonstrate traction and are in a moment of exponential growth in defined distribution channels.
However, investment in startups in preseed/seed stages has fallen by 19%, reflecting a trend seen since 2020. This situation can be related to three factors:
- Some startups with small rounds choose not to disclose the figure publicly.
- Maturity of the venture capital ecosystem in Spain, since there is a large amount of “dry powder” the best projects have higher valuations.
- Due to inflation, the rounds have to be increasingly larger in size in order to finance the developments required by the startup.
What type of investors have been most active?
The most active investors both in terms of number of operations and volume invested are venture capital funds. These funds have participated in 204 operations during the first 9 months of 2025, which represents 71% of the total rounds.
Public funds (83 operations), corporate venture capital (71 operations) and Business Angels (51 operations) have also contributed significantly to the financing of the ecosystem.
Public institutions support startups financially in two ways.
- Direct public investment, with benchmarks such as the European Innovation Council Accelerator (equity) or Enisa (soft loans).
- Monetary contribution to private venture capital funds, such as the Fond-ICO Global, which in 2025 selected 11 funds in which it will invest up to €850 million of Next Generation EU funds.
Among the most active local investors in the first three quarters of 2025, the following stand out:
- JME Ventures
- Bonsai Partners
- Tie between EONIQ Fund and Draper B1
In the international arena, Andreeseen Horowitz (a16z), GP Bullhound and FJ Labs stand out with 4 operations each in Spanish startups.
In the first nine months of 2025, mixed investment, in which both domestic and foreign investors participate in the same round, has stood out with a growth of almost X3. This type of operation has concentrated 48% of the total volume invested, through 91 rounds.
It is also very relevant that the number of rounds in which exclusively local investors participate represents the majority of operations, with 54% of the total. However, they represent 16% of the total amount. This situation is due to the fact that rounds financed exclusively by local investors tend to be in more initial phases, with smaller amounts.
The sectors in which there is more activity
The sectors that have attracted the most capital in the first 9 months of the year are software, with €527 million invested, Travel/Tourism with €346 million and Business & Productiviy with €272 million.
Artificial Intelligence has been the main catalyst for investment in the Software sector. Examples include the rounds of Multiverse Computing, Happy Robot, and Ultralytics.
Regarding the number of operations, Software also leads with 42 operations, followed by the Biotech & Lifescience sector (33 operations) and Health & Wellbeing startups (29 operations).
Which companies have you invested in?
The startups that have raised the most capital since January have been:
- Multiverse Computing, the San Sebastian-based startup that has managed to raise €189 million in a round led by Bullhound in June, to which must be added the €67 million round it had raised in March.
- Travelperk, a startup dedicated to the travel & tourism sector and which has managed to double its valuation, considering the last round of 190 million.
- Splice Bio, which has raised €118 million from its current investors, as well as EQT Life Science, Sanofi Ventures and Roche Ventures Fund, for the development of an ophthalmological treatment.
In the third quarter there has only been a round of more than 100 million euros, which corresponds to Lingokids, the Madrid-based startup focused on the education sector and which wants to expand internationally.
How investment is distributed throughout Spain
Analysing the ranking of the Spanish cities that have raised the most capital in the first three quarters of 2025, the following stand out:
- Barcelona, with €1,109 million raised in 108 operations
- Madrid, with €717 million raised in 80 operations
- San Sebastián, with €269 million raised in 6 operations
Large cities attract most of the investment in startups thanks to the availability of talent, access to technology (such as the Super Computing Center in Barcelona) and greater proximity to venture capital funds. However, it is possible to successfully undertake outside the main startup hubs, as is the case of the following startups that have raised more than €10 million each since January 2025:
- Mytriple A – Soria
- Bit2me – Alicante
- Universal DX – Seville
- Quantix Edge Security – Murcia
- Highlight Therapeutics – Paterna
- Basquevolt – Álava
- Gaiarooms – Salamanca
- Halo tech – Albacete
Divestitures (EXITS)
At the Bankinter Innovation Foundation, we expect the number of exits in 2025 to exceed the figure for 2024. This is because in the first 9 months of the year alone, 49 exits have already been achieved, which represents an increase of 15%.
In quantitative terms, Hotelbeds stands out with the IPO that valued the company at €2,840M. The liquidity window that has occurred in the summer has also been surprising, as 5 rounds of more than 100 million euros each were announced:
- Vlex, the legal information platform that generated an exit of €850M
- Wallapop, which has been sold to the Korean company Naver, reaching an exit of €377M
- CoverManager, the Seville-based company specialising in the hospitality sector and which announced a divestment of €350M.
- Onum, the start-up of Pedro Castillo (who also founded Devo), was sold to Crowdstrike for €250M
- Tradeinn, for which the Private Equity Fund Apollo paid €200M
In conclusion, 2025 is proving to be a promising year for investment in startups both in terms of economic volume and number of operations. The ecosystem continues to mature, reflecting the special increase in series C operations, as well as the growth of exits compared to the previous year.
