In recent years, Scaleup Spain has gone through waves of accelerated growth — some truly remarkable — especially in 2021 and 2022, when Spain outpaced all other European hubs. Even in 2023, amid a global economic slowdown, Spain stood out as one of Europe’s most resilient innovation ecosystems.

This performance is no accident. The report highlights that Spain continues to leverage two key assets:

1. A vibrant startup community, supported by more than 15 world-class tech events annually, attracting hundreds of thousands of participants.

2. A solid base of over 120 active investors.

However, critical structural challenges are now coming into sharp focus:

• Scaling remains a hurdle. While Spain generates thousands of early-stage startups, few manage to scale locally. Less than one-third of Spanish investors back Series A rounds, and only 19 provide growth capital. The impact is already visible: in the first half of 2025, only 35 new scaleups emerged — back to pre-2018 levels — even though investment volumes remain on par with 2023–2024.

• The Madrid-Barcelona “duopoly” is losing steam. This two-pole model, designed to prevent overconcentration, is showing its limits: rather than strengthening, it dilutes density. Both cities fall short of the critical mass needed to compete globally. The international contrast is stark: Seoul outperforms all of Spain, not only in the number of scaleups (1,555 vs. 1,194) but also in capital raised (more than triple Spain’s total).

The diagnosis is clear: for Scaleup Spain, it’s now or never.

Unlocking the next phase of growth will require bold steps:

• Strengthening public–private alliances,

• Defining a clear strategy to invest in frontier technologies,

• Deepening international connections.

In this sense, the proposal for a Spain Tech Alliance — inspired by France’s La French Tech — could be a promising start. But it won’t be enough. In the world of innovation, the rule is simple: evolve or be extinct.

Download the full report here