The Spanish startup ecosystem continues to grow: €102 million invested in Q3 2014

The investment landscape in Spain continues to improve. As previously explained, the number of investments and exits increased significantly in the first half of 2014; and the activity in Q3 confirmed that things in Spain are slowly but steadily improving.

The best quarter for Spanish startups since 2013

From July to September there were 41 rounds of financing in Spain, the highest number since Q2 in 2013. These 41 deals combined for €102 million, another record for the country that represents a 50% increase compared to the previous quarter and +96% compared to the same period in 2013.

July was the best month of the summer, accounting for 64% of all quarterly investments, thanks in part to big rounds raised by mobile gaming startup Socialpoint (€23.1 million from various investors), La Nevera Roja (€6 million) and Scytl (€15 million from SAP Ventures). In regards to Scytl it should be noted that the Barcelona-based company has raised €62 million since April, a true mega round and the biggest from a Spanish startup since Softonic.

The majority of the deals were once again seed rounds. Outside of that there were 4 rounds of more than €10 million, 6 higher than €6 million and 16 of more than €1 million. All numbers represent increases compared to the previous quarter.

Spanish investment deals worth highlighting

Given the level of activity in Spain from July to September it’s interesting to highlight some of the deals that were closed. Some because of its size and others because they mostly included foreign investors who are paying more and more attention to the Spanish ecosystem.

• Socialpoint raised €23 million from Greylock Partners, IDInvest Partners and Highland Capital Partners Europe. The company is the biggest mobile company to come out of Spain and in 2013 had revenues of more than €43 million.
• Jobandtalent raised €10.8 million from Qualitas Venture Capital, Kibo Ventures, FJME and other investors.
• Madrid-based CartoDB closed in September a €6.3 ($8M) million Series A. The investment was led by German VC firm Earlybird Venture Capital and also included the participation of local firms Kibo Ventures and Vitamina K.
• The transportation sector is heating up and Cabify is right in the middle of it. The company announced a new $4 million injection led by previous investors Seaya Ventures and Black Vine.

Also relevant rounds were the following: Percentil (€1 million), Traity (€3.6 million), ABA English (€2.5 million), Glamping Hub (€793,000), Odilo (€2.2 million) and Typeform (€1.2 million).

Q3 2014 and the Spanish startup ecosystem: most active investors and exits

Active Venture Partners (3), Kibo Ventures (2), Vitamina K (2) and Faraday Venture Partners (2) were the four most active investors in the third quarter of 2014. Regarding AVP it’s also interesting to note that the firm also led adjust’s $7.6 million Series C.

In terms of exits there were only three. Icebergs was acquired by Pinterest for an undisclosed figure, vLex bought Argentinian startup Quolaw and Anafocus was bought by British company E2V Technologies for €32.4 million.

We’re big believers in the Spanish ecosystem and things seems to be improving constantly over the past few years…

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Photo | Doctorow