aVenture is in Alpha: aVenture recently launched early public access to our research product. It's intended to illustrate capabilities and gather feedback from users. While in Alpha, you should expect the research data to be limited and may not yet meet our exacting standards. We've made the decision to temporarily present this information to showcase the product's potential, but you should not yet rely upon it for your investment decisions.
aVenture is in Alpha: aVenture recently launched early public access to our research product. It's intended to illustrate capabilities and gather feedback from users. While in Alpha, you should expect the research data to be limited and may not yet meet our exacting standards. We've made the decision to temporarily present this information to showcase the product's potential, but you should not yet rely upon it for your investment decisions.
© aVenture Investment Company, 2024. All rights reserved.
44 Tehama St, San Francisco, CA 94105
Privacy Policy
aVenture Investment Company ("aVenture") is an independent venture capital research platform providing detailed analysis and data on startups, venture capital investments, and key industry individuals.
While we strive to provide valuable insights with objectivity and professional diligence, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided on our platform. Before making any investment decisions, you should verify the accuracy of all pertinent details for your decision.
aVenture does not offer investment advisory services and is not registered as an investment adviser. The data provided by aVenture does not constitute recommendations or advice, whether by methodology or a statement written by a staff member of aVenture.
Links to external websites do not imply endorsement or affiliation with aVenture. References or links to providers offering the ability to invest in a primary or secondary transaction in a company are for convenience purposes only. They are not solicitations or offers to buy or sell an investment. Remember that past performance does not guarantee future results, and venture capital and private assets should be a contributory part of a diversified portfolio.
From TechCrunch
By Anna Heim
May 27, 2024
If 11 figures is your attention threshold, you may be interested in learning that the combined enterprise value (EV) of Spanish startups surpassed €100 billion in 2023, according to Dealroom’s latest report on the Spanish tech ecosystem. As we’ll see, venture investment into Spanish startups also held up quite well, with €2.2BN raised across some 850 funding rounds.
Spain’s venture capital tally was lower last year than in 2021 and 2022; that’s no surprise as these years were outliers. Unlike other places, though, the country hasn’t fallen below pre-pandemic levels of activity. In 2019, for reference, Spanish startups had collectively raised €1.9BN in venture capital.
But first, there are several ways to look at Spain’s 11-figure startup EV. On the one hand, it puts Spain ahead of Norway, Italy or Portugal. On the other hand, with a combined value of $191BN, Cambridge’s tech ecosystem alone is almost worth double Spain’s. (With $1 worth €0.92 today, please forgive us for skipping conversions.)
A lot could be said on whether Spain is doing enough to support entrepreneurship — but for today, let’s stick to facts and numbers.
Adding time as a factor, France reached €100BN in combined startup EV six years ago, and Germany nine years ago. But the value of Spanish tech is also one of the fastest growing in Europe, Dealroom noted in a slide. Give them more time, and maybe some Spanish startups will become decacorns and more, too.
Here’s the funnel according to the report:
With a total of €2.2BN in venture investment, 2023 results moved the needle in the right direction, but mostly for the top of the funnel. Investment volume for “Early-stage” — pre-seed, seed and Series A — was at an all-time high last year, and the Series B and Series C stages remained strong. However, late stage activity was “quiet,” per Dealroom, with only two mega-rounds (into veteran data management platform Denodo, which has long since relocated to the US; and the data-driven events startup Fever.)
The slowdown in late stage activity isn’t unique to Spain but, like elsewhere, it could be a concern. Startup activity isn’t only a funnel: It is also supposed to be a circle.
For instance, high-profile scaleups often turn into founder factories; in Spain, it’s been the case with Fever, but also Cabify, job&talent, Glovo and wallbox. But without liquidity events, it becomes more difficult for former employees to become angels or start new companies.
That’s also a necessity on the VC side, with exits providing liquidity that can be reinjected into early stage deals. Without large M&As and IPOs, there’s always a risk funds will be deprived of capital to invest anew.
Spanish VCs don’t seem worried, though; time will do its thing, they suggest. Jaime Novoa, a partner at Kfund, commented in the report that he and his colleagues are “very confident that several companies being funded now will become scaleups in the next five to ten years.” He cited as a positive signal how early stage activity “remains very healthy.”
Not only is the early stage quite active, but the teams getting funded are also in line with what Europe may want to see more of. Most of 2023’s VC funding into Spanish startups went to climate tech, followed by biotech and clean energy. It is too early to tell how many of these could become centaurs, but it will definitely be worth tracking.
Share:
New Syndicate One fund joins Belgium’s small-but-punchy tech ecosystem
Syndicate One is a debut investment firm out of Belgium that has raised a €6.5 million fund to back Belgian founders and startups. While the amount is small, the significance is that it is the first Belgian fund to have the support of all four of the federal regions of the country. This, in a country that is famous for its regional divisions, and even periodically going without an actual government. Over 100 entrepreneurs and startup operators have backed the fund which launched in 2022 and ha
Dec 13, 2024
Carta is making it too difficult to cancel subscriptions, some founders say
Running a startup can be expensive, requiring a multitude of different subscriptions. Cap table management software, which helps founders organize their funding, can cost thousands of dollars a year. San Francisco-based Carta is the market leader in this industry. But some startup founders say Carta is making it too hard to cancel their subscriptions. The issue first surfaced on X after founder Sudarshan Sridharan of Pipeline posted about his struggles trying to cancel, writing that “I’m speech
Dec 12, 2024
A comprehensive list of 2024 tech layoffs
The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has more than 130,000 job cuts across 457 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized startups have also seen a fair amount of cuts, and in some cases, have shut down operations altogether. By tracking these layoffs,
Dec 12, 2024
Don't miss our latest news and updates. Subscribe to the newsletter