Investment trends in Spain 2022

Investment Volume

Investment in 2022 has been characterized by high activity (higher number of deals) 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 early-stage investment with €1475 raised (+10%) in 405 deals (+3%). The series that has grown the most and received the most investment is Series C (+60%), which shows the maturity of startups in Spain.

Investors

Although VCs are still the investment leaders in Spain with 53% of investment, their activity has fallen by 14%. However, it is worth highlighting the remarkable increase in the investment volume of Corporate Investors (+96% vs. 2021).

Investment sectors

There has been a decrease in investment in the sectors that led in 2021: Business&Productivity falls from almost €800M in 2021 to €530M in 2022, although it still tops the list of sectors, both in terms of investment volume and number of deals.

There are two sectors that stand out in 2022:
– Travel/Tourism almost triples investment, from €174M in 2021 to €469M in 2022.
– Advertising/Marketing, which has seen a tenfold increase in investment over the past year.

Foreign investment

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

Exits

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

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