According to cincodías, since May 2013, Spanish technology startups have raised more than €50 million in around 20 capital inflows. Ecommerce has stood out as the most favoured activity.
Privalia: €25 million to internationalise a company with a turnover of more than €400 million.
The most powerful operation has been that of Privalia, the ecommerce company founded by Lucas Carné and José Manuel Villanueva, which in mid-May closed an investment round of 25 million, through which the Belgian company Sofina (a holding company of the billionaire Böel family with stakes in Gaz de France and Danone) became a shareholder of the firm. A capital inflow that undoubtedly gives a new boost to the company, which in 2012 grew by 32% after closing the year with a turnover of 422 million euros.
"The financing of startups has been favourably boosted by large groups such as Telefónica, supporting both the seed stages with its Wayra incubator and the expansion stages with funds co-managed by Amérigo," says Diego Gutierrez, an expert in SME financing, at ABRA INVEST. "In addition, new funds have been raised, such as Kibo Ventures, Active Venture, Nauta Capital, Bullet and Seaya Ventures, which have enabled more powerful investments in start-ups in excess of €3 million, which until now was an almost unattainable investment range," says Diego Gutierrez.
Other notable movements have also taken place around e-commerce start-ups.
Thus, Bonsai, Attitude and Atresmedia (controlled by Grupo Planeta) have just invested nine million (the latter via advertising) in El armario de la tele, a firm headed by Laura Herrera that sells clothes from television programmes online, and which, like Privalia, is committed to international expansion.
In the same way, We Are Knitters, which markets kits so that everyone can knit their own woollen garments, received an investment of 150,000 euros from Cabiedes & Partners and business angels François Derbaix, founder of Toprural.com, and Yago Arbeloa, president of the Asociación de Inversores y Emprendedores de Internet (Association of Internet Investors and Entrepreneurs).
And the Aragonese company Funidelia, dedicated to the online sale of costumes and festive decorations, closed a financing round of 300,000 euros led by the investment club Big Sur Ventures-Necotium, in which Cabiedes & Partners also participated.