BBVA had already invested in the Fintech sector in recent years as part of its transformation strategy to become the world's leading international digital bank. It has started 2016 strongly and has expanded its BBVA Ventures fund from $100M to $250M and has reached a management agreement with the US firm Propel Venture Partners.
Good news for startups in our country. Bullnet capital has just closed its third fund with €42M, plus in recent weeks we have witnessed the emergence of new funds for technology startups that are essential to make Spain technologically competitive.
In 2015 we already saw how investment in E-health gained strength in our country, especially thanks to new platforms for finding and contacting doctors, this year we are going a step further and in 2016 it seems that the use of tics for the treatment of diseases will also be one of the preferences of investors.
By 2016, investment in Spanish fintech companies is expected to triple and the number of companies operating in the sector is expected to double. 2015, with 78 companies operating in our country and funding of around €200M, has been the take-off of this sector in Spain, which according to Venture Watch was the protagonist of 9.6% of venture capital operations in Spain.
An innovative entrepreneur is an entrepreneur who is able to differentiate his product from others even in highly competitive markets. Innovation provides an important strategic and competitive advantage and that is why it is so highly valued by investors. In this post we take as an example two Digital Marketing companies, Beabloo and Olapic, which in 2015 received large rounds that have attracted investors because of their great commitment to innovation.
Venture capital for technology companies has gained momentum in 2015 with investment exceeding €585M, as stated in a report by ASCRI. This is largely due to the fact that there is money to invest as there are many non-tech investors who are being bitten by the technology bug and that the state, through the ICO, is subsidising the sector with €1.5 billion for funds. Many funds are expected to be raised in 2016.
The development of new vaccines is a long and costly process in which it is often difficult to find funding, due to the uncertainty in the sector. However, it is necessary in order to find solutions to improve our health. This week...
Javier Megías, co-founder of Startupxplore, during the business angels congress held the last week of December in Valencia, said that investment in startups so far this year has already reached €400 M distributed in 2,638 startups. In the last 15 days companies such as La Comunity, Ad-Pure, Paypro, Groopify and Upplication have received funding. These companies are each from a different technology sector and are a good reflection of the technology sectors that have been most active in 2015.
With two weeks to go before the end of the year, the venture capital industry can begin to congratulate itself on the conclusion of a historic year, at least as far as SME financing is concerned. The year 2014 saw the regulation of SME venture capital funds, which has led to the creation of 8 SME venture capital funds.
Of the 10,847 rounds we have detected globally as of September 2015, software with 828 rounds and biotech with 795 rounds take the lead, followed by e-health, mobility and finance.
Crowdequity, despite being a lesser known form of Crowdfunding, is growing considerably in our country. In 2014 this type of crowdfunding grew by 234%. This year we have witnessed new records in this area. MindTheByte, closed a €234,310 round in October, making it the largest crowdequity round raised in the biotech sector in Spain with 115 private investors.
Taking advantage of the fact that Vudoir has recently received a round, we wanted to review Spanish startups in the fashion sector that have aroused the interest of investors in 2015 and are having great success. Among the most successful business models we find collaborative consumption, and we have also detected that artificial vision is gaining a foothold in the world of fashion.