The Spanish tech ecosystem is now worth €93B, up 3.6x since 2018. The growth in the nationʼs ecosystem value has been driven by the emergence of four new homegrown unicorns in 2022 like Fever, Factorial, Domestika and TravelPerk. All eyes are on a select few who might rise to the occasion to be Spain’s next unicorns! Read on to get to know them!

The number of unicorns and $1B+ exists per country in 2022. This graph by dealroom.co indicates 14 exits and 4 unicorns. 

Soon-to-be-unicorns are emerging companies fuelled by funding from angel investors and financial speculators. Their projected worth often surpasses their current value, with market forecasts and industry valuations playing a significant role in determining their potential. It’s not uncommon for larger organisations to acquire these startups, further boosting their perceived value.

The key criteria considered in the building of this list are:

• Growth, velocity and growth potential

• Funds raised

• Employee growth

• Geographical distribution

• The ability to have a positive impact on society

Wallapop

City: Barcelona

Stage: Late VC (Series G)

Employees: 461

Industry:  Marketplace

Valuation: $832M

Wallop is a peer-to-peer marketplace based out of Barcelona that made a splash at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic with consumers who were looking for more localised, less wasteful, and more eco friendly routes for buying and selling items. The platform’s mobile marketplace allows users to sell new and second-hand goods that provide a catalogue of numerous published advertisements that help people to buy and sell second-hand items.

In January this year their valuation was at a staggering $832 Million, after which they received an additional top up of $87 Million in funding. Their new funds will be used to further expand in Spain, Italy and Portugal and to invest in Data Science and R&D.

Wallop was founded by Miguel Vicente, Agustín Gómez, Gerard Olivé in 2014. The platform currently sees traffic of 15 million monthly active customers.

Codigames

City: Valencia

Stage: Formerly VC-backed

Status: Privately held (backing)

Employees: 86

Industry: Mobile Gaming

Codigames is a mobile gaming company based in Valencia, Spain. The company was founded in 2012 by Francisco Martínez, a software engineer with a passion for game development. Codigames focuses on creating and publishing casual mobile games for a global audience.

Codigames has gained recognition in the mobile gaming industry for its successful titles, such as Idle Supermarket Tycoon, Idle Theme Park Tycoon, and Empires of Sand. These games have achieved millions of downloads and have garnered a dedicated fan base. Codigames’ approach to game development often involves creating addictive and engaging gameplay experiences for players.

Their games have been downloaded by more than 70 million players around the world and is expected to continue at this trajectory toward unicorn status.

Paack

City: Barcelona

Status:  Private

Employees: 170

Industry: E-commerce delivery

Valuation: $880m—1.3b

Paack is an e-commerce delivery platform with sophisticated software that integrates with the robotics that are essential to modern-day logistics operations. You may be familiar with warehouse robots that populate those vast spaces occupied by the likes of Amazon and others. In particular, Amazon was very much a pioneer of the technology. We’re happy to report that warehouse robots are no longer the monopoly of one company.

While Paack was originally founded in 2015 in Madrid, it has expanded its operations globally, including establishing a significant presence in Barcelona, Spain.

Based in Barcelona, Paack operates an innovative platform that optimises and manages deliveries for e-commerce retailers. The company utilises advanced algorithms and data analytics to offer flexible and efficient delivery options to its clients and their customers. Paack’s goal is to provide a seamless and personalised delivery experience that meets the expectations of modern online shoppers.

Playtomic

City: Madrid

Stage: Series C

Employees: 160

Industry: Software (Racket sports)

Valuation: $225.16 million (2022)

The Madrid-based startup, founded in 2017, by Pedro Clavería, Félix Ruiz and Pablo Carro, was born as a booking app for padel courts before expanding into other racket sports. It has now grown to a community of players with a super viral match-making feature, growing globally and currently in 49 countries. With padel becoming a super trendy sport across generations in Europe over the past few years, the young company has seen impressive growth, with 5k clubs using the platform globally.

With a team headcount of 160 and 13 acquisitions so far to consolidate the market, the young sports tech company also recently acquired Aircourts, their Portuguese counterpart and the leader in sports booking in Portugal. This strategic step, allows Playtomic to support an additional 350 sports facilities and 500,000 players in Portugal.

RavenPack 

City: Malaga

Stage: VC

Employees: 183

Industry: Financial Services Big Data

Since 2003, RavenPack has been one of the leading data analytics providers in financial services, and their journey continues as they expand into new markets.

The company utilises natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning techniques to process and analyse large volumes of unstructured data from diverse sources such as news articles, job postings, social media, transcripts, regulatory filings, and more. By extracting relevant information and insights from these sources, RavenPack’s platform helps clients make data-driven decisions and gain a deeper understanding of market trends, sentiments, and events that may impact financial markets.

While RavenPack has its headquarters in Marbella, it also offices in New York to serve a global clientele and provide support across different time zones.

Last year RavenPack released RavenPack Edge, a new AI platform that collects, reads, and analyses billions of documents to help businesses better monitor and mitigate emerging risks.

Clikalia

City: Madrid

Stage: Late VC

Employee growth 2022 – 2023:

Industry:  PropTech

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Madrid, Clikalia aims to modernise and streamline the process of buying and selling properties in Spain through the use of technology.

Clikalia offers an online platform that connects buyers and sellers, simplifying the property transaction process. They provide comprehensive services that include property listings, virtual tours, professional photography, valuations, legal support, and assistance with paperwork. By leveraging technology and data, Clikalia aims to enhance transparency, efficiency, and convenience in the Spanish real estate market.

One of Clikalia’s notable features is its “Instant Offer” service, which allows homeowners to receive a quick cash offer for their property. This service targets individuals who prefer a fast and hassle-free sale without going through the traditional listing and negotiation process.

Clikalia primarily operates in major Spanish cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and Seville, but their services may expand to other regions over time.

Spain’s startup scene is gaining global recognition, ranking 16th globally and 6th in Europe for total investment raised in 2022. The surge in pre-seed and seed funding can be attributed to the availability of early-stage venture capital, resulting in annual raises of at least $300 million since 2018. The Spanish government has played a significant role in nurturing startup culture by introducing Spain’s startup law in 2023.

Conceived under the framework of the Spain Entrepreneurial Nation strategy, to encourage the creation and development of startups in the country, by recognising their unique status and risks: business model, potential for growth, need for high skills workers locally and abroad.