Barcelona

Lloret de Mar

Sitges

Tarragona

Cervera

Badalona

Sant Cugat del Vall?s

San Adrian de Besos

LHospitalet de Llobregat

Gava

Teià

Rubi

Girona

Calafell

Alella

Reus

Sant Cugat del Valles

El Prat de Llobregat

Sant Pere de Ribes

Sabadell

Cerdanyola

Vulpellac

Cerdanyola del Vallès

Gandesa

Castelldefels

Terrassa

Palafrugell

Garcia, Tarragona

Sant Pau de Segúries

La Floresta

Mataró

Cornellà de Llobregat

Villanueva y Geltrú

Lleida

Sant Just Desvern

Calaf

Moià

Tordera

Catalonia

Vilanova i la Geltrú

Sant Feliu de Llobregat

Besalú

Manresa

Sant Quirze Safaja

Juncosa

Cardona, Spain

Arenys de Munt

Sant Ramon

Sant Joan les Fonts

Granollers

![aerial photography of vehicles passing between high rise buildings](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1539037116277-4db20889f2d4?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxzZWFyY2h8Mnx8bWFkcmlkfGVufDB8fDB8fHww&w=1000&q=80)
 The Spanish startup ecosystem is younger than others in Europe and offers entrepreneurs a relatively affordable cost of living, in addition to an abundance of sunny weather that attracts remote talent. 

==read-more==

 Spain is blessed with two strong ecosystems, Barcelona and Madrid. While these cities are the backbone of the Spanish startup ecosystem, a lot of innovation and talent has come out of smaller cities like Valencia. Barcelona has given birth to some of Spain's most notable companies, and unicorns such as Glovo, Wallbox, and Letgo have had successful exits. In 2022, Factorial and TravelPerk joined the unicorn list, showcasing the strength of the ecosystem. 

 Madrid is home to Telefónica, a major player in the global telecommunications industry and ranked the top corporation in Europe in the [2025 Corporate Startup Activity Index](https://www.startupblink.com/blog/corporate-startup-activity-index/) for its leadership in startup collaboration. It is also home to Amadeus IT Group, a leading provider of travel technologies. These global success stories could be what the ecosystem needs to prevent brain drain and stimulate its most ambitious talent toward more innovation. 

 Ironically, long-term high unemployment rates in Spain have had positive effects on the startup ecosystem, as the difficulty in finding high-quality corporate jobs pushes more people toward entrepreneurship. However, now with rapid GDP growth and record-low unemployment, fewer are driven to entrepreneurship, despite a stronger economy and more capital in the ecosystem. Another unfortunate competitor for startup talent is the public sector, which offers stability and incentives that make it more attractive for the risk-averse young population in Spain. 

 Regulations to help attract talent have already been established, and foreign entrepreneurs can use an Entrepreneur Visa or Startup Visa to establish a company in Spain. However, red tape, high taxes, and a strong bureaucracy are additional challenges that should be peeled back to allow startups to truly advance. For that reason, some of Spain’s notable startups have been headquartered in other ecosystems, and incorporation in the country is not generally regarded as a strategic decision. If Spain manages to build a pro-business narrative and track record, it will truly become a champion of innovation. 

 Addressing the challenge of regulatory reform, the Spanish government has launched the Spain Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy, a ten-year plan to position Spain’s brand as a country focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. The plan includes a New Startup Law. Apart from tax reductions and incentives, the law proposes the launch of a new Digital Nomad Visa, which allows foreigners to stay and work in the country for up to 12 months. 

 On a regional level, ACCIÓ, the public agency for the competitiveness of the Catalan enterprise, should be celebrated for attracting record funding in recent years to Catalonia and positioning it as a notable hub in Europe. Moreover, as a local economic development agency, Barcelona Activa offers coaching, feasibility assessment, training, and incubation programs to help local startups. Beyond Catalonia, other Spanish regions are also fostering their local ecosystems through similar initiatives. Madrid Investment Attraction (MIA), PROEXCA – Canary Islands, VLC Tech City, Startup Valencia, and ProMalaga all contribute significantly to growing their respective local ecosystems, highlighting a nationwide effort to support startup growth and innovation. 

 In addition to public sector activity in Spanish startup ecosystems, the country’s top universities are also active players with their incubators, accelerators, and research-driven spin-offs. Institutions like IE Business School’s Venture Lab, ESADE’s EWorks, and IESE’s Business Angels Network are examples of how academia can foster entrepreneurship. 

 The presence of global events such as [MWC Barcelona](https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/), [South Summit](https://www.southsummit.io/?utm_campaign=startupblink&utm_medium=startupblink&utm_source=startupblink), [Valencia Digital Summit and Smart City Expo World Congress](https://www.smartcityexpo.com/tracks-scewc/) has done wonders for promoting the ecosystem overseas and gathering entrepreneurs, investors, and tough leaders together every year.

Spain

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BizAway startup from Barcelona, Spain is ranked 9348 out of 193933 worldwide and 193 from the 4054 startups in Spain. See more information and additional rankings on the StartupBlink Global Ecosystem Map

As the innovation hub of the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan is renowned for its outstanding high-tech R&D capacity, highly-trained professionals, and thriving networks of entrepreneurs which enable our  startup ecosystem to achieve steady continuous growth.

Director General, Department of Academia-Industry Collaboration and Science Park Affairs

In the recent years, Moscow has become a gravity centre for the most talented people not only from Russia and Eastern Europe, but from all over the world. Such concentration of professionals affirms Moscow as one of the global “cities of the future”, world centre for the development of breakthrough technologies, particularly in IT.

The Moscow Agency of Innovations was established to create a truly favorable environment for the advancement of technology in Moscow.

2016

The Skolkovo Innovation Center and Skolkovo Foundation was signed into law with a goal to goal is to create a sustainable ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation.

2010

Avito, a classified ads website and now a unicorn, first went online.

2007

The Moscow Seed Fund, a VC which invests in see and pre-seed startups, was established.

2005

Yandex search engine was launched!!!!

1997

Catalan startups raised 1,479 million euros in investment in 2021, the highest figure on record.

2021

 Pier 01 is inaugurated. It is one of the largest space for startups & entrepreneurs in Europe and home to the Tech Barcelona association. 

Mobile World Congress moves to Barcelona.

2006

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