However, the report highlights the need for the ecosystem to revitalise itself in order to boost its economic figures, which have remained stagnant over the past five years. Only 18% of Spanish startups show a positive EBITDA in 2024, a figure that has remained largely unchanged since 2017.

In addition to the difficulty of breaking the EBITDA ceiling, there has been a freeze on the real revenues of startups: since 2018, the percentage of Spanish entrepreneurs earning at least 150,000 euros in their projects has hovered around 35% without significant changes. The same applies to startups with high (over 500k €) and medium incomes (between 150k and 500k euros), which remain stuck at 10% and do not reflect large variations.

The Entrepreneurship Map 2024 also warns of a constant decrease in the hiring expectations of Spanish startups. While they remain positive, with 60% expecting to increase their headcount in the short term, this percentage has steadily declined from 76% recorded in 2021.

What does the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem need to do to overcome this situation and revitalise itself? According to the president and founder of South Summit, María Benjumea lies in “Knowing how to adapt to new technologies. The ecosystem is mature, with highly qualified companies and entrepreneurs with a great capacity for learning, but we all need to revitalise the ecosystem and ensure it continues to grow”.

Benjumea indicated today at the presentation of the Entrepreneurship Map 2024 that “The Startup Law, supported by all the key players in the ecosystem, is now celebrating two years of success. This law is not the end but the beginning of the journey to continue working together, promoting the growth of startups and increasing their ability to attract investment.”

IN MOTION: Purposeful movement of the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem

In this context, Benjumea also announced the theme for the next edition of South Summit Madrid 2025, which will take place from June 4 to 6 at La Nave in Madrid: “"In Motion means that at South Summit, we are very clear that we need a movement with purpose, one in which we all participate and that creates an impact on others, on the economy, and on the planet."

One of these new growth areas is precisely Artificial Intelligence, which is already the most used technology by Spanish startups: 30% of them report using it in their daily operations, marking a significant increase of 10 percentage points compared to 2022. However, there is still room for improvement, as its usage still lags behind North American startups (nearly 40%) and the broader European ecosystem (35%).

For the development of the Entrepreneurship Map 2024, over 3,000 startups registered for the Startup Competition at the last edition of South Summit Madrid were analysed, of which 81% are international. In this regard, Juan José Güemes, Vice President of IE University and President of the IE Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, emphasised, “IE University is an institution founded by and for entrepreneurs. We work to consolidate a global entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. As a reflection of this, 30% of our graduates present in 185 countries choose to start their own ventures throughout their professional careers.”

The profile of the Spanish entrepreneur remains unchanged

The incorporation of women in the ecosystem remains a pending issue in Spain: the 80%-20% ratio of male and female founders in Spanish startups has not changed in more than a decade. For this reason, the profile of the Spanish entrepreneur remains unchanged: a man with an average age of around 38 years. He is characterised by a high academic level, as almost 100% have university studies, 63% complement them with a master's degree - a percentage higher than the European average (59%) - and 17% hold a PhD – exceeding the North American average but 4 points below the European total.

In addition to their high qualifications, perseverance also defines the Spanish startup founder: 58% are serial entrepreneurs, meaning they have participated in the creation of at least two startups in their lifetime. Of these, 54% say they have previously failed, while 35% have managed to sell their startup.

The gender gap in exits is also significant, as the percentage of women entrepreneurs who have managed to sell their startup is 12 percentage points lower than that of men (24% vs 36%). These data would explain why the percentage of women serial entrepreneurs (38%) is much lower than that of men (63%).

Healthcare and Fintech still reign

According to the report prepared by South Summit and IE University, Spaniards have two favourite sectors when it comes to entrepreneurship: Healthcare and Fintech. These fields also host the longest-lasting startups, with an average of between 4 and 5 years for health startups and between 1 and 3 years for Fintech projects. At the sectoral level, Green Business, which gained strength in last year's Entrepreneurship Map, has consolidated itself as the fourth most represented industry in 2024.

In terms of employment, 7 out of 10 Spanish startups have between 2 and 10 employees – 2% more than in 2023. As for founders, startups founded solely by women have shown an upward trend in the last three years, rising from 6% in 2022 to 10% in 2024. On the other hand, mixed-gender founding teams have slowly decreased during this same period, from 35% to 31%, while male-only teams remain stable at 59%.

In addition, in all the regions analysed by the Map, there is a clear positive trend in patent registrations and the protection of startup developments. This includes Spain, which has increased from 15% to 20% claiming to have developed a patent in 2024. Despite this, our country still lags behind other regions, such as North America (30%) or Asia-Pacific (33%).

In terms of startup financing, bootstrapping has risen from 44% in 2023 to 49%, consolidating consolidated as the most popular method, while private fund financing has decreased by 4 points to 29%. Public funds have fallen from 7% to 5%.

B2G: an untapped market in the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem

The 2024 Entrepreneurship Map also analysed the customer profiles targeted by Spanish startups, with B2B dominating the market either as the exclusive customer (31%, 4 points more than in 2023) or combined with the end consumers or public administrations (47%). On the opposite side are B2C startups, which only represent 7% of the market, 2% less than last year.

Furthermore, the report highlights B2G, or Business to Government, as a minority business model that could be of great interest to startups. "In Spain, only 6% of startups have public administrations as a client, while in other markets such as Europe as a whole, the percentage rises to 11%, and in Asia-Pacific to 19%," revealed Salvador Aragón, Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) at IE University. "Like AI, Public Administration can represent a great opportunity for new startups and innovative ideas," he concluded.

For her part, Engracia Hidalgo, Delegate for Economy, Innovation, and Finance of the Madrid City Council, pointed out that “we have the system of access to service provision very tightly regulated, so we must be able to modify the regulations so that startups can access public administration.” In the same vein, Daniel Rodríguez, Deputy Minister of Economy and Employment of the Community of Madrid, stated: “Madrid is currently a competitive advantage for any entrepreneur, the fourth city in the entire EU. Our mission from the administrations is not to put obstacles in the way of entrepreneurs; we still have room for improvement as clients of startups.”

During the presentation, Jesús Herrero, General Director of Red.es, also participated and positively evaluated “the impact of the entrepreneurial ecosystem as a driving force for our country. To support it, we have several areas of activity that facilitate Spanish startups' entry into the most innovative ecosystems in the world or participation in the most important technology and entrepreneurship events globally.”

About South Summit

South Summit is the global platform that brings together all the actors of the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem to promote the development of business opportunities among them. Its main event is South Summit Madrid, co-organised by IE University, which, over its thirteen previous editions, has hosted more than 42,500 startups. Over 1,000 finalist startups have emerged from its Startup Competition, from which 7 unicorns were born, with a 90% survival rate and $16,2 billion raised in investment.

The 13th edition of South Summit Madrid brought together more than 18,000 attendees from 133 countries between June 5 and 7 this year, including over 6,500 entrepreneurs, more than 2,000 investors with an investment portfolio of over $500 billion -$174 billion more than last year-, and more than 6,000 representatives from corporations worldwide, in addition to 26 renowned international unicorns.

On the other hand, the 14th edition of South Summit Madrid will be held between June 4 and 6, 2025 at La Nave. The deadline to register for the Startup Competition is open until January 31, 2025.

Following events in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina, South Summit held its third edition in Brazil, also co-organised by IE University, last March. This latest edition brought together more than 23,500 attendees from 55 different countries, including more than 3,000 startups and 900 investment funds, ready to support the best innovative ideas from around the world, with a portfolio of $213 billion. South Summit Brazil is already preparing for its fourth edition, to be held between April 9 and 11, 2025.