President and Founder of South Summit, opened the presentation of the report by highlighting the crucial role these companies play both in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and within the broader business landscape.  "Growth is a fundamental challenge, which is why our motto for South Summit 2025 is: IN MOTION. We seek to identify, attract, and foster that transversal growth, one that takes into account both people and our planet," emphasized Benjumea, who also underlined the value of "the ecosystem we work in — an ecosystem driven by innovation, scalability, and business growth, always with a global outlook."

The report jointly prepared by South Summit and PwC highlights the significant role played by the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem in the consolidation of High-Growth Companies (HGCs). In fact, nearly 80% of the growth of HGCs between 2019 and 2022 can be attributed to the increasing strength of the ecosystem, which grew in value by 23% between 2018 and 2023. In this regard, Benjumea also commented that "there are many HGCs that do not come directly from the startup ecosystem, but they all share one essential element: innovation. No company growing at an annual rate above 20%, and doing so consistently, could achieve that today without being innovative."

For his part, Juan José Güemes, Vice President of IE University and President of the IE Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, emphasized the importance of this report as "the first of its kind and scope focused on High-Growth Companies (HGCs) in Spain," and stressed the need to "build a strong ecosystem through these companies."

In this context, South Summit will integrate these companies into its initiatives with the ecosystem, with the goal of driving collective growth. In fact, and fully aligned with this year’s motto in Madrid, IN MOTION, High-Growth Companies will play a prominent role in the activities held during the three days of the international event, as well as in the official program.

But what are High-Growth Companies (HGCs)? They are companies that grow at an average annual rate of over 20% for three consecutive years and that had at least 10 employees at the beginning of that period. Although they represent only 0.7% of the Spanish business fabric, their economic impact is highly significant. In 2022, their combined turnover reached €567.947 billion, which accounts for 35% of total business turnover in Spain and represents a 55% increase in just one year. Furthermore, that same year, they contributed €297.446 billion to Spain’s GDP, equivalent to 21.7% of the country's total GDP, and more than double their contribution in 2021, which stood at €126.038 billion.

“In 2022, the number of High-Growth Companies in Spain was 15,276, employing 1,280,096 people,” highlighted Alberto Tornero, Partner in the High-Growth Companies division at PwC, during the presentation of the report. This last figure confirms HGCs as a major source of employment, having generated 55% more jobs in just three years. Their average productivity is also significantly higher than the national average, reaching €443,675 per employee, compared to €187,855 for Spanish companies overall — 136% higher.

More internationalisation and more innovation

In this context, the clear commitment to internationalization and its innovative approach are a fundamental part of the success of this type of company and also some factors that they share with startups. Proof of this is that 35% of EACs export or import, seven times more than the national average, which stands at 5%.

"High Growth Companies have a higher level of internationalization than the Spanish average, but if we were able to get Spanish companies to internationalize, we would have many more EACs," said Jordi Esteve, partner in charge of Strategy& at PwC. Specifically, the report by South Summit and PwC states that if the average proportion of companies in Spain that trade abroad reached the level of EACs - going from 5% to 35% - the number of these companies could increase fivefold and reach 79,000, that is, 2.3% of the business fabric. In addition, the probability of a company becoming high-growth increases by 6.3% when it internationalises through purchases or sales abroad.

The report also indicates that if Spanish companies increased innovation intensity and investment by 10%, the number of High Growth Companies would grow by 7%, that is, by more than 1,000 companies, to reach 16,564.

Entrepreneurs and High-Growth Companies, a joint growth

By sector, the analysis reveals a strong concentration of EACs in manufacturing (3,278 companies), trade (2,897 companies) and construction (2,409 companies). Geographically, these companies are grouped into two large nuclei: Madrid and Barcelona, both with a concentration of more than 10%, although they also have a prominent presence in the Valencian Community and Andalusia.

It is no coincidence that the distribution of EACs in Spain coincides with the two major entrepreneurial poles: Catalonia, which in 2022 had an ecosystem value of more than 37,000 million euros and had more than 2,500 EACs, and Madrid, with an ecosystem value of more than 36,000 million euros and almost 3,000 EACs.

Mundimoto, Komvida and Xeridia, examples of EAC

To assess the main data of this report, South Summit wanted to bring together some prominent Spanish EACs, such as Mundimoto, Komvida and Xeridia, in a talk moderated by Nacho Mateo, CEO of South Summit, who has stressed innovation as a common factor among all these companies. "We tend to think of innovation as technology, but it is a much more transversal concept that involves teams, business models... You don't need to have a very powerful technology base to be innovative and scale your project," Mateo said.

A statement with which Bea Magro, co-founder and CEO of Komvida, has agreed, for whom "innovation is made in very traditional sectors by creating channels or markets that did not exist before, as is our case with kombucha". For his part, Pepe Talavera, co-founder and CEO of Mundimoto, stressed that his business is based on "selling motorcycles, which is something that has always been done. You don't have to invent the wheel, you have to give a different touch and some technology to that wheel to be able to scale the business." For his part, Alberto Muñoz, co-founder, COO and CFO of Xeridia, also added adaptation as another key factor: "we are engineers, we have had to adapt to the language of our customers and their needs".