Spain’s startup ecosystem is slowly but surely coming of age. It has its 10. Unicorn in Factorial in October and successful entrepreneurs start with it Putting money back into the ecosystem.
The country’s startup scene was historically centered in the two big cities of Madrid and Barcelona, but today it’s increasingly tech companies Raising funds from across the country.
So which startups outside of the two main hubs are growing the fastest? We looked at Dealroom’s analyzed workforce data (sourced from LinkedIn) to give us a picture of which teams have been growing the fastest over the past 12 months.
To avoid the results being skewed by younger startups with smaller teams, the list only includes companies that have been founded since 2015 and have raised €10 million or more.
1/ Sesame HR
Sesame HR is developing an automated human resource management tool that centralizes various elements of employee management—including payroll, time off, and onboarding—onto a single platform.
According to the company, it has more than 5,000 customers in over 30 countries and can offer solutions for companies with 10 to 2,000 employees. It raised a €10 million round in March 2022 to adapt its product to the needs of international markets.
Founded: 2015
Headquarters: Valencia
Team growth over 12 months: 157% to 167 people
Total funding: 11 million dollars
2/ Multiverse Computing
Multiverse Computing sells its quantum computing software to financial clients like BBVA, the European Tax Agency and the Bank of Canada, and industrial manufacturers like Bosch.
The company rose a 10 million euro round in October 2021 and received another €12.5 million by the European Innovation Council two months later.
Speaking to Sifted ahead of the fundraising, it said the company would have to “grow like hell” to compete with institutional players like IBM and Google, who are also working on quantum computing.
Founded: 2019
Headquarters: San Sebastian
Team growth over 12 months: 131% to 60 people
Total funding: $40.4 million
3/ Tinder
Formerly known as Easy Charger, Tinder is an electric vehicle charging start-up a 100 million euro round in October 2022. At that time the company owned 150 charging points across Spain, but with the fresh capital it plans to expand its charging network across southern Europe and by 2025 it will own 4,000 charging points and manage 40,000 more.
Founded: 2017
Headquarters: Palencia
Team growth over 12 months: 115% to 58 people
Total funding: 110 million dollars
4/ Quibim
AI healthtech company Quibim uses algorithms to analyze medical imaging data, such as X-rays and CT scans, to find abnormalities and biomarkers that detect diseases early. In July 2020 it was raised an €8 million seed round to scale his team and develop an algorithm to detect Covid-19.
Ahead of the round, the startup’s founder and CEO, Angel Alberich-Bayarri, told Sifted that its technology has the potential to lighten public health systems somewhat by freeing up radiologists’ time.
Founded: 2015
Headquarters: Valencia
Team growth over 12 months: 35% to 70 people
Total funding: $14.9 million
5/ Triditive
Triditive is an industrial 3D printing startup that has patented large-scale 3D printing technology capable of producing metal and polymer structures.
The enterprise €5m raised in June 2022 to address supply chain bottlenecks forecast by the Bank of Spain cost the Spanish economy 16 billion euros. Triditive recently opened a 2,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Asturias where it builds its 3D printing robots, which it hopes will make the manufacture of bearing parts more local and less dependent on international freight channels.
Founded: 2016
Headquarters: mieres
Team growth over 12 months: 31% to 17 people
Total funding: $11.1 million
6/ Lookiero
Lookiero is an online personal shopping service for women that sends customers personalized clothing boxes based on their style preferences.
I spoke to Sifted beforehand a $19 million raise in 2019, Founder Oier Urrutia told Sifted that he enjoys the challenge of competing with US competitor Stitch Fix, which launched earlier this year.
The company raised another 30 million euros in June 2021 reportedly had 3 million registered users.
Founded: 2016
Headquarters: Bilbao
Team growth over 12 months: 26% to 437 people
Total funding: $56.5 million
7/ Zeleros
Zeleros is a startup working on Hyperloop – an alternative solution to the high-speed rail of the time Popularized by Elon Musk in 2013. Essentially, the idea for Hyperloop is to create pressure hoses that allow passenger capsules to move quickly through them with little drag.
Speaking to Sifted in the face of a €7m raise in 2020, co-founder Juan Vicén Balaguer told Sifted he expects the futuristic mode of transport to do just that become a reality by 2025.
Founded: 2016
Headquarters: Valencia
Team growth over 12 months: 25% to 55 people
Total funding: $15.6 million
Tim Smith is Sifted’s Iberia correspondent. He tweets from @timpfschmied
