MADRID, 1 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Those responsible for Spanish startups have confirmed that in recent years, since before the pandemic, there has been a paradigm shift in the sector that has gone from companies that grew quickly and obtained financing in the form of rounds for their theoretical potential. to a scenario in which the scalability and financial attraction of these companies is measured by their profitability and billing numbers.
In that sense, they have pointed out that capital firms (‘venture capital’, in the jargon of the sector) “no longer fully enter into projects that do not objectively demonstrate, in terms of profitability and billing, their scalability potential.”
In this sense, they have emphasized that, after the covid crisis, there was an increase in the creation of emerging companies and investment operations, resulting in a 2022 that closed with 3.5 billion euros invested after the record of 4.3 billion reached in 2021.
However, since then, investment operations have generally slowed down as a result of high inflation rates, the economic slowdown and, especially, the aggressive increases in interest rates, which have significantly increased financing costs compared to the time when interests were negative.
Regarding this paradigm shift, actors in the sector have spoken, such as Bosco Gonzáles, from BCAS, who has pointed out that “changing the mentality towards billing instead of seeking investment can be a viable strategy, but it requires a solid focus on profitability and careful financial planning.
For his part, Félix Martín, from Alquindoi, has pointed out that “the problem with this model is that it is not always clear that the company, in the long term, can be self-sustainable” and has confirmed that, given experience, the Investors “consider the need to redirect towards models that are based on a solid and stable operational base before scaling.”
“Raising funds serves to cover costs necessary to grow, but the objective is always to invoice and marginalize,” he added, while Nacho Requena, from Room007, commented “that both growth in capital inflow and growth through expansion should go at par”.
For his part, David González, from Depencare, has argued that “you cannot, or should not, create a startup to go from round to round; financing has a function, it must help you get where you would not go naturally, but it should not be a form of subsistence.”
Mateo Cusi of Urban Air Purifier (UAP) moves along a similar line, thinking that, as far as possible, “work with your own resources and the focus is on generating sales; being invested can distort the focus of your idea.” .
