Madrid Region

“Very interesting circumstances combine in the Community of Madrid: many universities, a strong service industry, international business schools, space industry, investors,…Madrid has the perfect combination to create innovative companies: having people who know a lot from a technical point of view, about how the company works, with many service and manpower possibilities.”

Javier Ventura, head of the ESA Galileo Satellite Navigation Scientific Office

“Madrid’s emergence as a city of opportunity and a gateway to Latin America, along with a high quality of life, make it a melting pot for talent. It’s an extremely livable city, with excellent infrastructure, and has one of the friendliest atmospheres in the world.

EU-Startups

“ESA BIC allowed us to establish in the Community of Madrid, consolidate the company and be part of an ecosystem with high technological potential.

Francisco Inglés, Co-founder of Startup Obuu
Ecosystem Highlights
  • + 2,5 Million SQM of available office space

  • 16 Universities with more than 300k students

  • 3 Business Schools included in Europe’s top 10

  • 2nd European region for employment in the high-tech sector

  • Main air-hub between Europe and Latin America

  • 4th position in Europe in number of VC investment rounds (2020)

  • 2nd position in Europe in number of exits of more than € 100M

Madrid Region has much more than the sunny weather, the top quality public services or the exceptional ratio between quality of life and cost of living. The city stands out for its great talent pool – in business software, fintech, e-health, cybersecurity and more – and for being the region with the highest concentration of innovative startups in Spain. Both for entrepreneurs and for investors, Madrid Region can very well be the number one option: along with its talent, it benefits from a very high density of support entities, from incubators, to universities and to research centers, and provides low establishment and operational costs. Internationally, it has the optimal location by being a privileged place of connection with Latin America and with the rest of Europe; and, also, by being one of the main global locations for headquarters of multinational companies. From Madrid Region, your market is the whole world.

Contact

Ignacio Cid

Entrepreneuship Unit
Land & Start
SETTLING IN THE REGION
STARTING YOUR BUSINESS
Access to capital
Advice about Capital Major VC’s

Your access to capital will be easier if you’re familiar with the main investors in the city. Check this list and contact them for further help. Further information concerning this topic can be found on the links below:

List of VC’s in Madrid Region
Angels

List of Angels in the city.

The Business Angel Network BAN madri+d facilitates financing for science and tech-based startups, among other networks.

Access to talent

If you’re looking for great talent to join your company, this is the right place. Post your job offers and hire the best (Spanish only).

Education

According to the 2020 INSEAD Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) Report, Spain is the sixth country in the world and the third in Europe in percentage of population with a higher education. This results in a highly qualified labour force coming from all of Madrid Region’s 16 public and private universities, 30 R&D centers and an important number of business schools. Know more about those institutions with entrepreneurial programmes here and about the city’s education system here.

Access to Public Financing

The main public instruments to support entrepreneurs (grants, loans, equity loans) can be found here (in Spanish).

Tech Ecosystem

Markets

 

Diversity and Inclusion

Madrid Region’s tech community keeps highly focused on promoting diversity and this is one of the reasons why it obtained the seal “European Entrepreneurial Region” by the European Committee of Regions; for standing out for inclusivity as a strategy for smart growth. The FactorW Diversity Summit is a good example of what the city is doing regarding this topic, by showing the importance and the benefits of a correct diversity management.

Madrid Region in the Media
More Science in Spanish with ‘Wikipedia madri+d’

The Madri+d Foundation for Knowledge, in collaboration with Wikimedia Spain, launched ‘Wikipedia madri+d’. This project aims to promote writing and improvement of scientific content in Spanish in Wikipedia. Know more about the initiative here (Spanish only).

Madrid among the ‘strong innovators’ in Europe

The community of Madrid is among the most innovative regions in Europe. This classification is reflected in the latest edition of the European Commission Regional Innovation Scorecard.

Tech community promotes aerospace education in school classes

Teachers organize training courses with the European Space Agency (ESA). Those courses are then transferred to the classroom. Details here.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CITY

Madrid Region can be a paradise for shopping, art, sports, gastronomy or nature lovers. It is a city for all.

The Spanish capital is home to the best museums in the World, from the Prado to the Reina Sofía; and to three-starred Michelin Restaurants. If you’re into shopping, delight yourself with the open-air markets or with century-old shops. But save your energies. You have great nights ahead of you. Be ready for the music, the Flamenco, the cocktail bars and the casinos. Of course, there’s also plenty of action to live with the best football, brought to you by Real Madrid or Atlético de Madrid. Don’t miss anything.

Discover all Madrid Region has to offer below:

Map of the Region

ACTIVITIES & CASE STUDIES

Madrid Region stands out for having more than 80 Trade Fairs and international projection events for startups such as South Summit, a leading innovation platform which connects the most disruptive startups with worldwide investors and corporations seeking for innovation. IFEMA is considered the best convention center in the world with fairs, events and sectoral activities of high interest for international startups, such as the Global Robot Expo (GREX), FITUR (Tourism), Genera (Energy and Environment) and more. Get to know them right here.

Being the city that obtained the seal “European Entrepreneurial Region”, Madrid keeps fostering new opportunities for startups and their leaders. In fact, the Spanish capital provides many programmes to support entrepreneurship, some of which are worth mentioning. Take STEM as an example. It’s a program that promotes women-led projects in fields in which they are underrepresented: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. But Madrid Region also encourages to “Dream Today to Start Tomorrow”. This is the name of a contest aimed at students from 7 to 18 years old to raise awareness towards innovation and entrepreneurship.

These are just a few examples of what Madrid Region is capable of to mature it’s strong tech ecosystem. Explore all the initiatives that the city promotes and be part of the community’s growth. On the links below:

This City's Cases
Opportunities
03.06.2024
Global, Vienna

ViennaUP 2024

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