In recent years, Spanish startups have been involved in different rounds of financing together with countless investors around the world, interested in each of their innovative proposals with a view to continuing to increase their value and economically strengthening each of their medium-sized projects. or long term. Some of them have received so much support that has managed to achieve the status of .
But what is a unicorn company? Within the venture capital industry, the term “unicorn” is applied to a private equity company that reaches a valuation of $1 billion or more without having yet gone public.
These unicorn companies, once they are incorporated and start operations, usually achieve this amount in their growth stage, a year after their launch (generally a year after the start-up of the project). It is important to clarify that once a startup formally enters the Stock Market, it automatically loses its “unicorn” status. For example, at the time, technology giants such as Facebook, Google or Twitter were considered unicorn companies before listing on the Stock Exchange, since they had reached at least 1,000 million dollars.
The Spanish Unicorns
Spain is not far behind when it comes to unicorn companies, with a large number of ventures that have had the support of large companies and organizations worldwide. These have been the Spanish startups that have overcome the barrier of 1,000 million valuation:
1.Job talent
Speaking of we are first and foremost a benchmark for job searches by . This online job search engine was founded by Felipe Navío, Felix Ruiz and Juan Urdiales in 2008, seeking to cover that need of many people to find work from their computers.
Currently, in addition to Spain, Jobandtalent has a presence in , Germany, , Sweden, Mexico and Colombia. In October 2021, its valuation rose to 2,070 million euros after one for 40 million euros. This has continued to rise until reaching a €2.35bn valuation.
2.Devo
is a company that handles cloud-native data security and analytics. This company has developed a real-time data analysis platform in the cloud that, although companies can use it for different purposes (such as monitoring the performance of their services, for example), ends up being the main source safety.
In October, Devo became a unicorn after a $250M Series E funding round, achieving a $1.5bn valuation, making it the first cybersecurity startup in Spain to achieve such status. And, this summer, its valuation was increased, reaching up to $2 billion.
3.Letgo
It is an app dedicated to the sale of second-hand products (electronics, cars and collectibles, accommodation, clothing and furniture, etc.), combining technologies such as image recognition with an intuitive design. was founded in 2015 by Alec Oxenford, Jordi Castelló and Enrique Linares and was consolidated as a unicorn company in August 2018 after receiving 500 million dollars (about 430 million euros) from the South African media conglomerate Naspers.
4.wallbox
was founded in Barcelona and is dedicated to the automotive sector, specifically in the field of electric cars, creating charging points for this class of vehicles that are installed in any home, regardless of whether or not they belong to the brand, already being a benchmark for this type of chargers.
Wallbox was founded in 2015 by Enric Asunción and Eduard Castañeda. Currently, it is around $1.5 billion and he already has his sights set on the stock market.
5. Cabify
Currently valued at $1.4 billion, was founded in 2011, offering in a single app a complete experience for private passengers and drivers in which technology and transport go hand in hand, guaranteeing customers a safe trip, geolocated, with the best duly identified drivers, the most modern cars, the better fares and, above all, the possibility for passengers to easily select their travel preferences.
It also offers special plans for companies: within the same application, you can control all your expenses, follow your trips in real time and also set your own limits in terms of prices, zones and hours. Likewise, the success of Cabify is a fact, since like Uber.
6.TravelPerk
2022 began with the addition of a new unicorn to the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem: the Spanish startup TravelPerk reached a valuation of 1,300 million dollars (around 1,100 million euros) after closing its last investment round in which it obtained 115 million dollars (just over 100 million euros).
The TravelPerk story began in 2015 when Javier Suarez and Avi Meir, two former employees of Booking, decided to use their knowledge in relation to online travel agencies, but focusing them towards corporate travel in order to attack an obvious problem: create specific solutions for companies in relation to their trips.
7.Domestika
In January 2022, the creative community announced a $110 million (over €96.7 million) capital raising, bringing its total valuation to $1.3 billion (over €1.14 billion).
The company grew out of an online forum and has gone on to become one of the fastest growing communities in the world with more than 8 million users. Its largest production hub is in Madrid, where it has 14 recording studios and facilities of more than 6,000 m2.
Despite being Spanish, it is based in California and offers about 2,000 courses delivered by more than 1,300 teachers. Every month more than 110 new courses are published and, to date, users have already completed more than 13 million courses. The platform has studies in 12 countries in Europe and Americaproduces all content in-house and curated to ensure a satisfying learning experience.
8. Idealistic
One of the top benchmarks in the real estate sector in Spain, it is a company with more than 20 years in the real estate market. It was founded in 2000 in Madrid and is responsible for supporting approximately 40,000 real estate agents and 38 million monthly unique visitors in southern Europe, through online classified ads for home buyers and sellers.
In September 2020, becoming the largest operation recorded in the history of the Spanish digital sector, elevating the platform to the category of unicorn company.
Idealista has just presented its reports that, although they indicate that 54 million euros of profits were generated (with a margin of 53% on income), they do not make us forget the 180 million euros of debt that the unicorn drags.
9. Cool
became the new Spanish unicorn in 2021 by closing a financing round of 140 million dollars (120 million euros) in September, thus exceeding a valuation of 1,000 million dollars.
This startup is a development platform for Salesforce, It is aimed at both SMEs and large companies. Use SaaS services (Software in the cloud) to eliminate bugs and boost product launches. In short, Copado works covering the different aspects within the operational development process.
10.Recover
This company is committed to circular fashion and its more than 70 years of experience have led it to produce the highest quality sustainable fibers by combining recycled cotton fibers. It currently has a center in Spain and two in Asia, and plans to open up to 6 more around the world.
In June, Recover announced the closing of an investment round of 95 million euros, with which to boost its growth and global expansion, as well as its production capacity. Currently, it enjoys unicorn status thanks to its valuation of $1 billion.
11.Fever
The leisure and events startup joined the select club of Spanish unicorns after closing a financing round for 227 million dollars (about 201 million) in January 2022. The company was born in Madrid in 2017 by the hand of Ignacio Bachelor, Alexandre Pérez and Francisco Hein. It is currently present in more than 60 cities in Europe, America, Asia and Oceania. The US is its largest market.
Glovo ceases to be a unicorn by lowering its valuation
The delivery company founded by Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud in Barcelona, he has recently lost his unicorn title due to the drop in his valuation. 2022 began with the news that he would buy, an operation that would end up closing last July.
However, from January to July, since the ups and downs he went through this year would end up taking a toll on him. Its valuation fell from 2,300 million euros to less than 800 million.
Flywire: the last Spanish unicorn to go public
Of all the Spanish startups that have achieved the unicorn rating, Flyware has been the last to go publicon the prestigious US Nasdaq stock index, being present there and rubbing shoulders with the world’s tech giants since May 2021. Thus, it lost its “unicorn” status, which it achieved after the last round of financing it obtained in early 2020. In this way, Flyware joined another Spanish ex-unicorn that is now listed on the stock market: eDreams
is a fintech that was created in 2009 in Valencia under the original name of PeerTransfer, whose purpose is to facilitate the payment of college and university tuition without losing fees and time. It is currently present in 240 countries, with more than 2,800 global clients and, although its operations center is in Boston, Massachusetts (USA), it still has some offices in Valencia.
What will be the next Spanish unicorn
Of course, this is a dynamic list, and it is expected that in the coming months some other startup will reach the status of Spanish unicorn. Among the main candidates for this, it is worth mentioning that after its last round of financing it was valued at around 700 million dollars, as well as others that have experienced great growth in recent years, such as .
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