Entrepreneurship map 2023: the most notable data

• The Entrepreneurship Map 2023 report addresses the current situation of the ecosystem
• Spain is a demanding market for highly qualified entrepreneurs, with master's and/or PhD training.

The South Summit Entrepreneurship Map 2023, developed in collaboration with IE University, highlights that the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem has been consolidated, a consequence of the growing number of startup that accumulate more years of traction in the market, among other reasons.

The entrepreneurial profile

The Spanish entrepreneur is usually:

• Mostly male (80 %).
• His age is around 32 years old, compared to 33 in 2022.
• 98 % have a university degree and 79 % have master's degrees, 9 % more in 2022. This places Spain above all regions. The 16 % has a PHD, a fact that has been maintained for 3 years.
• The 49 % comes from working as an employee in a company (3 % less than in 2022) and a slight growth is observed compared to the previous year with the 8 % that comes from working in a startup.
• 40 % always wanted to start a business and 40 % found a market opportunity, data that remains stable.
• 61 % is a serial entrepreneur.
• The 44 % of Spanish entrepreneurs has had to be financed initially with their own capital. Despite being almost half, it is the region that has needed this resource the least, even below Europe (49 %) and North America (50 %).

The main conclusions

Spain

• Spain is a demanding market for highly qualified entrepreneurs, with master's and/or PhD training.
• The 80/20 ratio for men and women is set in stone and has hardly changed in 10 years.
• Women serial entrepreneurs are almost 20 % fewer than men. One third of serial entrepreneurs have formed more than 3 startup.

Madrid

• Madrid at the head of the service economy thanks to its diversification.
• Greater commitment to experience than to technology.
• Capacity to attract new entrepreneurs.

startup

• Increasing maturity, with startups with more years of traction in the market.
• Accelerated registration process, quickly moving from the idea phase to the company incorporation phase.
• Growth in mixed and compact founding teams (less than 3 founders). The downward trend of first financing with own resources continues, with private investments increasing proportionally, although public investment appears with greater force.
• gap unfavorable for Spain in patents compared to almost all geographies, except Africa.

Ecosystem

• Spain achieves growth in technologies such as artificial intelligence, almost reaching Europe, although there is still a lot of presence of more mature ones such as big data either clouds.
• Experientialization of software, appearing not as the only type of product, but in combination with others as services.
• The startup They no longer have financing or strategic agreements as their only concern, complementary capabilities appear such as technological support, management or talent in their relationship with the ecosystem.
• Everything related to “Green Business” enters strongly and reaches first positions in the top industries.
• Support for sustainability is consolidated and appears in new sectors, especially services.

Featured opportunities

• Bet on serial entrepreneurs to strengthen the female presence in the ecosystem.
• Incorporate more technology through startup with patents.
• Add management and technological capabilities to financing capabilities.