Elkargi grows to reach €480 million

From Elkargi as a barometer of the economy—especially of the real economy—we see that the year-end has generally been positive for companies, despite certain circumstances. At the same time, we believe we are facing a major transformation, mainly in industry, to deal with the short term, in which competitiveness will become the key word. Some sectors are experiencing a significant drop in orders, raising concerns about their future. In this context, management and scale are proposed as the main antidotes.

Elkargi Activity 2025

Elkargi closed fiscal year 2025 with growth of 15.5% and financing activity exceeding €480 million. Of this amount, 40% was allocated to investment projects, an indicator that confirms the recovery of business investment and its consolidation as a driver of economic growth. This progress is part of sustained double-digit growth in recent years, during which the financing provided by the entity has almost doubled compared with 2018, when it reached €250 million.

Value generation of more than €10 million has strengthened Elkargi’s solvency to 17%, more than double the level required by the Banco de España, set at 8%. This solid and stable position supports its ability to continue accompanying companies and professionals in their present and future financial needs.

With regard to its training and consultancy work, Elkargi has continued to grow and reaffirm its strategic role. Although these areas are less visible, they are essential to ensuring companies’ financial health and driving the transformations required in a changing economic environment. During 2025, more than 1,000 professionals attended its courses and 250 financial consultancy projects were carried out, aimed at equipping companies with stronger financial structures to face upcoming challenges.

Elkargi’s activity once again shows positive performance across most territories, with Bizkaia standing out as the strongest growth area, increasing by 24.79% to reach €174 million, which already represents 34% of the total. Gipuzkoa maintains its position as the main area of activity, with a 36% share, despite the adjustment in the last fiscal year, when it fell from €149 million to €139 million. Araba recorded growth of 15%, reaching €74 million and accounting for 16% of the total. Navarra also consolidated its dynamism with an 11% increase, reaching €55 million. Madrid continued its upward trend with growth of 8% and activity amounting to €36.5 million.

By sector, performance is particularly notable, with a clear leadership of the services sector, which now represents half of the total and exceeds €220 million after growing by 47%. Industry continues its solid advance, consolidating its weight with 29% of total activity. Trade doubled its volume with growth of 4%, while construction (11%), hospitality (6%), transport (2%) and the primary sector (1%) also recorded increases, contributing to the overall strengthening of the economic fabric.

Training and Consultancy

Elkargi’s financial activity is complemented by a strong commitment to training aimed at executives and financial managers, with the goal of improving business management as a key element for sustainability and growth. Over the past year, more than 1,000 professionals attended its programs, doubling the turnover of this business line and confirming the interest in rigorous economic and financial information as the basis for more efficient decision-making.

The Financial Classroom (Aula Financiera) offers content ranging from basic training for small companies to advanced programs for expanding firms, with the participation of experts from leading companies such as Teknia, Tubacex, Sidenor, TAES and Gestamp, who provide valuable practical insight.

Elkargi has also strengthened its applied finance tools area by incorporating training in digital transformation and Artificial Intelligence, including new programs focused on automating workflows through agentic AI. This training activity is carried out in collaboration with academic institutions such as Universidad de Deusto, Mondragon Unibertsitatea and Instituto de Empresa (IE).

At the same time, financial consultancy activity grew with the completion of 250 projects in 2025, supporting companies in improving their financial structure, debt organization, profitability and investment processes.

Innovative Projects

Elkargi continues to expand its financial solutions with new tools designed to strengthen business growth and competitiveness. Among them is the new Elkargi Debt Fund, endowed with €50 million, whose first transactions will be signed shortly. This fund offers bullet financing with maturities of up to seven years and tickets of up to €4 million.

In addition, the Innovation Loan has been launched in collaboration with the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, aimed at SMEs. In 2025, €9.5 million was formalized under this program at an interest rate of 3.04%. This is the second fund of this type, complementing the existing one, currently endowed with €70 million.

Another relevant axis of Elkargi’s activity is financing for startups, to which a total of €14 million has been allocated. This has helped consolidate Elkargi as a key partner for emerging companies in sectors such as sustainability, cybersecurity, mobility and artificial intelligence.

Regarding territorial activity, Elkargi has set the objective of strengthening its growth in Cantabria and La Rioja throughout this year. These are two regions where the organization has been present for 20 years and where it plans to intensify its activity to continue supporting the local business fabric.

36th Business Meeting

On March 4 at 11:30 a.m., the 36th Business Meeting will be held at the Kursaal Conference Center in Donostia. Under the title “A New World Order: Geopolitical Keys and Their Impact on Companies”, Elkargi has succeeded in bringing together, for the first time and in the same forum, four former Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Spanish Government: Josep Borrell, José Manuel García‑Margallo, Arancha González Laya and Ana Palacio.

Together, they will analyze the key aspects of the current global geopolitical situation and offer their views on the main international challenges, with the aim of helping SMEs better prepare for the new global scenario.

In addition, the meeting—now firmly established each year as a benchmark event for the business and economic world beyond the Basque Country—will also feature the participation of the Chairman of BBVA, Carlos Torres, and the former President of the European Banking Authority, José Manuel Campa.