The General Assembly of the Knowledge and Technology Industries Cluster of the Basque Country (GAIA), held this week in Vitoria, has approved the establishment of GAIA Value Capital S.L., an integrated platform combining strategic intelligence and capital. It is expected to mobilize €200 million in direct funding over the coming years to support technology development, fostering the growth and retention of the digital and secure industry in the Basque Country.
The Basque Cluster – which brings together 305 organizations – sees this decision very positively due to the expected short- and medium-term impact and support for sectoral development, by energizing an investment-promoting and management entity to drive the growth and local anchoring of its companies.
In the public event following the assembly, GAIA President Elena Zárraga explained that with this initiative, the Basque Cluster aims to address the current need for specialized investment capital to support the sector's companies. “This new entity will provide funding that accelerates technological development, company growth, and long-term retention. It will offer all SMEs in the sector access to technological and financial valuation, support for M&A (mergers and acquisitions), and financing for growth and technological development,” she stated.
According to the Cluster, this infrastructure supports technological sovereignty and will enable the creation of a fund of around €200 million in direct investment, and potentially another €200 million in syndicated investment, to accelerate and implement high-impact strategies around digital systems and solutions. To this end, the CiberGrowth I Fund will be launched. Additionally, in the area of strategic intelligence, GAIA Value Capital will provide growth diagnostics, Industry 4.0 valuations, and corporate transaction analyses.
The ultimate goal, emphasized Elena Zárraga, “is to consolidate the Basque Country as a hub for advanced technology and a center of European technological sovereignty.”
Data economy and post-quantum security
In addition to the new platform, the general assembly also approved continued progress in positioning the Basque Country in the data economy, “as one of the key pillars of economic development, promoting intensive data use for organizational decision-making and defining strategies to prepare for the data economy. We want to become a territory that makes the data economy one of its main development pillars,” Elena Zárraga stressed.
Post-quantum security, prevention against the risks of quantum communication, and cybersecurity were also central topics at the general assembly. In fact, the Cluster envisions that by 2030, the Basque Country will be a European benchmark in two areas: the data economy and as a Quantum Safe territory, “with a Basque Country that develops and deploys the adaptation of digital systems to the risks posed by the post-quantum era in terms of cybersecurity, communication, and computing.”
The public event featured a presentation by Silvia Leal, a specialist in future trends and Artificial Intelligence, who spoke about digital transition, data, and AI. The general assembly was closed by Saray Zárate Fernández de Landa, Deputy for Economic Promotion and Sustainability at the Provincial Council of Álava.
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