Middle Market Leads Investment Growth in the First Half of 2025

According to initial estimates obtained by SpainCap via the European EDC platform, the investment volume in Spain reached €3.02Bn in the first half of the year, 17% more than in the same period of 2024. The market remains dynamic thanks to abundant liquidity, pressure to rotate portfolios, and favorable debt access conditions. The number of investments remained stable (384 deals).

Venture Capital investment amounted to €1.12Bn across 307 investments, the second highest figure since 2009. According to the Dealroom 2025 report, the growth of the Spanish innovation ecosystem over the last five years outpaces the European average, placing Spain in fourth place for ecosystem growth.

The reactivation of investment activity, together with abundant resources available for investment in the sector (dry powder), points to a positive year-end. As of December 31, 2024, approximately €8Bn in resources were available for investment from domestic private management firms.

Elena Rico, President of SpainCap, said:“After managing the impact of COVID in 2020, and an interest rate hike in 2022 and 2023, the year 2025 continues to present a degree of instability, this time due to tariff policies. Despite this, the Spanish ecosystem continues to prove it has a strong foundation for growth. Spain is a middle market country, a country of SMEs, and this segment is precisely one of those that has grown the most this semester compared to the first semester of the previous year, both in terms of value and number of transactions. And it’s not just domestic players who see these good investment opportunities; companies also continue to attract international capital thanks to their strong talent and high capacity for innovation.”

According to the type of investor, the appetite of international funds remains strong, as they have abundant liquidity and continue to show interest in Spain. In this first half of the year, they contributed 68% of the total volume invested in Spanish companies, in line with the trend of recent years, with 127 deals. Domestic private management companies invested €780.6 million in 195 deals.

Principio del formulario

By investment size, the middle market (transactions between €10–100M) has driven investment, recording a volume of €1.5Bn across 60 investments, accounting for half of the total volume invested. here were 321 deals completed in the €0–10 million range.

The sectors that received the highest investment volumes were IT (44%), Medicine/Healthcare (13%), and Industrial Products and Services (8%).

Fundraising
This was the second-best semester for fundraising since 2009 in terms of volume by domestic private management firms: €1.62Bn. In addition to the sector’s positive returns and support from public fund-of-funds programs such as ICO/Axis, CDTI, ENISA, COFIDES, EIF, and SETT in their commitment to Private Capital, secondary funds also explain the high level of fundraising.

Divestments
Divestment volume at cost value reached €693M through 152 exits. The most common exit route was the sale to another private equity firm (40%), followed by sale to third parties (22%) and shareholder buybacks (19%).

SpainCap

SpainCap represents the Venture Capital & Private Equity industry in Spain. Chaired by Elena Rico, it brings together more than 180 domestic and international Venture Capital & Private Equity firms, 100 service providers, and 27 institutional investors. SpainCap is the association that brings together Venture Capital & Private Equity entities in Spain, as well as their investors, including insurance companies and pension funds. SpainCap is a member of the National Forum of Emerging Companies and the Sustainable Finance Council

SpainCap members invest in unlisted companies for the medium- and long-term, from startups to established firms, providing not only stable funding through equity but also innovation and management support. The association’s mission is to connect all industry stakeholders in Spain, representing their interests before the government, the media, and public opinion, both nationally and internationally, through alliances and synergies in Europe and Latin America