This chapter analyses the knowledge base that startups and scaleups can leverage in Spain to emerge and grow. It represents the seventh of the ten elements of the entrepreneurial ecosystem framework used to assess the country’s ecosystem. The chapter identifies strengths and areas for improvement, presents an international example for inspiration, reviews recent policy developments, and provides recommendations for further progress in the knowledge domain.
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Diagnostics of Spain
Abstract
A strong and accessible knowledge base is widely recognised as a critical pillar of productive entrepreneurship. Research ( (Audretsch, Keilbach and Lehmann, 2007[1]); (Qian, Acs and Stough, 2013[2])) has shown that the presence of universities, public research institutions, and knowledge-intensive firms significantly enhances regional innovation capacity and entrepreneurial dynamism. When scientific and technical knowledge is effectively transferred from research institutions to startups via licensing agreements, collaborative R&D, researcher spin-offs, or talent mobility, it fuels the emergence of high-potential ventures, particularly in deep tech, life sciences, and advanced materials.
(Kastelli, Siokas and Tsakanikas, 2023[3]) and (Kirschning and Mrożewski, 2023[4]) highlight that productive entrepreneurship is most likely to emerge where knowledge flows freely across institutional boundaries and where entrepreneurs possess the absorptive capacity to understand and apply scientific and technological advances (OECD, 2023[5]). Barriers between academic research and entrepreneurship, incentive structures that do not reward commercial engagement, or lack of professional technology transfer capabilities in universities can result in a rift between research and the business world (Muscio, Shibayama and Ramaciotti, 2021[6]; OECD, 2021[7]). Entrepreneurial ecosystems that bridge this gap, for instance through innovation districts, incubators and accelerators, and co-investment programmes, produce more scalable and investment-ready startups. Based on the OECD ecosystem diagnostics data, Knowledge is an area that could be further developed in Spain.
The Knowledge element of the ecosystem can be strengthened
The Knowledge element is a bottleneck for Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem. The international comparative benchmarking data suggest that Spain lags behind the European OECD average on some key measures, namely patents production (per capita), R&D expenditure and software production (Figure 9.1).
Note: Data are presented as normalised scores obtained by applying min-max transformations to the raw values, where the max/min are equal to the sample mean +/- 2*sample standards deviations, relative to the average of data from the 2020-2023 period. 2016-2020 scores are anchored to the 2020-2023’s data and must be interpreted as relative performance the 2020-2023 period.
Knowledge generation can be enhanced
While not all entrepreneurial ventures stem from research, an ecosystem that offers a larger and deeper knowledge base offers more opportunities to turn some of these breakthroughs into new commercial businesses. The Knowledge element measures such research capacity.
The Knowledge element is an important bottleneck for the Spanish ecosystem. For example, in terms of patents per capita, Spain is still below the average of leading ecosystems in Europe. Spanish universities and research institutions produce a substantial volume of research and include several prominent centres of excellence, yet patenting activity remains relatively low.
This result is partially explained by relatively low R&D investment levels. In 2023, gross domestic R&D expenditure reached USD (PPP converted) 32 355 million (OECD, MSTI database), a 28% increase since 2018. However, despite this progress, the average R&D expenditure (2020-2023) stood at approximately 1.4% of GDP, which is still below the 2% to 3% range observed in more advanced European OECD ecosystems. Investments in R&D are below par across all the ecosystem stakeholders, including the private sector (notably, large corporates), the public sector, and universities where research investment rates are about half of OECD universities on average. Efforts to better fund research that can generate breakthrough innovation should thus take place across all ecosystem actors.
On software production, proxied by Github uploads, Spain is also performing slightly below the average of the European OECD countries, denoting a delay, at aggregate level, in catching up with top European countries (such as the Nordics) on the development of digital technology capabilities.
More can be done to translate Spain’s strong research base into commercial innovation
Spain has developed a strong research base embodied in a network of “Unique Scientific and Technical Infrastructures” and a network of research and technology organisations (RTOs) (Ministerio de Ciencia, 2025[8]). Over 70 RTOs are listed in the European Commission’s Monitor of Industrial Ecosystems, including several large RTOs such as Tecnalia (1500+ employees) in the Basque Country and Eurecat (800+ employees) and Leitat (400+ employees) in Catalonia (Ministerio de Ciencia, 2025[9]).
A key signal of Spain’s growing technological relevance is IMEC’s decision to establish a major R&D and potential manufacturing facility in Málaga, its first large-scale operation outside Belgium. IMEC is a world-leading nanoelectronics and digital technology research hub. The project involves a total investment of EUR 615 million, with the Spanish government contributing EUR 500 million. It aims to position Málaga as a major European centre for semiconductor research and manufacturing, an important step in supporting Europe’s technological sovereignty in microchips. The facility is expected to create around 450 highly skilled jobs.
Despite these developments, collaboration between research institutions and businesses remains underdeveloped in Spain’s innovation ecosystem, leading to a low conversion rate of research into commercial ventures. One of the causes is the lack of effective "bridging organisations" that can connect academic research with startups and corporates. Another factor is relatively weak internal R&D capabilities among many startups, which reduces their capacity to absorb and apply research outputs in product development. A further issue is that while deep tech founders need long development cycles and significant capital to create an innovative commercial product, the ecosystem lacks adequate support mechanisms to bridge the so-called "valley of death", the critical stage between initial technology development and the point at which a product is ready for commercialisation. Instruments such as technology transfer funds, patient capital, and industrial PhD programmes remain insufficient to meet these needs and accelerate research commercialisation.
Public programmes like NEOTEC, “Misiones Ciencia e Innovación 2025” and “Cervera” (managed by CDTI) aim to address some of these issues by providing targeted support to science-based start-ups, improving public-private collaboration in R&D and enhancing technology transfers. However, some of these programmes are mainly focused on early-stage development, while those that aim at cultivating sustained research collaboration are relatively new (e.g. the Cervera and “Missiones” programmes started in 2019) and their impact has not yet spilled over beyond the main beneficiaries of these progammes. Going forward, R&D platforms and co-creation environments, such as innovation districts, research-focused accelerators, or sectoral collaboration hubs could be further strengthened. These mechanisms could play a key role in better integrating universities, entrepreneurs, and industry actors, helping Spain capitalise on its excellent research base.
In addition, there is potential to level up the scale and quality of knowledge transfer activities of universities. Most Spanish universities and public research centres (111 of which have received accreditation) maintain Knowledge Transfer Offices (KTOs, formerly known as OTRIs) or innovation units, demonstrating an awareness of the opportunities and a willingness to act. However, the strength of the knowledge transfer supports varies across universities and regions, and in some cases the knowledge transfer structures lack adequate resources, commercial expertise, mandates to actively support start-up creation. Intellectual property (IP) policies also vary significantly between institutions, leading to uncertainty and delays for researchers attempting to license their innovations or launch spin-offs.
To address these gaps, a national office for knowledge transfer has been established with the goal of professionalising and standardising KTO operations. There are also regional initiatives, such as in Asturias, which is taking steps to professionalise its regional innovation infrastructure by connecting universities with business incubators and industrial R&D centres. Harmonising and professionalising university knowledge transfer mechanisms nationwide would help strengthen the exploitation of Spain’s research.
There is potential to increase university spin-offs
The concept of university spin-offs is loosely defined, ranging from the notion new companies that build on intellectual property created in academic institutions broader definitions that focus on the academic background of founders (Berger, Dechezleprêtre and Kirpichev Cherezov, 2026[10]). While there is no consensus on the definition, nor reliable internationally-comparable official statistics on university spin-out activity in Spain, preliminary data from a new open-source database - the SpinoutFYI – suggest that Spain’s university spinout generation may be slightly behind that of the European OECD average.1 While these data are not nationally representative and incomplete, they are suggestive of a relatively low capacity of universities to generate research output that translates into commercial products.
Other indicators also point to a potential to boost academic entrepreneurship in Spain. Thus, as of May 2024, Spain’s total university spinout value was estimated to be significantly lower than the top three European countries. There were also fewer deep tech companies linked to universities and research centres in Spain in 2024 (approximately 1 200) than in the UK (3 500), although the numbers were higher than France (950) and equal to Italy (1 200). In addition, only approximately 15% of the innovative startups certified by Enisa under the Startup Law are deep tech spin-offs. European Patent Office (EPO) data identifies only about 100 Spanish deep tech spinouts (5.6% of the European total) and 302 deep tech startups (2.9%). In terms of valuation, the only high ranked Spanish located deep tech spin-out is Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech (Barcelona), 43rd in Dealroom’s Deeptech spinout listing.
Government policy is active in seeking to enable academic entrepreneurship. Notably, a key revision in 2022 to the Science, Technology and Innovation Law (Law 14/2011) has allowed public researchers and professors to participate in startups while maintaining their academic posts. This legal change is expected to stimulate the creation of more spin-offs, particularly in scientific and deep tech domains, and was cited by several stakeholders as a long-awaited enabler of knowledge-based entrepreneurship. The 2022 reform introduced significant measures to bolster academic entrepreneurship and facilitate the commercialisation of publicly funded research. Key provisions include:
Participation of Public Researchers in Startups: Researchers affiliated with public institutions are now permitted to establish or join spin-offs and startups without relinquishing their academic positions. This change aims to encourage the translation of research into marketable innovations.
Institutional Support for Spin-offs: Public administrations are authorised to promote or participate in companies that facilitate knowledge transfer activities. This includes the ability to invest in or co-invest with seed and venture capital funds targeting Spanish technological and innovative enterprises.
Incentives for Knowledge Transfer: The Law mandates that a minimum of one-third of the income generated from patents be allocated to the inventors, providing a financial incentive for researchers to engage in commercialisation efforts.
Enhanced Funding Mechanisms: The reform supports emerging science and technology-based companies through grants and public venture capital funds. Notably, the CDTI’s Neotec programme offers funding to launch new business projects that leverage technologies or knowledge developed through research activities.
However, so far, these recent reforms have not yet translated into major changes in universities’ long-standing structural barriers. Possibly, the effect of the reforms will materialise with a delay. To date, however, conservative academic cultures and inconsistent leadership commitment to entrepreneurship within public universities continue to limit the growth of spin-off activity. Moreover, the decentralised nature of Spain’s higher education system has hindered uniform adoption of reforms and common standards. Individual universities retain discretion in how reforms are interpreted and implemented. In some cases, the lack of timely communication further delayed the effective rollout of these changes.
An important step to strengthen university spin-offs would be the creation of clear, standardised national guidelines on spin-off creation policies by universities, covering key areas such as intellectual property (IP) ownership, equity distribution among researchers, universities, and external stakeholders, as well as transparent revenue-sharing models. These guidelines would reduce uncertainty, speed up spin-off negotiations, and ensure fair and consistent treatment across institutions. By aligning incentives for researchers, institutions, and investors, such frameworks can foster a more predictable and supportive environment for transforming research into commercial innovation.
Universities are increasingly active in encouraging students to become entrepreneurs
A further channel for increasing the exploitation of knowledge through startup and scaleup companies is student entrepreneurship, supported by entrepreneurial education and startup support for students. As mentioned in the Culture section, entrepreneurial education is improving, especially at business schools and select universities, but is not yet systematically integrated into STEM curricula.
The Spanish Startup Law includes several provisions aimed at encouraging students to take on entrepreneurial projects and connecting education with startup pathways. This would be a distinct action from courses simply providing entrepreneurship classes and would support students with the purpose of starting a company. For instance, the Law calls for a dedicated legal framework for student startups. However, this framework is not yet operational. A draft text has been prepared by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, but further refinement is needed, particularly on issues such as civil liability protections for student founders. Full implementation will require additional ministerial orders or a Royal Decree. In developing programmes to support entrepreneurship among university students Spain could look at the experience of other countries with decentralised education system. For instance, Germany’s EXIST Programme (Box 9.1) provides an example of how to increase co-ordination and support for students’ entrepreneurship in a federal setting.
In parallel, universities are taking more active roles in promoting industrial PhDs, company-linked master’s theses, and entrepreneurship training modules. These are valuable tools for exposing students to commercialisation pathways, though their availability varies across institutions. Implementation challenges, however, remain. For instance, deep tech founders report difficulties in hiring a non-EU PhD student under an industrial doctoral programme due to visa processes and high contract costs. Such cases underscore the need for more flexible and accessible talent pathways that enable universities and start-ups to collaborate effectively. More importantly, Spain still lacks coherent, student-friendly, and operational mechanisms to support student entrepreneurship within universities. This would require better integration of entrepreneurship into STEM curricula, simplified registration and compliance processes for student-led startups, more robust support infrastructure, including incubators and access to mentoring. National co‑ordination on innovation skills and translational support could better leverage Spain’s strong research base.
Description
Germany’s EXIST programme, initiated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), is a comprehensive national initiative to promote entrepreneurship in universities and research institutions. It supports students, graduates, and researchers in turning innovative ideas into viable businesses. The programme strengthens the entrepreneurial ecosystem in higher education and encourages the commercialisation of academic research.
Key components include:
EXIST Business Startup Grant. A financial support for up to 12 months for teams preparing innovative, technology-oriented startups. Funding includes a monthly living allowance (EUR 1 000 for students, EUR 2 500 for graduates), material costs up to EUR 30 000, and coaching services up to EUR 5 000.
EXIST Transfer of Research. A fund for complex research-based projects with commercial potential, typically in two phases: development of prototypes and business planning (Phase I), followed by company launch and initial operations (Phase II).
EXIST-Women. A newer pilot initiative that provides tailored support, mentoring, and networking for female students, graduates, and researchers interested in founding startups.
In addition, the EXIST Startup Factories initiative was launched in 2024. The initiative aims to establish up to 10 high-impact, university-linked startup centres. These centres are designed to significantly increase the number and quality of knowledge-based spin-offs by fostering robust collaborations between academia and private sector partners. Each Startup Factory is expected to secure at least 50% of its funding from private sources, promoting sustainable business models and reducing reliance on public funds. The initiative encourages the development of regional startup ecosystems with international visibility, integrating universities, research institutions, investors, and established companies. In the initial concept phase, 15 projects received funding to develop detailed proposals, with 5 to 10 expected to proceed to the implementation phase starting in 2025. These Startup Factories will serve as entrepreneurial beacons, enhancing Germany's position as a leading startup nation.
Evaluation results have consistently shown the EXIST programme to be highly effective in fostering university-based entrepreneurship. According to programme monitoring data, over 2 600 projects have been supported through the EXIST StartUp Grant, with more than 85% of these teams going on to formally establish companies, out of which nearly 90% remain active after three years, and close to 80% after five years.
Success factors
The main drivers of the programme’s success include integrated financial and mentoring support, institutional engagement, and tailored instruments for deep-tech and female-led ventures. Another important feature of this programme is its holistic support for student start-#ups, combining living stipends, coaching, and prototyping funds lowers barriers for young founders. These elements determine the main building blocks for policies that aim at boosting entrepreneurship within higher education ecosystems.
Lessons for Spain
The German experience can inspire Spain on how to establish a national student entrepreneurship programme in a federal/decentralised setting. Spain could use national-level long-term funding and visibility as a way to unify fragmented support to student entrepreneurship.
The experience of Germany also shows the importance of linking funding to institutional strategies to foster deeper integration of entrepreneurship into higher education. It also shows how women and research-based ventures require targeted instruments to close gaps in these domains.
The Spanish university system has produces substantial research with potential commercial applications. There is a bottleneck, however, in the translation of research into commercial products, due to challenges including limited knowledge transfer infrastructure outside a few centres of excellence, uneven knowledge transfer activities across regions and universities, limited awareness of research commercialisation routes among academic staff, cultural barriers to commercialisation activities in the university sector, and weak university-business linkages.
Spain has made some important strides in improving conditions for generating spinoffs and academic entrepreneurship through recent policy reforms and entrepreneurial education is improving, especially at business schools and select universities, although it is not yet systematically integrated into STEM curricula.
To enhance a startup-supportive knowledge system, it is recommended that the Spanish authorities:
Raise awareness of recent reforms in university commercialisation legislation such as on IP ownership and academic staff employment regulations through communicating information to academics and helping researchers and institutions to navigate recent updates, e.g Red.ES.
Incentivise researchers to find commercial applications for their inventions by: i. defining conditions for spin-off participation, ii. issuing guidelines on how to apply “one-third income” IP provisions, iii. offer proof-of-concept grants and translational R&D funds for spinouts.
Maximise research commercialisation by supporting university-linked accelerators, research-based innovation districts, and dedicated joint research funding tenders involving teams of academics and startups.
Enhance Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO) capability by investing in training, commercialisation funding, and technical services (e.g. legal, valuation) and reduce legal uncertainty by issuing national guidelines on equity, licensing, and revenue-sharing principles.
Promote student entrepreneurship, as foreseen by the Startup Law, by introducing liability protections, flexible registration, and tailored incubation/acceleration support for student-founders.
Expand and optimise existing programmes that incentivise collaboration in innovation across firms and knowledge transfers between university and the private sector.
References
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[10] Berger, M., A. Dechezleprêtre and D. Kirpichev Cherezov (2026), “Funding patterns in academic and non-academic start-ups: The role of alternative funding and support instruments”.
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[6] Muscio, A., S. Shibayama and L. Ramaciotti (2021), “Universities and start-up creation by Ph.D. graduates: the role of scientific and social capital of academic laboratories”, The Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol. 47/1, pp. 147-175, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-020-09841-2.
[5] OECD (2023), Framework for the Evaluation of SME and Entrepreneurship Policies and Programmes 2023, OECD Studies on SMEs and Entrepreneurship, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/a4c818d1-en.
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[2] Qian, H., Z. Acs and R. Stough (2013), “Regional systems of entrepreneurship: the nexus of human capital, knowledge and new firm formation”, Journal of Economic Geography, Vol. 13/4, pp. 559-587, https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbs009.