Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Diagnostics of Spain

Annex A. Prioritisation of recommended policy actions

This Annex makes a tentative categorisation of each proposed policy action into three priority levels, from 1, highest priority, to 3, lowest priority, and three time periods necessary for ecosystem impacts to be observed, short term (up to two years), medium term (5-6 years) or long term (over 6 years). This is set out in the Table, which starts with short term actions, with a more rapid expected impact, moving towards actions with a longer expected time horizon to achieve effects. Given the dynamic feedback loops that characterise entrepreneurial ecosystems, quick impacts are very beneficial in generating improving conditions overall. Within each time period, the highest priority actions are set out first, moving to medium and lower priority actions.

Table A B.1. Recommendation categorisation by time horizon and priority level

Priority level	Time	Objective	Suggested action
1	Short term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Update the national entrepreneurship strategy, which articulates priority areas, policy actions, key performance indicators, targets, implementation steps, monitoring and evaluation arrangements, and responsible entities for the delivery of public support to entrepreneurs and startups across ministries and agencies that are active in this policy area.
1	Short term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Publish information about funding opportunities for investors on the ONE platform and introduce functionalities to facilitate networking and matchmaking between funding entities.
1	Short term	Further improve regulatory and administrative conditions for startups and scaleups	Simplify eligibility criteria for certification under the Startup Law to enable more young companies to benefit. Notably, extend fiscal and other benefits for a longer period, up to eight years, for deep tech startups, taking into account their technical characteristics and development needs.
1	Short term	Improve networks, knowledge transfer capabilities and conversion of research into commercial products	Expand and optimise existing programmes that incentivise collaboration in innovation across firms and knowledge transfers between university and the private sector.
1	Short term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Ensure the National Startup Forum convenes regularly and has buy-in and engagement from key national and regional entities.
1	Medium term	Expand scale-up finance	Set up incentive schemes and introduce legal reforms to encourage institutional investors to invest more in venture capital and private equity.
1	Medium term	Improve networks, knowledge transfer capabilities and conversion of research into commercial products	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.
1	Medium term	Improve networks, knowledge transfer capabilities and conversion of research into commercial products	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.
1	Medium term	Further improve regulatory and administrative conditions for startups and scaleups	Reduce legal and bureaucratic barriers to capital increases and investment rounds, for instance, by leveraging information technologies for identity validation and signature that reduce the involvement of notaries and enable the signature of official documents remotely.
1	Medium term	Further improve regulatory and administrative conditions for startups and scaleups	Continue the implementation of Régimen 20.
1	Medium term	Further improve regulatory and administrative conditions for startups and scaleups	Further streamline insolvency procedures, especially for companies whose sole creditors are public entities.
1	Medium term	Further improve regulatory and administrative conditions for startups and scaleups	Establish a legal status or certification for Spanish scaleups, with corresponding benefits and incentives to support their development.
1	Medium term	Improve market opportunities for startups	Launch a matchmaking programme to connect Spanish startups and scaleups with potential customers in overseas markets, leveraging ICEX Spain Trade and Investment’s network of international offices.
1	Medium term	Improve networks, knowledge transfer capabilities and conversion of research into commercial products	Maximise research commercialisation by supporting university-linked accelerators, research-based innovation districts, and dedicated joint research funding tenders involving teams of academics and startups.
1	Medium term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Undertake monitoring and evaluation of the implementation and impact of the Startup Law via a champion government ministry and report and discuss results through the National Startup Forum.
1	Long term	Expand scale-up finance	Act at European level to change critical aspects of AIMFD regulation, including the limits for retail investments from private savers into venture capital and support European Investment Fund initiatives to launch European-level funds of funds.
1	Long term	Expand scale-up finance	Continue leveraging public development banks and other public-funded entities (e.g. CDTI) to crowd-in private investors to venture capital markets, and possibly institutional investors.
1	Long term	Improve market opportunities for startups	Continue working at European level to foster greater harmonisation in goods and services markets as well as access to public procurement.
1	Long term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Continue progress on the harmonisation of administrative procedures across regions by: i. Enhancing the role of the Sectoral Conference for Regulatory Improvement and the Business Climate; ii. Introducing opt-out regulatory options for regions to accelerate reform convergence; iii. Continuing the implementation of “Régimen 20”.
1	Long term	Boost the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture across all segments of the Spanish society	Introduce campaigns to promote entrepreneurship to the Spanish population under the “Spain Up Nation” brand and tailor communication to a more mainstream audience that extends beyond the narrow ecosystem boundaries.
2	Short term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Strengthen promotion of the Spain Up Nation brand internationally and promote the companies certified under the Startup Law internationally.
2	Short term	Address the talent shortage	Further ease startups’ access to foreign talent through high-skilled professionals visa applications, establishing a network of pick-up points in several cities globally to facilitate visa applications from abroad.
2	Short term	Address the talent shortage	Maintain alignment of fiscal incentives stock options with other countries by adapting thresholds and accessibility.
2	Short term	Boost the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture across all segments of the Spanish society	Increase public support for women entrepreneurs’ access to key resources such as funding, training, networks and testing facilities.
2	Short term	Boost the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture across all segments of the Spanish society	Raise awareness of entrepreneurship as a viable career option for women.
2	Short term	Further enhance incubation/acceleration, balancing national and regional level	Create dedicated teams within key entrepreneurship support entities such as CDTI and ICEX with a mandate to deliver tailored advice and guidance to startups and scaleups in specific sectors or technology areas.
2	Short term	Further improve regulatory and administrative conditions for startups and scaleups	Remove the minimum social security contribution for self-employment individuals whose main activity is their startup company and who own stock in their company (corporate self-employed).
2	Short term	Improve networks, knowledge transfer capabilities and conversion of research into commercial products	Assign mandates and provide resources to chosen incubators, business innovation centres, or innovative business clusters to create and manage specialised ecosystem networks in selected sectors.
2	Short term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Create a working group in the National Startup Forum to focus on how synergies between national and regional government support initiatives can be increased.
2	Short term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Foster more opportunities for startups and scaleups in peripheral regions to network and collaborate with ecosystem actors in Spain’s major entrepreneurship hubs.
2	Short term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Publish information on Spanish startups and ecosystem actors (including large corporates, investors, researchers, startup support providers, mentors, and public entities) on the ONE platform and introduce online matchmaking functions.
2	Short term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	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.
2	Short term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Strengthen referral mechanisms between national and regional programmes to guide firms towards the most appropriate supports.
2	Medium term	Address the talent shortage	Reduce the labour tax wedge and labour regulations affecting the ability of startups and scaleups to employ high-skilled workers.
2	Medium term	Boost the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture across all segments of the Spanish society	Xreate an “entrepreneurial schools” label for schools and universities that meet certain standards with respect to entrepreneurship promotion, in partnership with the “Spain Up Nation” brand. Issue “Spain Up Nation” awards for standout schools and universities that demonstrate excellence in entrepreneurship promotion.
2	Medium term	Continue building data and sandboxes infrastructure	Advance open data and interoperability frameworks to reduce barriers for startups and scaleups in data-intensive sectors such as health, mobility, and energy, using sandboxes to balance data protection with innovation needs.
2	Medium term	Further enhance incubation/acceleration, balancing national and regional level	Improve monitoring and evaluation of incubation programmes to establish track records and performance history of different programmes.
2	Medium term	Further enhance incubation/acceleration, balancing national and regional level	Launch a public tender for the development and delivery of a specialised incubation or acceleration programme in a select sector of strategic importance to Spain’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
2	Medium term	Further enhance incubation/acceleration, balancing national and regional level	Leverage regional competitive advantages by encouraging local incubators to specialise in regionally strong sectors.
2	Medium term	Further improve regulatory and administrative conditions for startups and scaleups	Review regulations on the ability of groups of investors to benefit from Startup Law incentives, given the relatively strong propensity for women angels to invest in groups.
2	Medium term	Further improve venture capital ecosystem	Extend the tax benefit to investors introduced by the Startup Law to SPVs and angel investor syndicates.
2	Medium term	Improve market opportunities for startups	Modernise public procurement to become a strategic innovation lever by including clearer innovation criteria, faster decision-making, and dedicated calls for startups. Expand successful GovTech and innovation procurement pilots across national and regional governments.
2	Medium term	Improve market opportunities for startups	Enhance startup internationalisation through co-investment bridge funds, legal support, B2B matchmaking and soft-landing services delivered via embassies, ICEX, and local hubs.
2	Medium term	Improve networks, knowledge transfer capabilities and conversion of research into commercial products	Strengthen the access of startups and scaleups to strategic “technology infrastructures” housed in universities, supercomputing centres, and public research institutions (e.g. testbeds, AI sandboxes, pilot manufacturing, water labs). Simplify rules and interfaces to make these assets usable for early-stage firms.
2	Medium term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Better measure the development of leadership in the ecosystem by improving data collection on serial entrepreneurs and their activities, developing new key performance indicators (e.g. founder board participation, pay-it-forward engagement), and building datasets on mentor networks and founder involvement in policy.
2	Long term	Address the talent shortage	Improve domestic supply of technical professionals by encouraging students to pursue technical programmes both in tertiary and vocational education.
2	Long term	Boost the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture across all segments of the Spanish society	Embed a module on entrepreneurship education in tertiary, vocational and secondary education and make pedagogy more practical
2	Long term	Boost the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture across all segments of the Spanish society	Develop a dedicated strategy for women entrepreneurship promotion, articulating the key actions to be taken and their objectives, responsible entities, timelines, and key performance indicators.
2	Long term	Boost the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture across all segments of the Spanish society	Provide training for teachers in teaching entrepreneurship in secondary schools, vocational training institutions and universities.
2	Long term	Boost the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture across all segments of the Spanish society	Disseminate entrepreneurial role models through media campaigns, events, and networks that showcase successful entrepreneurs, including women founders and investors, and entrepreneurial leaders from other underrepresented populations.
2	Long term	Improve networks, knowledge transfer capabilities and conversion of research into commercial products	Leverage Spain’s strengths in renewable energy and green hydrogen by supporting startups and scaleups working on smart grid, storage, and decarbonisation solutions through sector-focused accelerators, innovation-friendly procurement, and test environments.
2	Long term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Encourage cross-regional collaborations in the design of public support programmes for startups and scaleups.
3	Short term	Boost the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture across all segments of the Spanish society	Promote women leadership roles in the entrepreneurial ecosystem by women entrepreneurs, women investors and women leaders in other stakeholder organisations such as corporates and banks by women entrepreneurship programme support, measures to encourage women participation in networks and consultation groups, and communication and educational campaigns across society on women entrepreneurship and leadership.
3	Short term	Improve system co-ordination and information diffusion	Organise events and establish a platform for companies certified under the Startup Law to share relevant resources, contacts or experiences, discuss shared challenges, and explore potential collaborations.
3	Medium term	Further improve venture capital ecosystem	Better support impact investors by extending venture capital tax benefits to European Social Entrepreneurship Funds (ESEFs) and European Venture Capital Funds (EuVEFs).
3	Medium term	Improve networks, knowledge transfer capabilities and conversion of research into commercial products	Launch a public matchmaking programme that provides tailored introductions between Spanish startups and large corporates operating in Spain, based on identified needs and competencies, with a clear process for progressing to a pilot project where there is a suitable fit.
3	Medium term	Improve networks, knowledge transfer capabilities and conversion of research into commercial products	Incentivise corporate-startup collaboration by introducing match-making mechanisms between startups and corporate supply chain management to facilitate purchase of innovative goods and services solutions from emerging startups. Consider introduction of preferential procurement conditions for large firms to source solutions from startups, especially in strategic sectors.
3	Long term	Address the talent shortage	Promote entrepreneurship among students, as foreseen by the Startup Law, by introducing liability protections, flexible registration, and tailored incubation/acceleration support for student-founders.
3	Long term	Further enhance incubation/acceleration, balancing national and regional level	Improve regional co-ordination by creating institutional mechanisms that enhance harmonisation and collaboration among incubators and accelerators across regional ecosystems.
3	Long term	Improve market opportunities for startups	Use public procurement strategically to crowd in startup and scaleup innovation addressing infrastructure challenges (e.g. smart mobility, digital inclusion, water efficiency), supported by new tools like GovTech missions and challenge-based calls.
3	Long term	Improve networks, knowledge transfer capabilities and conversion of research into commercial products	Increase support to post-exit reinvestment by successful entrepreneurs through platforms, peer-to-peer learning activities and incentives.