The year 2018 reaped a total of 34 Spanish public startup exits, sales of tech companies founded by Spanish entrepreneurs. An impressive increase from 2017 when the number was 15 public exits.

34 public Spanish startup exits during 2018

The actual acquisition price has been made public for only 6 out of the 34 deals. The highest amount of € 118 million was paid by Lifull for the startup Mitula (see nr 11 in the list below).

First out in January 2018 was Repsol, an IBEX company, acquiring 70% of the startup Klikin. According to recently revealed information the petrol giant paid €12 million. With the acquisition Repsol wants to integrate Klikin into its Waylet application, allowing for mobile payments as well as for a customer loyalty system.

Behind the successful exit is the entrepreneur Gustavo Garcia Brusilovsky who, prior to co-founding Klikin with two other co-founders, managed to sell the private online shopping club Buyvip to Amazon for € 70 million, back in 2010. This deal is said to be one of the very foundations of the blossoming Spanish startup ecosystem today.

34 public Spanish startup exits during 2018

Here is a short-list in chronological order of the other 33 exits, an edited and translated version of the original article in Spanish, by El Referente, covering Entrepreneurship in Spain.

JANUARY

1. Klikin acquired by Repsol

See above.

2. Svt acquired by Gigas

Gigas, the Spanish multinational specialized in cloud computing services, purchased SVT, a Catalan provider of cloud hosting services.

3. 60% of iSalud acquired by CNP Partners

CNP Partners, the Spanish subsidiary of CNP Assurances, acquired 60% of the capital of iSalud for € 30 million. iSalud is a buyer portal and specialized broker of medical insurance. The acquisition represents the most relevant operation by size to date in the field of Insurtech in Spain.

4. Paradigma Digital acquired by Indra

The Spanish multinational Indra acquired Paradigma Digital, providing software specialized in solutions for large companies. The operation cost them € 70 million.

FEBRUARY

5. TransferZero acquired by Bitpesa

Bitpesa, the largest blockchain company in Europe and Africa, announced the acquisition of TransferZero, a Spanish Fintech company specializing in sending money to users and companies from 200 countries, in more than 50 currencies.

6. Respiro acquired by SEAT

SEAT bought 100% of the Spanish startup Respiro, specializing in car hire by the hour.

7. GymForLess acquired by Sodexo

Sodexo, the French multinational, purchased the Spanish startup GymForLess.

MARCH

8. Adman Interactive acquired by AcuityAds

AcuityAds, an advertising technology company based in Canada, purchased Adman Interactive. The Spanish startup Adman Interactive specializes in digital advertising for video through SSP bidding (Supply Side Platform), for Spanish-speaking markets.

APRIL

9. Erasmusu acquired by Spotahome

Spotahome, an online booking platform for home rentals for medium and long term stays, made its first acquisition. They purchased Erasmusu, an online community of international students with a model for renting housing.

10. Ticketea acquired by Eventbrite

Eventbrite, the technology platform that offers millions of different events each year, acquired Ticketea. The Spanish startup Ticketea helps out with the discovery of a variety of live experiences, including festivals, concerts and performing arts shows.

MAY

11. Mitula acquired by Lifull for €118

The Japanese giant Lifull acquired Mitula, a search engine for classified ads of real estate, cars and jobs, paying a very impressive € 118 million for the Spanish technology.

12. Pubeco acquired by Tiendeo

Tiendeo purchased Pubeco, a free, online and ecological alternative to the traditional mailbox, bringing together commercial offers from retailers and stores. Tiendeo is an online platform providing geolocated catalogues with the best local deals from stores.

13. El Armario de la Tele acquired by Moddo

Moddo bought the digital and commercial rights of El Armario de la Tele, founded in 2009, selling brands that related in one way or another to Spanish television characters.

14. Mens Eat acquired by Mission Box

Mission Box, a logistic supplier providing Instant Delivery for businesses and individuals, acquired the company Mens Eat, operating at the Spanish East coast.

15. ClubKviar acquired by Resy

Resy, a leading technology company in the hospitality industry, acquired ClubKviar.

For Resy that means they get a booking platform for unique dining experiences with a Concierge service, working with 300 exclusive restaurants in Spain.

JUNE

16. Ability acquired by Gigas

Gigas, the Spanish multinational, already mentioned (see nr 2), specializing in cloud computing also bought Ability, a Colombian provider of cloud hosting services.

17. Nextel acquired by Sonae

Sonae, a Portuguese group including the company Worten, acquired Nextel, a cybersecurity company.

18. Instant Credit acquired by InnoCells (Banco Sabadell)

InnoCells, Banco Sabadell's digital business hub, acquired Instant Credit, a Spanish startup that offers consumer loans at the point of sale, both physical and digital.

JULY

19. Legal3 acquired by Vlex

VLex, providing services within LegalTech, bought Legal3, Management software for law firms, to lead the digital transformation of legal services together.

20. Aplazame acquired by WiZink

WiZink, a bank specializing in simple solutions of credit and savings, bought Aplazame, offering instant financing of purchases online and offline.

21. Uvinum acquired by Pernod Ricard

The French multinational Pernod Ricard bought the Spanish startup Uvinum, eCommerce for wine, beer and other gourmet products.

22. AlientVault acquired by AT&T, through Adara Ventures

Adara Ventures, a Spanish venture capital firm, announced the sale (together with other prominent international investors) of the Cyber security company AlienVault to AT&T, the American telecommunications giant.

SEPTEMBER

23. New BIC acquired by Devoteam Drago

The Technology consultancy Devoteam Drago acquired New BIC, a Spanish company, experts in Comextic and Rubicon.

24. Promofarma acquired by Zur Rose

Zur Rose, the Swiss Medical group, acquired the Catalan company Promofarma, a marketplace that brings together more than 500 pharmacies and other vendors.

25. Captio acquired by Certify

Certify, the largest independent provider of software for corporate expenditure management, acquired Captio, one of the industry's leading suppliers in Europe.

OCTOBER

26. Paytpv acquired by InnoCells (Banco Sabadell)

Banco Sabadell, through InnoCells, also (see nr 18) purchased the online payment platform PAYTPV, payment service provider for companies and individuals.

27. Kiuwan acquired by Idera

Idera, a B2B software company, has purchased Kiuwan, a SaaS solution focused on application Security 360, solutions to measure and analyze the life cycle of software.

28. Planeta Huerto acquired by Greenweez

Greenweez, leader in online retail of Eco products in Europe, has bought Spanish Planeta Huerto, an online store of products for a healthy and sustainable life.

29. Weblogs SL acquired by Webedia

Webedia has purchased Weblogs SL, including the Tech news site Xataka and 30 other digital publications, with almost 70 million unique users combined.

30. Zhilabs acquired by Samsung

Samsung Electronics acquired Zhilabs. The Spanish software company was bought to help the South Korean company to improve its automation capabilities with artificial intelligence and network analysis.

NOVEMBER

31. ReformAyuda acquired by Cronoshare

Cronoshare, an online marketplace for local services in Spain, announced the acquisition of ReformAyuda, a company connecting clients and home improvement professionals.

32. Ideafoster acquired by Canvia

Canvia purchased Ideafoster, offering prototyping for customers in Europe, the United States and Latin America, to help them test ideas in order to accelerate innovation.

DECEMBER

33. 1Rent acquired by DriiveMe

DriiveMe acquired the Spanish startup 1Rent, with a business model similar to its own. The French company DriiveMe, connects car rental companies and dealers, who need to move a vehicle from one point to another, with people who are going to the that destination anyway.

34. Eldesmarque acquired by Mediaset

Mediaset acquired Eldesmarque.com for € 10 million, a web platform with focus on football teams and minority sports.

More reading on Spanish startup exits: Gold mining in Malaga, Spanish Freepik acquired by EQT - case study on a less known startup hub

Crafted by Caroline Lagergren.

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