Valencia is quickly becoming the place to set up a Spanish office, 4 reasons why
Updated: Mar 9
Valencia, Spain's third biggest city, proves to be ideal for startup founders, and other businesses, who are ready to expand internationally. All 4 key factors are in place: 1. Access to tech and creative talent. 2. Ease and cost of doing business. 3. Access to capital. 4. Superior quality of life with all-year sunshine, stability and safety.
NOTEWORTHY MILESTONES FOR VALENCIA CITY:
February, 2020: According to a Spanish Research Institute, the Valencia startup hub is the fastest growing ecosystem in Spain, and with the most startups per capita.
November 2019: New numbers announced at the VLC Digital Summit: Employment generated by the now 900+ startups exceeds 4,500 people, an increase of 125% (2018.)
October 2019: Streamloots, founded in Valencia, Startup Competition Winner of South Summit 2019, selected out of 100 nominated startups in 10 competing verticals.
September 2019: Named World Design Capital® (WDC) 2022 and chosen by Groupon as base for their global center for Operations.
Why choose Valencia over the other Spanish startup hubs?
To find out the answer to the question Why Valencia? ( I personally get it a lot), we asked Alberto Martínez Guerrero, CEO of Streamloots, the winner of the South Summit 2019 startup competition, who tells us:
"We started in Murcia and moved to San Francisco for a while to launch the product since most of our users are from the US. When we decided to grow the team in Spain we analyzed 3 cities: Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia."
"We choose Valencia because of the standard of living is incredible, the weather is amazing, housing is not that expensive or hard to find and you can move everywhere by bike or by scooter."
"There is also a lot of talent in Valencia and it is an attractive place for people who are tired of living in super crowded cities like Madrid. But even though Valencia is an attractive place for national talent, it is still unknown for international talent. Let's change that!"
Valencia - A true gem for startup founders
With a population just under 1 million, Valencia has everything it needs to be a major metropolis, yet isn’t too overwhelming you can’t also easily make your mark. Even more attractive for founders, it offers a vast amount of talent, as well as an extensive support system for early-stage businesses that many other European cities lack.
Valencia was the obvious choice for me, Caroline Lagergren, founder of Expand To Spain™️. Here with a special message for 2020 in this short video, shot from the Valencia Marina.
1. National factory for Tech and Creative talent
Valencia is considered to be the national talent factory, thanks to eight reputable public and private universities, with more than 100,000 students and 3,500 certified engineers graduating every year. Moreover,
Valencia is ranked as the best Erasmus destination in Europe and has received the award as the best talent attraction program from the European Commission.
The city is also the birthplace of many creative undertakings so it probably was a so called no-brainer for the World known Music College Berklee to choose Valencia to set up their European campus back in 2012.
In September of 2019, it was announced that Valencia is named World Design Capital® (WDC) 2022, and will be the 8th city to hold this designation.
"Valencia’s bid, articulated a compelling proposal that clearly demonstrates the effective application of Mediterranean design, of design for change and design as a key reference point to improve citizen’s quality of life.”
Said Luisa Bocchietto, WDO President and member of the WDC 2020 Selection Committee.
Later on in September 2019, the well-known American E-Commerce company Groupon announced that they had chosen Valencia as base for their new global operations center. The space can accommodate up to 200 employees, which will allow the center to grow continuously in the future, the company adds.
Says Barbara Weisz, Senior Vice President and Director of Global Operations at Groupon:
"Groupon have chosen Valencia because of the incredible talent, the climate, the atmosphere and the culture, allowing us to offer our employees a high standard of living."
She also highlights Valencia's high number of multilingual professionals. "The level of service we offer to our partners has to be excellent, which is why having native professionals in their languages to support their strategies, both commercial and editorial, is essential for us."
2. Public and private initiatives behind the blooming ecosystem
Both private and public companies join forces, coordinating their efforts to boost entrepreneurial support in the region. This city is eager; it wants to become a leader in both Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
New numbers announced at the VLC Digital Summit 2019: Employment generated by the now 900+ startups exceeds 4,500 people, an increase of 125% (2018.)
Some of the most prominent Business centers, accelerators, incubators, and early-stage investors include EIT Climate-KIC, Gohub/Global Omnium, Biohub VLC, Innsomnia, Angels Capital, Demium, Social Nest, Bbooster, Plug and Play, Lanzadera and Fosbury & Sons.
More and more of these meeting points for Entrepreneurs and Startup tech founders, national as well as international, are based in the Valencia Marina, a campus that is evolving at a high speed right now so make sure to watch that space! What used to be an old and somewhat secluded harbor is converted into a 1 million m² public space open and buzzing with innovation and nautical activity.
On the public side, the city council of Valencia launched VIT Emprende, a network of innovative entrepreneurs that has played a role in the startups registered in the city.
And numerous additional local and national institutions (ENISA, CDTI, IVACE or IVF) exist, offering grants and financing for technical and digital companies.
3. Ease and cost of living
Public transport is efficient at a low cost, and with the Manises International Airport only 20 minutes from the city center, and the capital city of Madrid only 1.5 hours with the speed train, you’re also saving in opportunity costs.
The cost of accessing a co-working space is around 150€/month and an office space in one of the Technological Parks is about 350€ for 65m2.
4. Superior quality of life
It's easy to enjoy an active lifestyle, with activities such as sailing, golf, football and tennis available all-year round. There are bike paths throughout the city, and cyclists, joggers, walkers alike love The Jardín del Turia, a lush urban park that snakes through the city like the river it used to be.
Valencia has more than 300 days of sun annually. Add in its beautiful beaches, orange tree-lined streets, and gorgeous views of the mountains in the distance, it’s no wonder almost 2 million unique tourists visit the city annually.
The cultural scene is also a draw featuring the famous City of Arts and Sciences, one of the 12 Treasures of Spain and designed by native-son and architect Santiago Calatrava, houses Spain’s largest event space and Europe’s largest Aquarium.
For more views of the scenery and tips on activities this video is worth checking out:
Crafted by Caroline Lagergren. Follow Expand To Spain on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Looking to reach an international audience in this exact niche? All posts are kept Evergreen, meaning always relevant and continuously updated. If you are interested in being a sponsor of this article, please contact me: caroline@expandtospain.com
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