Catalan venture capital funds to attract 1.2 billion € this year to invest in companies

• • Catalonia is a pioneer in Spain in creating venture capital funds 
• • These funds inject capital as a result of scarcity of credit or for expansion

Managers of the most important venture capital funds in Catalonia will earmark approximately 1.2 billion euros to invest in companies this year, in processes that many firms already have well underway. Noteworthy among these VC firms include Black Toro Capital, which has 400 million euros; Abac Capital (320 million), Meridia Capital (150 million), Nauta Capital (150 millions) and Ysios Capital (100 million), as well as the Aurica III fund (150 million) from BS Capital, Banc Sabadell, and a group of institutional investors.

Catalonia is a pioneer in Spain in creating venture capital funds. Starting in the 1990s with Catalana d’Iniciatives, promoted by the Government of Catalonia and the Barcelona City Council, and important foreign VC funds including 3i, Carlyle and Apax. In the 2000s, other funds were created, including Nauta (2004), Suma Capital (2007) Miura (2007) and Ysios (2008).

These firms inject capital into SMEs with high potential for growth that are suffering from scarcity of credit or are unable to raise additional capital. This situation affects a good part of mid-sized companies, but is particularly relevant among small companies. Suma Capital and Nauta, for example, specialize in the latter.

Specialization, therefore, is one of the characteristics of some of the venture capital funds in companies taking their first steps. Ysios Biofund (in which Acció holds a stake), for example, looks for technology and pharmaceutical projects. Suma Capital, on the other hand, manages venture capital funds for energy efficiency and growth in small and medium-sized companies, while Nauta is interested in investing in smaller companies through capital increases of between half a million and 4 million euros.