For the first time in the history of Spain, the Government materializes its commitment to innovative entrepreneurship through the Spain Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy, which is part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. This Strategy is articulated so that the Spain of 2030 is an innovative nation, which makes innovative entrepreneurship the driver of the country’s business sectors, generating synergies to increase their productivity, competitiveness and create more and better quality employment. Among the fifty measures contemplated in the Strategy, one of the most important is the Law for the Promotion of the Ecosystem of Emerging Companies (Law of Startups), to adapt the regulatory legal framework to the specificity and uniqueness of emerging companies, innovative entrepreneurs and the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem. Undoubtedly, promoting its development in Spain, backed by the financing and policies of the European Union, is a firm and decisive step towards the modernization and competitiveness of our economy.
It is clear that 2020 has been the year we live digitally. Mass teleworking, virtual training or internet communications are just one example that the implementation of digital advances, in all aspects of the economy and society, are accelerating the change in the economic and social paradigm. What happened in 2020 has only raised the need to transform our production model, to move towards a much more digitized, sustainable, cohesive and egalitarian society. For this reason, the Government of Spain has prioritized positioning Spain as an Entrepreneurial Nation. It is about making innovative entrepreneurship the main driver of a new country model, more productive, efficient, with more competitive companies and a greater capacity to generate more and better jobs.
The magnitude of this sector of Startups is getting bigger in Spain. The figures prove it. In 2020, despite the pandemic, investment in startups in Spain remained stable, exceeding 1,000 million euros, with investment operations that grew to 336 transactions, being the cybersecurity, health and wellness, ecommerce, edtech sectors or gaming and entertainment the ones with the greatest expansion. At present, Spain leads, together with the United Kingdom, Germany and France, the ranking of European countries with the highest number of startups. All these figures show us that the Government’s commitment to this sector of the future is correct. The new Startups Law will articulate a regulatory framework that will promote the creation, growth and consolidation of startups, attract private investment and promote the role of science in this sector. We need to anticipate to facilitate the administrative processing of emerging companies, attract and retain specialized talent, promote the rapprochement between Vocational Training, the University and companies, contribute to the transfer of technological knowledge or guarantee the effectiveness of the tax system of aid to the entrepreneurship and investment incentives for startups. All of this will help us to lay the foundations, within the framework of the Spain Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy, for a more prosperous, fair and sustainable society, also promoting social development objectives to combat gender, socioeconomic, territorial gaps, generational and the problem of emptied Spain.
We are facing an extraordinary opportunity, to lay the foundations for a more productive, innovative, sustainable and, above all, fairer Spain. Innovation must necessarily contribute to making society and economic growth sustainable, fair and inclusive. Our responsibility is to facilitate and accelerate this transformation. It is not an easy task, but it is necessary. The commitment to innovation is a commitment to the future. A better future for the next generations.
