Over the past few years, Spain has secured its position as a great space for the attraction of investment and talent, with Madrid consolidating itself as the main gateway. The financial industry and, in particular, FinTech, have played a prominent role. With more than 1,000 active FinTech firms, an innovative financial sandbox and exclusive access to European and Latin American talent, Spain has climbed the ranks to become one of the world’s biggest FinTech hubs. Indeed, Madrid is one of the top 10 cities worldwide in the FinTech industry today.

This distinction is reflected in the results obtained by Madrid City Council through Madrid Investment Attraction (MIA), the office set up for attracting investment and international talent to the capital. Since the creation of its ‘FinTech Antenna’ in collaboration with Finnovating, the first global AI-based ‘deal-matching’ platform that enables corporations and investors to connect and reach agreements with more than 100,000 start-ups and technological scaleups (FinTech, InsurTech, PropTech…), a soft-landing programme has been promoted with different initiatives to highlight the opportunities that Madrid offers to global FinTech entrepreneurs.

Initiatives carried out and results of the programme

Since the programme was launched, Finnovating and MIA have held several international meetings, including the M2020 Amsterdam, the largest European event in the Fintech industry, and several Fintech Unconferences worldwide; specifically, last year, presentations were organised for the programme in Colombia, Mexico and Madrid, both through the event ‘Madrid, International FinTech Capital’, which brought together representatives of entities such as the Spanish FinTech and InsurTech Association (AEFI), the CNMV, the Bank of Spain and law firms such as CMS A&SL, and also through the FinTech Unconference Madrid, which took place last June, achieving record turnout numbers.

These events attracted a thousand CEOs and founders of FinTech companies from more than 35 countries, together with representatives of governments, investors, financial institutions and supervisory bodies. As a result, more than 131 CEOs and founders of international FinTechs have considered Madrid as the next destination for the development of their technological innovations. These include  DiBanka, Movizzon and AppInit, which have already established offices in the capital.

The next events where the programme will be presented globally will be the FinTech Unconference of Mexico 2023, which will take place on 18 October in Mexico City, and the InsurTech Unconference 2023, which will take place on 7 November in Madrid.

Thanks to this programme, through the Finnovating platform, more than 850 contacts have been generated through open calls for international companies interested in setting up in Madrid, and a detailed analysis has been conducted of more than 20,000 companies from 130 countries. 

“Since the beginning of this programme, we have focused on two paths: roadshows and presentations in several countries for companies in Europe and LATAM, and open calls and challenges that we have launched on the Finnovating platform. This has allowed us to impact more than a thousand CEOs and founders and identify 131 companies interested in establishing their business in Madrid. Although, remarkably, many of these companies are choosing to move their head offices to Madrid”, says Rodrigo García de la Cruz, CEO and founder of Finnovating.

Several companies have already brought their headquarters to Madrid

One such international firm that has already set up in Madrid is DiBanka, a technological platform that, through a SuperApp, provides employees and pensioners of public and private entities worldwide with access to credit services, insurance and markets, among others, offering them a completely digital and secure experience.

When asked about the decision to choose Madrid, Mauricio Chacón, CEO of DiBanka, responded: “Madrid is the best choice to introduce our Super App to the Spanish and European market. It is a strategic gateway to access FinTech benefits and, from here, expand to Latin American markets and other territories in a global strategy from Madrid.”

In the case of Movizzon, they have developed a unique and innovative technology and methodology to simulate user navigation in digital channels. This Colombian FinTech, which currently has clients throughout Latin America and the United States, sees Madrid as a gateway for the expansion of its business in Europe. In the words of its CEO and founder, Antonio Arancibia, “Spain has a strategic location as a bridge between Latin America and Europe. And, especially, Madrid is a hub for talent and investment funds that has a very mature ecosystem resulting from its good work. That is why we established our headquarters in Madrid, something that also allows us to be closer to our clients in Spain and Italy, and where we want to move forward in our investment rounds.”