He President of the Region of Murcia, Fernando Lopez Mirashas demanded the necessity of the Spanish government create a tax environment that favors investments in startups and technology startups. «Spain has entrepreneurship in its DNA and we cannot allow projects to move away because they do not provide a favorable environment for investment.«, López Miras has explained, explaining that we are facing a challenge.A great opportunity to make Spain a reference country for investing in emerging companies«.
López Miras cited as an example the policies implemented in the Region of Murcia in this area, where the entrepreneurship ecosystem has maintained a very positive growth trend and investment attractiveness thanks to the development of successive strategies to promote entrepreneurship. In fact, the Murcia region was one of the first European regions was recognized as an entrepreneurial region (European entrepreneurial region)..
Currently, start-ups in the Murcia region have a direct funding program that is groundbreaking at the national level. Therefore, In the first five years of their activity, they can receive grants of up to 100,000 euros per year and in the case of invested startupsas announced by President López Miras, Depending on the private investment they attract, they can receive up to 180,000 euros.
To this day there are numerous Startup success stories the Murcia region. As an example we can highlight Symborgwhich was acquired by American multinational Corteva last year; Stay on my pathacquired by Canadian Operto; We are guestswhich works with Airbnb in Spain; BioprocessingWinner of the EIT Food EWA Award at European level; BemyvegaWinner of the EXXI Award and will be the Spanish representative at the European Bett Edtech event taking place in London next year; Connectivethat revolutionizes online marketing or companies in the health sector such as Inbentus either Cella Medical.
Improve the applicability of tax incentives The main demand of investors is to attract more investments for startups. This was stated by the more than 100 national and international investors who took part in the “Waykup Forum”, the investment and startup meeting that took place last week in Murcia and which has positioned itself as the reference meeting of the sector.
López Miras has asked the government for policy coherence. «There is no point in supporting entrepreneurs if they are then criminalized as entrepreneurs. In which country in the world does this happen? What entrepreneur or investor wants to come to Spain to develop his project if he will be criticized if he succeeds?“ the president asked himself.
In Spain, the vast majority of investment activity in startups and emerging companies is carried out through investment vehicles, a formula that facilitates the diversification of investments while reducing risk. However, the current tax incentive system cannot be applied if the investment is made through investment vehicles or groups, since it is not the investor as a natural person who makes the investment directly, but rather makes it through the investment vehicle, which cannot benefit from the incentives. For this reason, the regional president has claimed: “Ensure that every investor, regardless of how they channel the investment – whether privately or through investment vehicles – can benefit from 100% of the available incentives«.
After all, López Miras asked for it more support for investor networks: «Its role is crucial to the further development of the investment ecosystem‘ while he advocated:Promoting the investment culture, professionalizing the industry and valuing the number of business angels«, based on private investors who provide startups with money and advice in exchange for a stake in the company.
Startup Region Murcia. The Waykup forum becomes a reference
Murcia hosted the 3rd edition of the Waykup Forum on November 23rd and 24th, which was attended by more than 100 investors of different nationalities and 72 startups, becoming the industry’s benchmark event at the national level. The meeting brought together more than 30 speakers and included presentations by Eduardo Díez-Hochleitner, co-founder of the Samaipata Investment Fund; Ramón Blanco, CEO of the Bewater Fund; Joseph Liu from Business Angels Network from Austin (USA); Javier Artiach of Conexo Ventures; Nancy Muya, senior analyst at Leverage Experts (Dubai); or Andrea Martos, co-founder and general director of Codon65, among others.
In addition to the presentations aimed at both investors and entrepreneurs, the event featured a “Pitches” competition, whose winners were Sara Toledano from Sycai Medial in the “Growth” category and Mario Quesada from Weitec in the “ “Early” (first company level). Both received a check for 3,000 euros from Caja Rural Central and a trophy from Aerovi Aerovi designed by the artist Virginia Grau.
Five reasons to invest in the Murcia region
The Murcia region offers various options that make investing in this municipality an opportunity. There are five specific reasons for this:
- Talent. The region is one of the few places in Spain with seven universities and 94 vocational training centers within 150 km, providing companies with 120,500 qualified workers every year.
- Investment Acceleration Unit (UNAI). The Region of Murcia is the only municipality in Spain with an entity that streamlines the administrative management of investment projects. The law allows administrative processing times for projects, including licenses and permits, to be reduced by 50%.
- Operating costs of implementation. With an average cost of €70/m² for industrial space, the region is 58% cheaper than the Spanish average. In addition, there are 81 fully screened industrial parks in our system, so choosing a location will be very easy.
- Investment incentives. The region currently has the highest intensity of investment incentives with European funds authorized in the EU, which can reach up to 45% of non-repayable aid.
- Connectivity. With an extensive logistics fleet connected to the port of Cartagena and two other ports within 250 km, products can be available all over the world. The region’s location in the center of southeastern Spain allows access to a market of almost eight million people in less than three hours.