Here is the post about the Idealista entrepreneurial ecosystem - the major operations of the last 25 years in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The Spanish technological and entrepreneurial ecosystem has entered a phase of maturity. A reflection of this are the millionaire purchases of startups made by foreign investors in the last 25 years, concentrated especially in the last decade.
Spain is the fourth European country by volume of startups, with 11,100 that employ 140,000 people. It has 6,446 private investors, 366 investment groups, 149 accelerators and 99 incubators.
According to the Startups Observatory of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation, since 1998 there have been 288 sales (exits) valued at 12,800 million euros. In 176 cases, the amount of the operation has not exceeded. The average value per divestment is 114.32 million.
Idealista entrepreneurial ecosystem
There are several national companies that have starred in an exit above 500 million. In 2020, the Idealista real estate portal broke all records after being acquired by the Swedish private equity fund EQT. Valued at more than 1,300 million euros, it is the largest operation involving a Spanish technology company to date.
In 2021, there were 68 sales, almost 45% more year-on-year. In the first half of 2022, 52 divestments have already taken place, totaling 1,254 million euros.
Most of these transactions have international firms on the buyer's side, which shows that the interest of foreign investors in Spanish startups has skyrocketed in recent years.
Spain currently has the largest portfolio of early-stage startups in its history. Companies are completing larger funding rounds, in which they attract more powerful and increasingly international investors. A context in which the great importance of these operations becomes visible, which together with the exits, irrigate the liquidity ecosystem.
Idealista entrepreneurial ecosystem volume
According to the Startup Observatory of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation, these are the 15 largest operations of the last 25 years, sorted by volume:
Idealista (September 2020): 1,321 million euros
If we talk about great exits, it is impossible not to mention the case of Idealista. The digital real estate offering platform was founded 22 years ago and sold in early September 2020 to the Swedish fund EQT, which took 100% of the capital in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The transaction was closed for 1,321 million euros as the largest sale of a technology company in the history of Spain that is known. After the agreement, the same management team continues to run Idealista. In front are Jesús and Fernando Encinar, brothers and founders Idealist with César Oteiza.
Shortly after the sale, in January 2021, EQT Partners took a new step in its project to create a large European real estate group with the transfer of its Italian portal Casa.it an Idealist. After the transaction, the value of the housing ads platform stood at 1,800 million euros, according to market sources.
Idealista entrepreneurial ecosystem sale
In February 2021, Apax Partners, the previous owner of the real estate portal, bet on Idealista again, buying 17% of the capital just 6 months after the sale to EQT in an investment valued at 250 million euros.
That same year, one of the funds participating in Idealista, Oakley Capital, which owns 11% of the capital, unveiled the valuation projections managed by the Spanish company and the goal of exceeding 3,000 million.
The valuation raised doubles that of the last transactions with Idealista shares. From the real estate portal they never commented on the prospects commented by Oakley.
In 2020, the last available financial year, Idealista SAU (the company that operates the real estate portal) had sales of more than 82 million euros and employed 500 people, according to The Economist.
