Grow VP venture capital firm is born to invest in technological 'spin-offs'

The venture capital firm Grow Venture Partners (Grow VP) is starting its journey, after being recently authorized by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). Based in Barcelona, its first fund will be aimed at boosting technological startups born in universities and research centers, with the objective of covering the scarcity of investment for deep tech projects. It will focus especially on initiatives in quantum computing, photonics, the Internet of Things (IoT), med tech, new materials, clean tech, circular economy, energy, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

"Spain ranks twelfth in the world ranking of countries with the most publications in scientific journals and produces a similar number of patents to the prestigious Israel Technion, where several unicorns have emerged in recent years. The main problem is that in Spain many of the spin-offs arising from universities and research centers end up succumbing due to lack of investment in the initial phases. With the launch of this new investment fund, we want to contribute to reducing this problem," explains Francisco Badia, founding partner of the fund.

Badia is accompanied at Grow VP by María José Morales, Ignacio Sala, Néstor Oliveiro, and Marc Almendros, all of them Barcelona entrepreneurs. Oliveiro and Almendros created Signadyne, a spin-off of the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) bought by the American giant Keysight. David Borrás and Fernando Rayón serve as advisors.

The origin of this investment fund comes from the experience gained at the consulting and accelerator firm Impulse to Grow, promoted by Badia himself and Mireia Mir. In the last ten years, it has advised technological startups such as Jobandtalent, Cocunat, and Deporvillage, and investors such as Cabiedes & Partners, Caixa Capital Risc, and JME Venture Capital.