Startups know that Four Years From Now (4Y4N) is a good time to find an investor to help them take off or take another step in their expansion. At the Banco Sabadell Stage, three international venture capital funds discussed this Wednesday the trends they expect to occur in 2022. The head for Spain and Portugal of GP Bullhound, Miguel Kindelan, Elaia partner Pauline Roux and Seedcamp partner Sia Houchangnia shared their views, moderated by BStartup COO, José Manuel Carol.
The shared feeling among the three venture capital funds is that everything indicates that the economy has left the pandemic behind. As Kindelan summarized, this statement was easier to make three weeks ago than now, after Russia's attack on Ukraine. The war has brought uncertainty to the economic context, but it remains to be seen how it affects the global economy.
In that sense, Kindelan assured that all the investment foreseen for the technology sector will not disappear overnight. The executive stressed that these types of companies usually overcome counter-cyclical episodes better thanks to their disruptive proposals. For this reason, Houchangnia agreed that there is a lot of accumulated capital that needs to find an outlet.
The war has brought uncertainty to the economic context, but it remains to be seen how it affects the global economyThe valuation ofstartupstechnological continues to register a good grade, Roux explained.This trend holds despite major publicly traded companies in the sector having registered declines in recent months.And it is that the valuations of early-stage startups have been rising for years. Some of the participants in the debate have pointed out that this seems to be starting to decrease, although not everyone has agreed on this point.What the three have agreed on is that it is now more expensive to invest in them than it was four or five years ago.Regarding this, Carol has noted that there are increasingly more international funds investing in early stages in Spain, generating more competition. This is causing valuations to rise, considering that the supply of startups remains stable, but previously fewer resources were dedicated and there were fewer competitors.
B2B software solutions, especially for SMEs, is one of the sectors that will set trends this year, thanks to the fact that, according to Roux, investors have opened their minds to this sector. In the debate, artificial intelligence and traveltech were also highlighted as protagonists. Kindelan has also bet on mobility. "Mobility is back. Although it is very capital-intensive, we are going to hear a lot about it," she stressed. For his part, Houchangnia, with a model far from companies that are very capital-intensive, has bet on companies dedicated to healthech, gaming or climate. Regarding new emerging sectors, such as NFTs or the metaverse, the three venture capital funds have stated that they are studying them, but are not yet considering investing. "We have an obligation to understand them," said Roux, who is clear that they will not take long to become massively widespread.
Debates for four days
BStartup by Banco Sabadell has organized more than 15 debates during the four days of 4YFN, such as this Wednesday's on venture capital funds. Other talks included Monday's, with BStartup director, Yolanda Pérez, and the participation of Chartboost, Deporvillage and Holded. There have also been others on health, with the collaboration of Barcelona Health Hub, or talent, with that of Barcelona Global.
In addition to the debates, BStartup has presented 20 startups from its investment portfolio at its stand at 4YFN. On the first day of the fair, those focused on sustainability and social impact were present (A planet, Saigu, Wegaw, Qida and Moa Foodtech), while on the second day it was the deeptech companies (Napptive, Amphora, Qbeast, Froged and Incapto Coffee). This Wednesday was the turn for health companies (Dive Medical, Sycai Medical, Inbrain Neuroelectronics, Miwendo and Gate2Brain) and on Thursday, for those focused on b2c solutions (Exoticca, Stayforlong, MiCuento, AEInova and Mondo).
Banco Sabadell has participated for the eighth consecutive year in 4YFN as the main sponsor.
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