Entrepreneurship & Startups

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila participated on Thursday in a new edition of the BBVA Spark Summit in Barcelona, where he made a commitment, in front of more than 400 tech companies and investors, to continue promoting Catalonia as a key center of innovation and entrepreneurship. In this regard, he emphasized that the integration with Banco Sabadell aims to build “a stronger, more competitive and more profitable bank” that provides the support that entrepreneurs and businesses in general need. He also underscored the potential of Catalonia, and Barcelona in particular, as an innovation hub, attracting investors, businesses and talent.

Garanti BBVA, Türkiye’s leading digital bank, is all set to stage ‘Istanbul Venture Day’ to support the startup ecosystem and help ramp up innovative fintech solutions. The event will be held at the Salt Galata center on October 24 and is being organized alongside IE University in Spain, with the close support of the Spanish and Italian consulates. It is essentially the Istanbul leg of the ‘Venture Day’ series being held by IE University ahead of the wider Global South Summit.

The Global Startup Awards (GSA), one of the most prestigious events for independent startups, will be held in Türkiye for the first time on September 24-25. With Garanti BBVA as the lead sponsor, GSA aims to recognize innovative startups in the Turkish entrepreneurship ecosystem, while bringing together a large community of entrepreneurs, investors, VCs, thought leaders, industry benchmarks, ecosystem partners, and other key stakeholders.

Garanti BBVA, alongside the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye (KAGİDER) and Ekonomist, a leading business magazine, is organizing the 18th Women Entrepreneur Competition in Türkiye. Candidates hoping to inspire other women with their success stories have until November 15, 2024 to submit their entries by filling out the form available at www.garantibbvakadingirisimci.com.

Building a business is not easy, yet it happens to be one of the most important decisions in life that many people will ever make. And while we generally talk about challenges in this process, such as the availability of capital, the macroeconomic climate of a country, cash flow management or registration and licensing, little is said about one of the biggest challenges: mental health care.

Garanti BBVA, in its role as a supporter of startup growth and investment, has revealed the latest cohort of startups joining its renowned Garanti BBVA Partners Tech Program.

Exoticca, a leading company in the digitization of big-ticket travel, has announced the signing of a €4 million finance agreement with BBVA Spark. This loan agreement will facilitate the company's expansion in Latin America. The financing is supported by the European Union and the European Investment Fund under the InvestEU Fund program.

Türkiye’s 17th Women Entrepreneur Awards, organized by Garanti BBVA alongside ‘The Ekonomist’ and the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye (KAGIDER) was recently held on February 27, 2024.

The bank is sponsoring the fifth edition of the Energy Tech Summit, which will be held in Bilbao for the first time on April 10th and 11th, 2024.

BBVA Spark, the bank for high-growth companies, has arranged a €15 million 'Venture Debt' facility for Cabify, the Spanish mobility company, which was launched 12 years ago in Madrid and became Spain's first unicorn in 2018. The proceeds will go toward fast-tracking the execution of Cabify's strategic plan, which focuses on boosting sustainable and affordable urban mobility.

Entrepreneurs with promising business ideas in data, cyber security, payment systems or sustainability may now seek support under the Garanti BBVA Partners Tech Program (https://www.garantibbvapartners.com), with applications to be received by January 31, 2024.

Garanti BBVA and the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye (KAGIDER) commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye at the Women Entrepreneurs of the Year Summit.

BBVA Spark is the financial ally of high-impact companies and the partner of reference for the entire ecosystem of entrepreneurs. This unit, already present in Mexico, Spain and Colombia, will expand to the rest of the South American countries.

This pioneering initiative by Garanti BBVA will see this year a new category, ‘Women’s Cooperative of Türkiye’, aiming to recognize women’s efforts through cooperatives. Candidates may apply by filling out the form at www.garantibbvakadingirisimci.com until November 15, 2023.

BBVA Chair Carlos Torres Vila concluded the sixth edition of BBVA Open Summit, the annual entrepreneurship event, recalling the bank’s commitment to innovation. “BBVA has 600 million committed to various venture capital funds. The recent focus of these investments is on driving decarbonization and the development of innovative entrepreneurship in our main markets. Both areas make strategic sense for BBVA, to incorporate new knowledge into the Group and to support the companies we want to be our customers,” said Torres Vila at the closing of the event.

All ventures are born from a clever idea, but not all new ideas end up becoming new companies. In addition to creativity, in order to materialize a business idea, it is essential to obtain financing, visibility and investors. Startup incubators are entities that offer entrepreneurs guidance, training and resources to materialize their project.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and BBVA are set to make it easier for startups with innovative and sustainable value propositions to get access to financing. The two institutions have concluded an agreement under the InvestEU guarantee programme whereby the EIF will grant a €200 million guarantee to enable BBVA Spark (BBVA’s specialised startup initiative) to strengthen its support for startups, helping them with their expansion plans.

BBVA Spark, the new unit that caters to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, has widened the scope of its activities by welcoming a new member to its ranks: BBVA Open Innovation, an end-to-end value proposition encompassing financial products, connection to innovation hubs and access to leading investors.

From the former headquarters of BBVA in Bilbao, the B Accelerator Tower entrepreneurship centre serves as a meeting point for financial institutions, entrepreneurs and investors. A space for conceiving the services and solutions of the future that does not forget its past: the walls of the Torre Bizkaia bear witness to the innovation of the last few decades.

The BBVA Turkish unit will offer the first online training session for the Women Entrepreneurs Academy of Türkiye, in collaboration with Boğaziçi University Lifelong Education Center (BÜYEM).

Several innovation hubs across Latin America paint a picture of a bubbling but unevenly distributed entrepreneurial landscape: Brazil's biggest city accumulates a growing number of unicorns, while Lima is trying to carve out a niche for itself. With sectors such as fintech and e-commerce leading innovation and growing support from investors, Latin America is putting on a strong show on the international stage.

Anxiety, stress or fatigue are some of the problems that startup creators often face. Summer can be a good time to focus on how important it is to protect your emotional wellbeing and strike a balance before getting back to the routine. Learning to manage failure, knowing how to delegate and enjoying time to disconnect are some of the things that experts recommend for taking care of mental health.

BBVA recently presented BBVA Spark, its full financial services proposition for innovative, high growth companies in their different stages of growth. Spark provides these companies with all their financial needs within the same place, and gives them access to sophisticated financing products, such as venture debt and growth loans. To do so, BBVA Spark will offer them a unique relationship management model with a team of experts who speak their language.

During the closing day of South Summit, BBVA revealed that it is preparing a complete range of financial services adapted to the different stages of growth of startups and scaleups. “We want to be the bank for high-growth companies and finance them,” said Roberto Albaladejo, Head of Banking for Growth Companies, who added that there is a “great opportunity” to help them and build “long-term relationships” with them.

Garanti BBVA is supporting an important space for women entrepreneurs in Türkiye. The bank is joining forces with the Women in Trade Platform, which was launched by KAGİDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye), to support women entrepreneurs who contribute to the development of the Turkish economy.

At the South Summit, BBVA presents the BBVA Virtual Space, an immersive environment with which the bank wants to explore new ways of interacting with customers through the metaverse. This development, which allows experimenting how a banking service based on virtual reality could be, is also the protagonist of a 'hackathon' in which people are invited to offer new features or virtual experiences.

BBVA will invest a total of 15 million euros in Leadwind, a venture capital fund managed by K Fund. In this first phase, the fund will raise 140 million euros to support technology companies in Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

Truora has raised $15 million in a series A funding round led by Propel, the fund that manages BBVA’s fintech investments, and Acel - one of the main investors in technology and the Internet. This new injection of capital will allow Truora to reinforce its expansion in Mexico with its solution to verify users through WhatsApp.

Garanti BBVA in collaboration with Ekonomist magazine and the Turkish Association of Female Entrepreneurs (KAGİDER) recently celebrated the 15th edition of the Women Entrepreneur Competition. During the awards ceremony on March 3rd, the winners of the four leading categories were announced.

Promoting open banking with APIs, retaining digital customers with artificial intelligence and enhancing traceability in logistics with blockchain are the technological solutions devised by five startups that have run pilots with BBVA Open Innovation. Now they are identifying their next steps to tackle the challenges ahead.