From startup to scaleup: a key step for business development
Startups are essential for economic development, since they not only drive innovation, but they also generate disruptive solutions that transform entire sectors and respond to market needs. As these companies validate their business model and scale their operations, they evolve in scaleups, allowing them to expand their impact, increase their employment capacity and contribute significantly to economic growth. By transforming industries and fostering a more dynamic and competitive business ecosystem, they play a decisive role in modernizing the economy.
Una Scaleup It's that one Startup than reaches 5 million euros, It maintains a compound annual growth rate of 50% for the past two years, has a full-time team of at least 10 people and You have obtained 5 million euros in external funding, or has it been self-financed. This 50% represents a significant leap in their business development and a great challenge for many entrepreneurs. This is how we define it since PATIO Innovation & Startup Campus, Through the report 'The Next 35' in which we identified the 35 main scaleups that could form part of the IBEX 35 and represent the future of the Spanish economy.
Within this ranking we find scaleups such as Cabify, Cobee, Heüra (Foods for Tomorrow) who, according to the report, are positioned as major representatives of Spanish business development.
Scaleups will mark Spain's economic future
According to The Next 35, the value contribution to the Spanish economy of a company that scales rapidly and converts from startup to scaleup is threefold. Along these lines, scaleups they generate high-skill jobs, not only employing more people directly as they grow, but also creating indirect jobs through their supply chains and related services. In addition, scaleups they energize the sectors in which they operate through the introduction of new technologies and innovative business models, stimulating growth and innovation across the industry. Finally, they are role models in the use of technology to innovate and solve problems, demonstrating how we can grow and prosper through technological innovation and inspiring other companies to follow their example, contributing to a more robust and resilient business ecosystem.
But how can a startup become a scaleup? These are the 3 key points to evolve and take that big step:
- Have a multidisciplinary team: having a common project is essential to know in which direction to develop the business. A team made up of committed and experienced people in different areas makes the difference when it comes to facing obstacles and is a differential factor in achieving business success and development.
- Attract and retain talent to create a differentiated strategy: Making a difference in personnel management is also a form of growth, which drives not only the retention of talent, but also the attraction of new profiles. For any innovative project to grow, it needs to provide value to the market. However, those companies that manage to scale their services do so by having defined a strategy from the start. Taking into account investment in customer experience and not only in products defines the business interaction model and establishes a strategy that encourages the growth of the startup in parallel with that of the business.
- Include an international perspective that encourages investment: aspiring to internationalization in business operations is essential in order not to place limits on business development, turning the startup into a scaleup and later into a unicorn. This internationalization encourages foreign investment, which currently plays a crucial role in the growth of any startup and its move to scaleup. Through funding rounds that are less advanced than those that occur in scaleups, startups raise capital, national or international, to carry out their activities and invest in their business growth.
“The transition from a startup to a scaleup is crucial, as it represents the step from business model validation to sustained expansion and significant growth, allowing the company to maximize its impact on the market. To achieve this transformation, it is essential to have a solid growth plan, access to adequate financing, a talented team and the ability to adapt quickly to market demands, as well as to establish scalable processes that ensure efficiency and quality in the delivery of products or services”, Highlights Borja Marinas, CEO of PATIO Campus.
