My guest today is Sandra Nolasco, Founder and CEO of Twinco Capital: Sandra Nolasco Twinco Capital Twinco is an ambitous, mission driven fintech company based in Madrid providing financing to small and medium sized companies around the world.  Through better technology and risk analytics they can extend more credit at lower cost to the manufacturing suppliers for European retailers.  It is a unique model that significantly reduces financing costs and improves supply reliability, with benefits for both suppliers and buyers. Sandra founded the company after a succesful career in trad ..read more

My guests today are Aris Xenofontos and Mary Egan from Seaya Ventures: Aris Xenofontos Mary Egan Seaya Ventures Seaya is a top VC fund in Spain, with over 650M Euros in assets under management. The fund has supported Spanish tech breakouts like Glovo, Wallbox and Clarity.  Yet, Seaya is not resting on past success.  Our conversation highlights how Aris, Mary and the team are building an investment firm for differentiated future returns.  They share about the ongoing data investment at Seaya, and how they are using technology to find companies before competitors.  We discu ..read more

My guest today is Fer Pedraz, founder and CEO of Reveni: Fer Pedraz Reveni   "Your pessimism is my opportunity."  With a nod to Jeff Bezos, that's my summary of Reveni's approach.  Fer and team are on a mission to help retailers improve their profitability, initially by supporting an instant returns and exchange process, but with plans for deeper integrations to support wholistic planning and customer support across the retail business.  Reveni makes money today by betting that customers will do the right thing when returning or exchanging a product. They advance the refu ..read more

My guest this week is Marta Higuera, AI Labs Director at Insud Pharma: Marta Higuera Insud Pharma   Our conversation focuses on building an entrepreneurial career:  how to navigate a 'sea of gray', in Marta's words, when making career decisions. After growing up in a small community outside Santander, Marta has helped lead organizations on four continents. She has worked for prestigous global brands like McKinsey and BCG, and also started and run her own company. My hope is this conversation provides inspiration and specific actionable advice for listeners following their own entre ..read more

My guest today is Juan Montero, Founder and CEO of Fence. Juan Montero Fence  Fence is building internet native debt capital markets.  The first offering is a SaaS product that allows asset based lenders to monitor a portfolio of loans in real time.  The service went live earlier this year to support BBVA's €20M lending facility with Payflow.  I talk with Juan about: Growing up coding as a student in Madrid Early experiences learning about business models Defi Summer The Fence origin story What success looks like for Fence and its customers Juan's views on tech in Spain ..read more

Today, we have a special episode.  On Dec 9, 2023, European Parliament negotiators and the Council presidency agreed on the final version of the world's first-ever comprehensive legal framework on Artificial Intelligence; the EU AI Act. My guest today was a central figure in that negotiation.  Carme Artigas represented Spain as the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. Because Spain held the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU her voice and her role were crucial in getting the agreement done. As you will hear, Carme worked on this process for sev ..read more

My guest today is Gioia Cerbelli, VP of GP Bullhound and co-founder of Calafia Syndicate. Gioia Cerbelli Calafia Syndicate Gioia brings a wide lens to our study of the Spanish venture market, advising founders when selling their company to large international investors, and also investing personally at the very earliest stages.  Our conversation covers: How the Spanish market is weathering the current environment The pace of change for local founders and investors over the past five years The exit market, and how it is evolving Gioia also shares her own entreprenurial experience,  ..read more

My guest his week is Haydee Barroso, founder and CEO of Atani: Haydee Barroso Atani Exchange Atani is a European-regulated company that has built the first crypto broker that enables access to all the crypto market with only one account. Atani aggregates the liquidity of top exchanges (centralized and DeFi) so users can access all the coins with only one KYC.  Haydee's story fits squarely within the thesis for this show:  Atani is a one of one tech company building a unique technical product.  Haydee and team are globally ambitious, already serving over 300,000 customers from ..read more

My guest today is Carina Szpilka, General Partner at K Fund.  Carina Szpilka K Fund Carina and her partners founded K Fund in 2016, marking an important milestone in the growth of the Spanish venture market.  The K Fund founders emphasized operating experience, focusing on partnering with their portfolio companies to build great products and companies.  Today, K Fund manages over 500M euros.   Carina and I discuss  The impact of the recent Spanish Startup Law, a law Carina helped pass in her role as then President of Adigital. How the Spanish venture market has chan ..read more

My guest today is Jose Bayon, CEO of Enisa. Jose Bayon ENISA   ENISA is a state owned company integrated into the Spanish Government’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. ENISA's mission is to promote entrepreneurship and support small and medium sized businesses throughout Spain.  Last year, ENISA provided over 100M Euros of funding to Spanish startups. I wanted to talk with Jose about the work ENISA does throughout the Spanish startup ecosystem.  We discuss: the Startup Law, and the impact on startups the rise of new hubs of innovation in Spain, beyond the tradition ..read more