Taxonomy of the Spanish FinTech ecosystem and the drivers of FinTechs’ performance

Abstract

The main aim of the paper is to examine the current situation and evolution of the Spanish FinTech ecosystem and the driving forces of the performance of these firms. After examining the current situation of the Spanish FinTech ecosystem at an international level, we show that Spain has a solid and dynamic FinTech sector in terms of FinTech firms per capita (5 firms per million inhabitants) but with relatively low levels of investments and FinTech credit (3.4€ per capita). We also show that most of the Spanish FinTechs are focused on offering B2B solutions, obtain revenues via charging fees or commissions and have not matured enough. Moreover, most of these firms were founded by entrepreneurs and are located in large cities such as Madrid and Barcelona. We also document a positive evolution of the funds invested – mainly through venture capital funds – on the whole Spanish FinTech sector since 2014. In terms of performance, FinTechs founded by a few number of entrepreneurs perform better. We also find that being located in Madrid or Barcelona does not have an effect on performance while those FinTech receiving external financing via seed capital exhibit lower returns.