Madrid City Council’s La Nave helps Latin American companies land in Madrid, with 43% opening operations in Spain

Madrid as a door into Europe

A company that has built a successful product in Santiago, Bogotá or Lima faces problems when it looks towards Europe. Different legal frameworks, unfamiliar procurement processes, and no local reputation. The leap to Europe requires infrastructure, knowledge, and connections. La Nave, Madrid City Council’s innovation centre and a certified EU|BIC, designed its Softlanding Europe Programme precisely for this moment. La Nave operates 13,000 square metres of innovation space in Madrid. The programme targets companies from outside Spain, primarily from Latin America, that have already validated their products. It is a programme for companies whose product is ready and whose main obstacle is the crossing itself.

The programme runs from January to June. Participants receive six group training sessions covering the realities of operating in Spain: legal incorporation, market access, financing routes, and the rhythms of the European business environment. They receive six individual monthly mentoring sessions with an innovation expert, bonus track workshops, access to La Nave’s investor pool, and the option to use a workspace in Madrid if the company needs a physical base while it gets established. The programme spans six sectors: smart cities, e-health and sportech, sustainability and circular economy, EdTech, fintech and insurtech, and retail, tourism and hospitality. The programme is free and equity-free: companies participate without giving up shares.

The 2025 edition received 58 applications, the second highest in the programme’s history, and selected 14 participants, the largest cohort since the second edition. Half of the CEOs or co-founders in that cohort were women, a proportion that has been growing steadily across editions. The largest single source of participants has been Chile, with 22 companies across all editions, 36% of the total. Colombia and Peru follow. Companies that complete the programme join La Nave’s alumni network, maintaining access to its investor pool and ecosystem beyond the six months.

For Madrid, the logic runs in the other direction. Every company that lands, incorporates, and hires represents an investment that chose Madrid over a competitor city. Every founder who chooses Madrid as their European base becomes part of the city’s innovation ecosystem. La Nave is making Madrid the obvious answer to a question that ambitious Latin American founders are asking.