XesGalicia is a public trading company belonging to the Xunta de Galicia, affiliated with the Vicepresidencia Primeira e Consellería de Economía, Industria e Innovación, which has the objectives of supporting the growth of the Galician business sector, promoting the economic and industrial development and consolidation of Galicia, as well as fostering entrepreneurship and innovation.

For two decades, XesGalicia has managed various venture capital entities specialising in different types of companies and projects. At the end of 2021, XesGalicia managed one venture capital company (Sodiga Galicia) and four investment funds: Galicia Compite, Galicia Innova Tech, Galicia Iniciativas Emprendedoras and Adelante 2000.

The commercial company focuses its activity on business initiatives linked to entrepreneurship and innovation, without neglecting growth or reinforcement projects in companies already consolidated in Galicia. During the 2020 and 2021 financial years, new operations were approved for more than 40 projects in sectors such as biotechnology, new mobility or related to the primary sector, reaching an overall amount of more than 20 million euros.

Among the funded projects are startups as innovative as Libera Bio, which focuses its activity on developing personalised cancer treatments based on a new nanotechnology; or Celtarys Research, which focuses on developing fluorescent tools for the discovery of new drugs; both are two spinoffs of the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) that participated in the Ignicia programme, also dependent on the Vice-Presidency Primeira, through the Galician Innovation Agency.

Many of these projects have also benefited from the services provided by the entrepreneurship funding programmes in which XesGalicia is involved, such as access to workspaces, advice from tutors and mentors or contact with potential industrial partners. These programmes include Business Factory Auto (BFAuto), Business Factory Food (BFFood) and Business Factory Aero (BFAero), initiatives specialising in the automotive, food and aerospace sectors, respectively.

In addition, for several years, XesGalicia has been actively participating in entrepreneurship financing programmes by providing direct investments in private entrepreneurship funds, which complement and strengthen the possibilities of access to financing for innovative and technology-based companies in Galicia.

Hand in hand with companies to transform the Galician economy

In this context, the Xunta launched, through XesGalicia, its fund of funds strategy, endowed with 11 million euros and with which it intends to triple the use of related funds, up to an amount close to 33 million euros. The objective is to work with private venture capital managers to support companies in transforming the Galician economy, boosting the startup ecosystem in the region, entrepreneurship and innovation, while promoting the return of talent.

Following the fund of funds strategy, in 2021 XesGalicia signed a new investment agreement for an amount of one million euros in partnership with the BSocial Impact Fund, managed by Ship2B Ventures, the largest impact venture capital fund in Spain. Its investment activity seeks to respond to three major challenges: improving the quality of life of vulnerable groups, climate change and school failure.

In 2021, despite the negative consequences of Covid-19, the results achieved by the entities managed by XesGalicia -Sodiga Galicia, Galicia Compite, Galicia Innova Tech, Galicia Iniciativas Emprendedoras and Adelante 2000- will show a positive trend, thanks, among other things, to the execution of certain sales transactions. In 2022, XesGalicia will focus its strategies on strengthening the equity of invested companies, as well as on financing Galician entrepreneurship.