The innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Madrid by MIDE. The Region of Madrid is a major player for innovation and is so thanks to the high level of qualification of its population, which represents 20% of the country’s graduates, and the fact that it is where 65% of the Ibex 35 companies are headquartered. In addition, it possesses factors such as quality of life and the Madrid sphere, which stands out as a nerve center for entrepreneurship.
The Region of Madrid is also considered one of the three favorite cities for expatriates to live in, which reinforces the viability of creating international emerging technology companies. Other factors that contribute to the region’s positioning are its strategic location and the relevant infrastructures for innovation:
13 Universities, (public and private), 9 university hospitals and 7 IMDEA advanced studies institutes, 6 science and technology parks, 40 CSIC research centers and 6 innovation clusters. It is also important to note that this is the region with the highest number of patent applications per inhabitant, specifically 44 applications per million.
Therefore, pioneering initiatives such as MIDE, the Region of Madrid’s collaborative innovation platform, have been so successful. MIDE (Madrid Innovation Driven Ecosystem) is the vehicle responsible for connecting the main players in the innovation ecosystem. Its objective is to connect all the entities in one place for the search of synergies and collaborations, “we want to unify efforts to improve the global competitive position of the Region of Madrid and the impact generated in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship”, explains the director of MIDE, Javier Sánchez.
The Region of Madrid’s ecosystem in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship is very broad and is made up of a portfolio of leading companies and organizations in the sector. The companies located in Madrid currently account for 36% of total investment in innovation in the country, allowing the city to position itself as the “epicenter of Spanish innovation”, says Javier.
One of the main challenges that mark the roadmap of the innovative sector of the Region is the establishment of a firm, which according to Javier Sánchez, should be the “Madrid Brand”, with the creation of a common agenda linked to the Public Administration, at the country and local level. To this end, the corresponding Administrations should adopt a more active role in the development of innovation through the creation of conditions that favor development and entrepreneurship, as well as the strengthening of an important link between the private and educational sectors, directly and actively, in order to encourage the growth of innovation.
Likewise, “although there are many initiatives in Madrid, there are few that include all the players or that prioritize is diversity among them”. In this way, “there is a lack of initiatives that are a reference at an international level, there is a lack of depth and, therefore, quality in many initiatives, there is a lot on offer, but we still face the challenge of improving quality,” says the director of MIDE.
Thus, the newspaper El Referente, together with the collaborative innovation platform of the Region of Madrid (MIDE), has developed a map with the main players that are part of the innovation ecosystem of the capital of Spain, which are structured in seven types of initiatives and that we now present: Corporations, Public Sector, Facilitators, Investors, Universities and the main startups in Madrid.