But while the new Chinese arrival rightly caused a stir, another part of the world has been quietly getting on with its own, and arguably equally significant, innovation. Spain.
Spain is home to a group of entrepreneurs who have made spectacular leaps in AI and who are launching solutions using new AI agents as intelligent self-employed workers capable of performing a growing range of tasks.
I have an insider’s view of Spain’s blossoming tech innovation. After heading up the AI digital strategy in Clidrive, my co-founder Manuel Romero and I launched the Maisa AI platform to tackle the pivotal hurdles preventing AI agents from delivering their full potential. This experience has led to some clear observations.
Spain is already a leading AI innovator, supported by the ‘Titans of Tech’
At the end of last year, my startup Maisa, with offices in Valencia and San Francisco, closed $5M in a round invested by the NFX fund, VillageGlobal (the VC backed by Mark Zuckerberg, Eric Schmidt, and Jeff Bezos), Sequoia scout and DeepMind PM Lukas Haas and Pablo Fernandez.
Maisa was the creator of the Vinci KPU (Knowledge Processing Unit), the world’s first agentic AI system to offer full traceability of results through its Chain-of-Work (CoW) approach. This method executes reasoning computationally, step by step, using attributable sources rather than next-word or idea prediction and reveals details of each step as it is taken.
By removing the risks associated with the AI ‘black box,’ Maisa’s KPU provides businesses with a trustworthy and transparent solution for outcomes and work performed. This unique traceability and auditability are the reasons Maisa’s system is already being used for core functions in a wide range of major multinational businesses across banking, automobile manufacture and energy production.
Another notable Spanish AI innovator is Freepik. Headquartered in Málaga, the company has developed AI-powered image generation, smart search capabilities, and automation tools that are enhancing user experience for designers and content creators across the world. Millions of high-quality vector graphics, stock photos, and templates are available through its platform. The EQT Mid-Market Europe fund acquired a majority stake in Freepik in 2020. Although not formally disclosed, its valuation at the time was believed to be approximately $280 million.
Originally spun out of La Fe Health Research Institute in Valencia, Quibim is another Spanish AI innovation success story. It specialises in AI-powered medical imaging analysis, focused specifically on extracting meaningful insights from images to enhance diagnostic accuracy and disease detection. Their AI models analyse MRI, CT, and PET scans to detect biomarkers and characterise organs and tissues.
Quibim’s recent Series A led by Asabys Partners and Buenavista Equity Partners raised $50M, bringing its total raised since launch to $70M. Other investors include Amadeus Capital Partners, APEX Ventures and prominent individuals such as Tony Fadell, inventor of the iPod.
Founded in 2023, Genesy is another Spanish startup specialising in agentic AI solutions, this time revolutionising B2B sales processes. The company offers AI-powered digital sales agents that autonomously identify and engage potential customers, streamline lead qualification, and manage intelligent workflows.
In January 2025, Genesy secured a €5M seed funding round led by Samaipata, a pan-European venture capital firm focused on digital businesses with network effects. Existing investors, including KFund and Itnig, also participated in this round.
A rich pipeline of talent
Spain's world class universities mean that its tech scene enjoys a flow of top tier Computer Science and AI graduates keen to build on the country's momentum as a tech innovation centre of excellence.
The Politechnic University of Madrid (UPM) is one of the leading institutions and continues to climb the QS World University Ranking. The Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) stands at the forefront of AI technology innovation, establishing itself as a leading hub for cutting-edge research and transformative solutions. And Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya or ‘BarcelonaTech’ (UPC) is a strong rival for Spain’s best and similarly boasts provision of some of the world’s leading Computer Science and AI departments.
A well-dispersed and highly innovative tech scene
The fact that Spain’s tech hubs are many and not focused on just a single city or region also helps as post-graduate talent has real choice in where to settle and thrive, helping to keep them dedicated to their home country, and its growth as a rising star in AI.
While Barcelona and Madrid led the way in the past, new centres have grown all around the country, including Valencia, Málaga and others. Spain's well-distributed tech startup ecosystem has made it an ideal base for the country’s renowned creativity and innovation to flourish, and this has been especially so in AI.
An attractive place for foreign and domestic investment
The country has benefitted from major foreign investment in its AI sector, attracted by its standing as a lesser known but rapidly growing hub of proven innovation and practical development of agentic AI. The attractiveness of its many city hubs has helped, and this international influx of money, attention and talent has supported the growth of diverse, creative, and productive environments.
The steadily increasing flow of foreign investment into Spain was underlined last year when Microsoft announced its largest-ever investment in Spain, quadrupling its investment in AI and cloud infrastructure in the country, to reach $2.1B over the subsequent two years.
Domestically, the Spanish government launched the Integral Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in Spain 2024, allocating €1.5B from the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, in addition to the €600M previously invested.
What’s next?
As Big Tech continues to do its best to make 2025 ‘the year of the AI agents’, Spain’s own contribution is set to grow further in both range and depth.
With both leading-edge innovation (such as making AI agents truly accountable for the first time) and expansion in the practical use of agentic AI in real-world business processes, Spain remains a territory to watch in the growth and development of agentic AI.
David Villalon is the Cofounder and CEO atMaisa.
