Who helps researchers become entrepreneurs in Spain? A guide to turning research into a business

There are five key elements that consistently appear in successful examples of scientific entrepreneurship:

• Funding available from the earliest stages to validate technology before revenue generation.
• Validation of research outcomes to translate scientific achievements into a marketable value proposition.
• Administrative agility that prevents projects from losing momentum due to bureaucracy.
• Access to business networks beyond academia, including industry and private investors.
• Expert support and mentoring in business management and decision-making.

However, no support organization, regardless of how comprehensive its services may be, can replace the leadership and vision of the research team itself.

In Spain, researchers can rely on seven main types of organizations:

1. Knowledge Transfer Offices (OTRIs)
2. Validation programmes
3. Incubators and science parks
4. Accelerators
5. Public funding organizations
6. Innovation consultancies
7. Venture capital investors

Each of these stakeholders supports a specific stage of the journey, from initial validation through market scaling, although no single organization typically covers every requirement of the project.

The following sections outline their roles and limitations, helping researchers determine which organization to approach at each stage of the journey.

Knowledge Transfer Offices (OTRIs) are usually the first institutional point of contact in the technology transfer process and often act as the gateway to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Their role is to advise researcherson commercialization pathways, evaluate how a project aligns with the strategy of the university or research institution, and manage the internal processes required for technology transfer. Their support extends from intellectual property protection to collaboration agreements with third parties.

In practical terms, they provide an initial assessment of whether the research has potential beyond the academic environment.

Although OTRIs help connect researchers with grants and funding opportunities, they do not replace the financing or strategic support needed to launch and grow a company.

Their greatest value lies in the stage preceding company formation, before the project emerges as an independent market proposition.

Once transfer potential has been validated, researchers must demonstrate that their development performs under conditions that closely resemble those of the market. This is where specialized validation and proof-of-concept programs within the R&D&I ecosystem come into play.

One example is the funding programme managed by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) for projects focused on the development, validation, protection, transfer, and commercialization of research results.

These programmes are aimed at universities, public R&D&I organizations, and technology centres, with the explicit objective of accelerating the transfer of knowledge and outcomes generated through ongoing or recently completed research projects.

This support typically includes:

• Specific funding for prototype development.
• Assistance with validating technical hypotheses.
• Support in preparing documentation that may be required by investors or industrial partners.
• Assistance with designing preliminary business plans linked to the validation of research results.

These programmes help bridge the gap between scientific discovery and commercial application, but they do not replace incubation programmes or the search for private investment. They are, however, essential in ensuring that projects reach those later stages with solid and verifiable evidence of their viability.

The next challenge is to provide the project with a business structure. Science and technology parks, together with their incubators, provide the necessary environment through:

• Workspaces, coworking facilities, and laboratories.
• Infrastructure and specialized services designed to support entrepreneurs.

Through these resources, researchers become part of an active community, increasing visibility among other organizations and creating opportunities for collaboration with complementary profiles.

Despite these advantages, this type of support is typically generalist and designed for early-stage ventures. It does not usually provide the sector-specific specialization required by more advanced scientific projects.

For projects that already have a defined business model, accelerators provide methodology, focus, and speed. Their programmes, which are typically intensive and short in duration, combine resources such as specialized mentoring, validation workshops, and direct access to investors. This helps prepare startups for market entry and their first funding rounds.

These programmes are generally designed for ventures capable of iterating and scaling within a matter of months, which can make them difficult to align with scientific developments subject to lengthy validation cycles, regulatory requirements, or technical testing processes.

For this reason, accelerators tend to deliver the greatest value during stages where scientific rigor is not compromised.

Another key pillar of the scientific entrepreneurship ecosystem is access to public funding. Organizations such as CDTI and ENISA&nbspchannel resources towards technology companies and projects at different stages of development.

CDTI offers various R&D&I support mechanisms, including grants and partially repayable aid, while ENISA finances startups and SMEs through participatory loans. These initiatives are complemented by organizations such as the National Entrepreneurship Office (ONE), which provides information, resources, and guidance to entrepreneurs.

These funding routes are particularly valuable when a project requires capital without diluting the ownership of its founders. However, access often involves demanding application processes, evaluation periods, and extensive technical and financial reporting requirements. This can represent a significant burden for teams that must simultaneously remain focused on the scientific and technological development of their projects.

Innovation consultancies fulfil a highly practical role in reducing administrative burdens by managing procedures, preparing technical reports, developing exploitation plans, and producing the documentation required by both Knowledge Transfer Offices and funding organizations.

Their involvement is usually concentrated during the valuation and technology-transfer stages, helping unblock processes and free up researchers' time.

Compared with OTRIs and validation programmes, which help define transfer strategies, consultancies focus on implementing them. They manage administrative procedures, justify awarded funding, and provide the technical expertise necessary to ensure compliance with formal requirements.

Their main limitation is that this type of support generally ends once the contracted service has been completed, with little continuity beyond the specific assignment. In addition, these services can be relatively expensive during the early phases of a project.

Venture capital typically comes into play once a project has demonstrated traction through customers, revenue, or user growth. Although some specialized funds invest at very early stages, most venture capital firms prefer to invest once sufficient technological or commercial validation has been achieved, which often occurs during a Seed round or Series A. In other words, these investors generally look for startups that have already gained some degree of market acceptance.

Before reaching that stage, projects are usually financed through seed capital, business angels, or public instruments such as CDTI and ENISA, rather than traditional venture capital funds.

Among the main limitations of venture capital are equity dilution and the expectation of significant returns. The process can also be lengthy, as investment rounds typically require a well prepared data room containing key project documentation, together with validated metrics that researchers often do not yet have available.

The value of this type of funding emerges when all the previous stakeholders have already fulfilled their role.

Now that you are familiar with the organizations that support scientific entrepreneurship in Spain, it becomes clear that coordinating multiple stakeholders while keeping track of deadlines and funding calls can affect the amount of time researchers are able to dedicate to science itself.

The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) framework, which measures technological maturity from the laboratory stage (TRL 1) to market readiness (TRL 9), helps illustrate this challenge:

• Early stages:&nbsptransfer and validation.
• Intermediate stages:&nbsppublic funding and accelerators.
• Advanced stages:&nbspventure capital.

One solution is to work with an organization capable of providing continuity and acting as an integrated strategic partner throughout the entire journey, as we do at Bolboreta Investiga,. In our experience working with scientific projects, the most significant bottlenecks tend to occur during the transition from technical validation to commercial validation.

The table below compares the main organizations that help researchers become entrepreneurs in Spain, according to the type of support they provide and the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) stage at which they are most valuable.

Below, we address some of the most common questions researchers in Spain have regarding spin-off creation, patent management, and technology transfer procedures.

Yes, provided they obtain authorization to provide services to a company created or owned by the institution. There are two main routes:

• Through a part-time, fixed-term contract under an exemption to the general incompatibility regime.
• Through a temporary leave of absence, which allows the researcher to join the company while retaining the right to return to their position for up to five years.

In all cases, each university establishes its own requirements through its company creation regulations.

The university itself or the relevant public research organization.  Article 21 of Spanish Patent Law 24/2015 assigns ownership of innovations developed by researchers to the institution, regardless of the legal relationship between the researcher and the organization.

The researcher is listed as the inventor and has the right to participate in the economic benefits generated by the exploitation of the patent, under the conditions established by each university's governing body. As a result, the spin-off typically becomes the licensee of the technology.

The OTRI. If the technology originates from university research, the invention should be formally disclosed before taking any further steps. Without that prior disclosure and the negotiated exploitation licence, the project cannot safely onboard investors or operate with full legal certainty.

An incubator adds value later, once the company has a solid contractual foundation in place.

There is no single answer. The timeline depends on the starting level of technological maturity, the industry, and, above all, the relevant regulatory framework. For example, a digital or industrial innovation may reach the market within a few years, whereas a pharmaceutical product is subject to clinical trials and regulatory authorization procedures that can significantly extend the process.

The delays that can most readily be reduced are often those linked to coordination between the different organizations involved in supporting the project.