How EFSI benefits SMEs in Europe - Triodos Bank case study: Impact Hub (Spain), co-working, events & impact programmes; social enterprise

What do Cervantes, Quevedo and Góngora have in common? The answer lies in the streets, bars and coffeehouses of the Barrio de las Letras, Madrid’s renowned literary quarter, where they all lived and worked, producing some of the most notable Spanish literary and political works. This creativity that gave the neighbourhood its name still pervades the area today. Alongside the Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza Musems, a new kind of creative buzz took up residence in 2007: the first Madrid Impact Hub. Today, the company runs three co-working and events spaces in downtown Madrid, and is preparing the opening of two more.

“We provide a home to more than 500 co-workers. In our co-working spaces, they can interact with each other, learn from each other, and inspire each other. We also rely on coaches and professionals that can assist young entrepreneurs and business leaders in starting-up their businesses, scaling up, finding clients or developing marketing strategies. We also help big companies to become more innovative,” says Sonia Felipe, PR & Marketing Communications Director of Impact Hub.

From 20 Euros per month, Impact Hub Madrid provides co-working spaces for entrepreneurs, organizations and businesses from different sectors and sizes, building a collaborative environment that boosts entrepreneurship and innovation. Impact Hub also offers networking events and training services as well as the opportunity to participate in collaborative projects. “It’s more than just a space. It’s an active community where entrepreneurs can cooperate, network, create synergies…where things can happen!” she explains.

“Our members include freelancers and businesses from all sectors – social enterprise, cultural and creative industries, technology, finance… even larger corporations that are attracted by our co-working culture,” says Sonia. “Due to this diversity, our members can easily find suppliers and clients. The in-house training also helps them test ideas, get feedback and refine their strategy.”

Impact Hub’s objective is to further support business development and entrepreneurship, creating a total of 15,000m² of co-working space by 2020. To finance this scale-up, Impact Hub Madrid received an EU-guaranteed loan from Triodos Bank, backed by the EIF under the Investment Plan for Europe. “This will allow us to open two new workspaces, one in Barceló and another in Torre Picasso, in Madrid’s financial district, hosting around 500 new members,” says Sonia. “Locating a new workspace in the financial district will offer our members a chance to connect with global corporations and, similarly, a chance for the corporate world to see a modern and collaborative way of doing business,” explains Sonia.

Company: Impact Hub (Spain)

Type of business: co-working, events & impact programmes; social enterprise

EIF financing: EaSI Guarantee Financial Instrument, EFSI

Financial intermediary: Triodos Bank

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Spain, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/es