Andalusia has a type of company key to its economy that, until now, has had less visibility than it deserves: medium-sized companies or midmarket. In the community there are around 500 firms of this profile, with turnovers ranging between 50 and 500 million euros, workforces of between 250 and 3,000 employees and net balances exceeding 43 million.
Despite their economic weight, these companies have historically faced difficulties in making the leap to greater growth. In many cases, they have not had the necessary resources and, furthermore, they have remained outside the focus of many public business support policies, usually oriented towards SMEs. This situation has limited their expansion, although they play a fundamental role in the stability and competitiveness of the Andalusian productive fabric.
With the aim of responding to their needs and accompanying them in their development, the public agency Andalucía TRADE, dependent on the Junta de Andalucía, has launched the Midmarket Club, an initiative designed to support these companies in their growth and facilitate their leap to a new business level.
Business growth, a priority for the Junta de Andalucía
For the Andalusian Government, strengthening the size of the business fabric is one of the economic priorities. In this context, Andalucía TRADE has consolidated itself as a specialized instrument to advise companies, facilitate aid, and attract investment. With the creation of the Midmarket Club, the autonomous administration expands its ecosystem of support for the sector, covering from small and medium-sized enterprises to companies with greater economic traction capacity.
The Minister of Economy, Finance, European Funds and Social Dialogue and president of Andalucía TRADE, Carolina España, emphasizes that “Andalusian medium-sized companies have demonstrated that they have talent, capacity and ambition.” In her opinion, with this new club “Andalucía wants to accompany them in the definitive leap, offer them data, financing and a stable network of business cooperation.”
The economic head of the autonomous Executive also believes that the “economic future” of the community “depends, to a large extent, on these companies being able to continue doing what they do best: grow, compete, and lead.”
A space to boost its development
The Midmarket Club, whose registration is now open for interested companies, aims to become a meeting point where companies can share concerns, access specialized services and find new financing avenues. The objective is to help this type of company overcome the obstacles that hinder their expansion and consolidate them as pillars of the Andalusian productive model.
The initiative will give priority to companies with activity in Andalusia —and Spanish parent company— that operate in sectors considered strategic for the economic development of the region, such as engineering, agri-food, aerospace, chemical, research and development or trade.
As Spain explains, “we need a productive fabric with more medium and large-sized companies”, since “they are essential for Andalusia to continue growing and competing in a global environment”.
Services and financing
The club will have a wide catalog of services adapted to the needs of these companies. Among them, the creation of the Andalusian Midmarket Observatory stands out, which will analyze trends, prepare reports, and detect opportunities to guide both the strategic decisions of companies and the design of new public policies.
Additionally, it will offer specialized advice, training programs and consulting in areas such as innovation, sustainability, internationalization or business strategy. A networking network will also be promoted with conferences, workshops and sectoral meetings to share experiences and best practices.
The companies that are part of the Midmarket Club will also be able to access various incentives and financial instruments managed by Andalucía TRADE that total up to 136 million euros. Among them are included the 30 million from the Fund for Strategic Technology, a one-million-euro line aimed at facilitating access to alternative financing markets and more than 105 million in aid for R&D&i projects.
The call to join this initiative has opened this very week. Registration is free for those Andalusian companies that meet the established requirements, especially valuing their commitment to innovation, internationalization, and sustainability.
