Startup investment in Argentina and Spain is climbing in 2026, with both countries producing notable fintech and space tech deals. While still trailing regional leaders, their latest funding rounds signal growing momentum.
As Argentina and Spain prepare to face off in the World Cup final, both nations are also making moves in the startup arena. While neither country dominates global or regional venture capital, recent funding data reveals a pipeline of ambitious companies gaining traction.
Argentina’s startup ecosystem remains small but resilient. Annual venture funding typically lands in the hundreds of millions, lagging behind Brazil and Mexico. Yet the country has produced standout successes, most notably MercadoLibre, which now boasts a $94 billion market cap on Nasdaq. The company, originally founded in a Buenos Aires garage, is a regional e-commerce powerhouse.
Fintech continues to drive Argentina’s latest funding headlines. Buenos Aires-based Ualá has raised $1.1 billion to date, including a $195 million round in March. Other fintechs making waves this year include Pomelo, which secured $55 million in Series C funding co-led by Kaszek and Insight Partners, and Tapi, which landed $27 million in Series B financing in February. Early 2026 figures show Argentina’s startup investment already outpacing last year, though totals can swing sharply depending on the size of individual deals.
Spain, meanwhile, enters the World Cup final as the odds-on favorite, but its startup sector still trails France in funding. So far in 2026, Spanish startups have raised under $2 billion-about a third of France’s total for the same period. Despite the gap, Spain’s deal flow is gaining momentum. The year’s largest round went to PLD Space, which closed a $206 million Series C in March with ambitions to provide global space transportation services for lunar and Martian missions.
Other major Spanish rounds include Factorial, an AI-powered HR and payroll platform, which raised $150 million in Series D funding at a $2.5 billion valuation in June. EOS-X Space, focused on near-space infrastructure and tourism, closed $140 million in Series D funding in May. Xoople, a Madrid-based developer of AI tools for geospatial data analysis, secured $130 million in Series B funding in April. Overall, Spanish startup funding is trending upward, with 2026 on pace for a year-over-year increase. In recent years, annual totals have ranged from $1.8 billion to $2.8 billion.
Both Argentina and Spain are considered underdogs in the global startup race, a familiar position for secondary hubs in today’s AI-driven investment cycle. As capital continues to concentrate in Silicon Valley and other major centers, the rise of new players in Latin America and Europe is drawing attention. For a broader look at how top US venture firms are shaping AI startup funding, see this recent analysis of leading American investors.
Given the ripple effects that successful startups can have on their local economies, the growing activity in Argentina and Spain suggests these markets are poised for further growth-if investors continue to diversify their bets beyond the usual hotspots.
MercadoLibre, founded in 1999 by Marcos Galperin, has grown into Latin America’s largest e-commerce and fintech company. As of 2026, it operates in 18 countries, employs over 40,000 people, and reported net revenues exceeding $10 billion in 2025. Its digital payments arm, MercadoPago, has become a dominant force in the region’s financial technology sector, processing billions of transactions annually.
