Barcelona Startup Success Proves Four Year Principle

A startup’s forth birthday is widely regarded as its most important. Four years from inception, 44% of startups will have failed. For the others, it is this timeline which proves the concept and therefore the future of the business.

It turns out that 2015 in Barcelona was a magical moment in the city’s startup folklore. It has been four years since soaring scaleups TravelPerk, Badi, Glovo and 21Buttons were conceived and each is showing incredible progress.

• TravelPerk – former 4YFN exhibitors and graduates to the MWC corporate show, TravelPerk has seen its user base to more than 2000 customers and increased revenue by 300% in 2019. It’s easy to understand what investors see in this startup which recently completed its Series C funding. TravelPerk has now raised $134 million in funding and has opened offices in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.
• Badi – our favourite room rental service Badi started life in Barcelona four years ago and has processed more than 12 million room rental requests since its inception. Since then it has raised $45 million and moved into new markets in Madrid, London, Paris and Rome and has Berlin firmly in its sights.
• Glovo – Glovo is arguably the most successful of the four giant scaleups celebrating their forth year milestone. The on-demand delivery service completed its Series D funding round in April bringing its total funding to a cool $322 million. The service has expanded to markets across Southern and Eastern Europe, North America, South America and Central America, opening 18 new markets in 2018 alone. No doubt new destinations are on the horizon with business being as well funded as it is.
• 21Buttons – 21Buttons has now raised $30.7 million in total, having recently completed its Series B funding. The app allows users to buy fashion shared on social media and is active in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Portugal and Turkey as well as in its home market Spain

And besides provable business models, huge ambition and immensely talented leadership – what do these leading lights of the Barcelona startup community have in common? They have all been exhibitors at 4 Years from Now!

These four startups reaching the four year milestone are steaming ahead and proving the four year mantra that 4YFN lives by. They are incredible examples of what success over a four year period can look like. Just one question remains for these stars of the Barcelona ecosystem – where will they be in another four years from now?

Our congratulations again to these amazing scaleups. Well done on your success so far, long may it continue and we can’t wait to see what’s next.