The incubator of the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz, which is consolidated as the first in Andalusia for the third consecutive year, is the only one in Spain specialized in the Blue Economy
The study detailed the national ecosystem and identifies the best practices in nurseries and accelerators of companies recognized as sector leaders
To prepare the ranking, more than a hundred business incubators and accelerators throughout the country have been analyzed, assessing the impact, quality and quantity of the services.
Incubazul-Blue Core, a project to promote and consolidate Blue Economy startups in the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz, is establishing itself and climbing positions in the Ranking that the Savings Bank Foundation (Funcas) prepares annually, achieving first place among the already consolidated business incubators in Spain. Funcas has analyzed more than a hundred business incubators and accelerators nationwide, specifically 134 centers, 41 accelerators and 93 business incubators, a figure higher than that studied in previous years.
The Cádiz incubator has placed itself in first place globally in the Ranking in the category of medium-sized incubators, ahead of other options such as the Seville Aeronautical Incubator, the Villaverde Industrial Factory in Madrid or the Manzanares Business Incubator in Castilla La Mancha.
Those responsible for the study have assessed the impact, quality and quantity of the services offered and have confirmed the fact that, as a business incubator, Incubazul-Blue Core is a key driver of entrepreneurship, stimulating the generation of ideas, supporting the creation of new companies and facilitating their growth within the framework of innovation and the Blue Economy, citing the Cádiz Free Trade Zone project as the only one linked to this sector.
The Cádiz Consortium incubator continues to stand out as the first in the Ranking corresponding to the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, consolidating itself in this position for the third consecutive year, followed by the Aeronautical Nursery of Seville, the Marie Curie Tecnoincubator of Seville, Córdoba Biotech, IMDEEC Nursery Network of Córdoba or Hub El Patio (Andalucía Open Future), also of Córdoba.
It is important to point out that, to prepare these rankings, an exhaustive analysis has been made of the performance of each incubator in the different dimensions, which range from the dissemination of the entrepreneurial spirit to the graduation of companies. Through the collection of data and the application of appropriate statistical methods, it has been possible to create an accurate and complete representation of the current situation of business incubators in Spain.
The panorama offered by the 2026 ranking is that of a broad and heterogeneous incubator system, in which centers of excellence highly integrated into urban technological ecosystems coexist with smaller-scale incubators oriented toward territorial development in rural or semi-urban contexts. In this sense, it is important to note that Incubazul Blue Core is located in one of the prominent positions with an ecosystem that links startups with the different allies of the created ecosystem, with highly valued innovative elements and with a fabric that is gaining experience and contacts at a national and international level.
The State delegate in the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz, Fran González, has highlighted the importance of Incubazul Blue Core "consolidating itself year after year in the positions of the Funcas Ranking, an assessment that gives a seal of quality to the activity of our ecosystem, placing us in prominent positions both nationally and regionally. The years confirm that we have gone from being an emerging project with Incubazul to consolidating ourselves as a benchmark in the Blue Economy with Blue Core, which provides continuity and strengthens us."
González has highlighted that this assessment shows that in Cádiz we are doing things well and that the entire ecosystem that we have created around the Incubazul and Blue Core projects is working, our work to accompany and promote the creation of companies is working. We have always highlighted the importance of bringing to light the enormous innovative talent that we have around us and this reflects that we put a large part of our effort into it.”
Funcas is an analysis center dedicated to economic and social research and its dissemination, promoting the interaction between the academic sphere and the real economy. It is part of the social work of CECA. Funcas has been, for many years, a reference in the field of economic forecasts and in the analysis of Spanish public policies and the European Union.
The Blue Core project is 85% financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the Pluriregional Operational Program of Spain 2021-2027, within the framework of priority P1A of the Nurseries 4.0 High Technology Incubators Program, intended to promote a digital and intelligent transition.