A search fund is only as good as its investor syndicate. The right investors accelerate your search, help you close better deals, and sit beside you at the board table for years. The wrong ones create friction at the worst moments. Choosing your investors is one of the most consequential decisions you will make as a searcher — and in Spain, you now have meaningful options.

The Spanish market has matured faster than almost anyone predicted a decade ago. The IESE International Search Fund Study (2024), conducted alongside Stanford GSB, identified over 320 search funds in 40+ countries — with Spain recording the highest number of search funds outside the US and Canada, and surpassing 60 completed acquisitions over the past 11 years. That is not a small ecosystem. It is a real market, with established capital, experienced operators, and a growing track record.

"Spain has firmly established itself as the second most active search fund market in the world — a position built not by accident, but by the combination of an enormous succession opportunity, structural access to capital, and a critical mass of returning alumni who have done this before."

Below is a practitioner's guide to the active search fund investors in Spain — and a brief reference to the global market for searchers thinking beyond Spain.

What to Look for in a Search Fund Investor

Before we get into names, a framework. There are three things a search fund investor should ideally bring:

1. Relevant Experience

Has the investor been in the room when a deal was falling apart at 11pm? Have they navigated a difficult seller negotiation, a bank credit committee, or a post-acquisition personnel crisis? Investors who have operated businesses — or who have closed enough deals to have developed genuine transactional judgment — add different value than those who have not.

2. Access and Relationships

In Spain, your investor's relationships with local bank financing teams, M&A advisors, and sector experts can be worth more than their capital check. A banker who trusts your investor board means faster, cheaper, and more flexible financing. An M&A advisor who has co-invested with your lead investor means better deal flow and smoother processes.

3. Alignment on Time and Governance

This is the most underrated factor. Some investors have fund mandates that require exits within 5–8 years. Others are permanent capital. Some want a board seat and weekly check-ins. Others prefer a quarterly update and a decisive conversation when needed. Know the governance model before you close — it will define your relationship for the next decade.

Active Search Fund Investors in Spain

The following represents the most active and visible investors in the Spanish search fund ecosystem as of 2026. This is not an exhaustive list — there are family offices and individual investors active in the market who do not have public profiles.

Grupo Santa Marta

Type: Family office · Permanent capital
Focus: Traditional and self-funded search funds, succession-driven acquisitions
Differentiator: Operator-led. The team has run PE-backed companies and sat in CEO seats — not just at the board. Invests from search capital through acquisition equity and equity gap, and remains active at board level post-acquisition. No fund clock, no exit pressure.

Grupo Santa Marta is particularly focused on situations where the investor's operational experience adds direct value: complex cap table structures, bank financing negotiations, seller transition management, and first 100-day operational cadence. The firm invests selectively, preferring deep partnerships over volume.

Arada Capital Partners

Type: Dedicated search fund investor
Focus: Search fund acquisitions across Spain and Southern Europe
Differentiator: One of the more structured search fund investors in Spain with a primarily family office LP base. Hands-on in the search and acquisition phase, with documented support frameworks for searchers.

Aurica Capital

Type: Private equity / family capital vehicle
Focus: Mid-market and search-adjacent acquisitions in Spain
Differentiator: Brings deep relationships with Spanish institutional capital and a board-level presence that complements operator-led acquisitions. Active in the CMS search fund forum community.

JB46 Partners

Type: Investment firm
Focus: Search fund co-investments and direct deals in Spain
Differentiator: Known for active board-level involvement and a pragmatic approach to deal structuring in the Spanish mid-market. Frequently appears alongside other investors in Spanish search fund syndicates.

Alza Capital

Type: Investment firm
Focus: Search fund acquisitions and growth equity in Spain
Differentiator: Active in the IESE and search fund conference network, with a generalist sector approach and Spanish market depth.

Funds of Funds Active in Spanish Search Funds

A distinct and increasingly important category in Spain is the fund of funds (FoF) — vehicles that invest capital across a basket of search fund deals rather than leading single transactions. They provide diversified exposure and, in some cases, actively manage LP relationships on behalf of institutional or family capital that wants access to the asset class without building their own deal-by-deal team.

The most active funds of funds in the Spanish search fund ecosystem include:

Beka Finance

Type: Fund of funds / institutional investor
Focus: Diversified search fund exposure across Spain and Southern Europe
Differentiator: One of the few institutionally backed vehicles investing systematically in Spanish search funds, bringing balance sheet depth and LP relationships that complement deal-by-deal investors.

JB46 Partners

Type: Fund of funds / investment firm
Focus: Search fund co-investments and direct deals in Spain and internationally
Differentiator: Combines FoF diversification with direct deal capability. Frequently appears in Spanish syndicates and brings active board-level involvement on selected investments.

Vonzeo

Type: Fund of funds
Focus: Search fund portfolio investing in Spain and Europe
Differentiator: A growing vehicle focused on building systematic exposure to the search fund asset class in Iberia and the broader European corridor.

Alza Capital (FoF vehicle)

Type: Fund of funds / investment firm
Focus: Search fund acquisitions and fund-level portfolio exposure in Spain
Differentiator: Active both at deal level and through aggregated portfolio vehicles, with strong relationships across the IESE and IE conference networks.

Relay Investments

Type: International fund of funds
Focus: Cross-border search fund portfolio, including Spanish deals
Differentiator: Brings international LP relationships and cross-market perspective, useful for Spanish searches with international buyers or cross-border operational scope.

Accelerators and Ecosystem Support

Bennu

Type: Search fund accelerator
Focus: Early-stage support, training, and deal preparation for aspiring searchers in Spain
Differentiator: Bennu occupies a unique position in the ecosystem as a structured accelerator — helping pre-search entrepreneurs build the skills, networks, and materials needed to launch a credible search. It is not a capital provider in the traditional sense but a meaningful entry point for first-time searchers who benefit from a structured peer cohort and practitioner mentors before approaching investors.

Individual Investors: Spain's Hidden Layer

Beyond the institutional and fund-of-funds layer, Spain has a remarkably active community of individual search fund investors — operators who have exited their own search fund acquisitions, serial entrepreneurs, former investment bankers, and family capital principals who write smaller checks but bring deep operational experience and significant relationship capital.

This group is less visible than institutional players but often provides the most valuable board members — people who have personally navigated a seller transition, managed a credit committee presentation, or restructured a post-acquisition leadership team. They tend to move quickly, invest on conviction, and participate in 5–15 deals at any given time. Many prefer to stay out of public profiles entirely.

Grupo Santa Marta is deeply embedded in this community. We can connect a credible searcher with the right individual investors — or help an individual investor build exposure to search funds in Spain — based on fit, sector, and timing. If you are looking to access this network, reach out directly.

Building a Spanish Investor Syndicate

Most Spanish search fund syndicates are assembled from 8–20 investors, combining:

The Spanish market is small enough that reputation travels fast. How you conduct your search capital raise — the honesty of your communications, the quality of your materials, the respect you show for investors' time — sets the tone for your acquisition raise and beyond.

US Investors Active in International Search Funds

Several US-based investors have historically participated in Spanish and European search fund syndicates. Their participation typically adds international credibility and capital, but their involvement post-acquisition tends to be less operationally intensive than local investors. Key names include:

For Spanish searches, US investor participation is most valuable when the deal has cross-border elements, when the US investor brings specific sector expertise, or when their brand credibility helps with bank financing.

How to Approach Investors: A Practical Note

The Spanish search fund market is relationship-driven — perhaps more so than the US, where a strong business school brand and a compelling memo can open most doors. In Spain, warm introductions through IESE's network, prior search fund operators, or M&A advisors who have worked with the investor are worth more than a cold email.

Investors in Spain receive a meaningful number of inbounds. What differentiates a good approach:

At Grupo Santa Marta, we respond to every serious inquiry — including early-stage conversations before a formal raise. The best investor relationships start with an honest conversation, not a polished pitch.