Clave Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Clave Capital (legal entity: Clave Mayor S.G.E.I.C., S.A.) is a Spanish venture capital and private equity manager headquartered in Pamplona, Navarra, with a second office in Valencia. Founded over 20 years ago, the firm has made more than 90 investments and manages roughly €90M in assets across a family of registered fund vehicles (CNMV-registered). Clave's thesis centers on technology transfer: taking research from universities, hospitals, and technology centers and turning it into investable companies, while also backing established industrial SMEs through growth capital and renewable-energy infrastructure. The firm explicitly positions itself as "inversión e inmersión en proyectos de valor" — investment paired with hands-on involvement — and frequently describes itself as the first CNMV-registered institutional investor into a company, often bringing in co-investors alongside it.
Sector Focus
Clave organizes its activity into four verticals:
- Tech Transfer Health — medtech, eHealth, nutrition, and biotech spin-offs, largely sourced from Spanish universities and hospitals (e.g., Vall d'Hebron/VHIR, Universidad de Navarra, UPV, UPC).
- Tech Transfer Food (Agrifood) — high-impact food and agriculture technologies, run through the dedicated Tech Transfer Agrifood platform.
- Growth — established industrial SMEs with proven market positioning and export vocation that need shareholder succession or expansion capital (vehicle: CM Corp).
- Energy — renewable energy infrastructure; the firm has deployed roughly €25M into ~34MW of photovoltaic installations (CM Solar FCRE) plus a further ~21.5M€ into ~24MW (CM Solar II FCRE), selling output at market (pool) price, with access to a further ~70MW pipeline.
Stage Focus
Clave is primarily an early-stage / seed investor in its Health and Food tech-transfer verticals, frequently the first institutional, CNMV-registered fund to invest in a university or hospital spin-out (rounds seen in the low hundreds of thousands to low millions of euros). Its Growth vehicle (CM Corp) targets more mature, cash-generating industrial SMEs, and its Energy vehicles fund late-stage infrastructure assets rather than startups.
Check Size
Observed check sizes in tech-transfer deals range from roughly €300K (partial participation in Nanological's €600K first round) to just over €3M (leading Connecta Therapeutics' €3.1M financing) to €1M (D-Sight's spin-off round). Growth and Energy vehicle tickets are materially larger but not itemized publicly.
Lead Tendency
Clave frequently leads or co-leads rounds in its tech-transfer portfolio and describes itself as typically the first institutional fund into these companies. Recent press confirms it "led" (liderada por) financings for Nanological (2023) and Connecta Therapeutics (2026).
Recent Activity
The firm is actively deploying and is raising a new €80M fund for health technology transfer (medtech, eHealth, nutrition, biotech), with CDTI — through its INNVIERTE financial instrument — committing up to €40M, the balance to come from private investors. This follows its existing Clave Innohealth / Innvierte Science Tech Clave Innohealth fund. Confirmed recent deals: a €1M investment in D-Sight (VHIR spin-off, May 2023), a €600K round in Nanological (November 2023), and a €3.1M financing round led in Connecta Therapeutics, a Fragile X syndrome therapeutics company (September 2026).
Portfolio Highlights
Clave's active portfolio spans roughly 70 companies visible across its public site, drawn from multiple fund vehicles (Tech Transfer Agrifood, UN I+D+I Technology Transfer FCR, Tech Transfer UPV FCR, Navarra Tech Transfer FCR, Clave Innohealth, Mondragón Fondo de Promoción FCR, CM Corp). Notable names include Quibim (medical imaging AI), Multiverse Computing (quantum computing software), BCN3D (3D printing hardware), Connecta Therapeutics (Fragile X syndrome drug development), Heura Foods (plant-based food), and D-Sight, Nanological, Neuraptic AI, and Naru Intelligence among its health/AI spin-offs.
Team
Clave's governance combines a board of Consejeros with an investment team of Socios (Partners) and fund directors:
- José Javier Armendáriz — Presidente/CEO, former Director General de Hacienda and Consejero de Industria of the Gobierno de Navarra
- José León Taberna — Socio, former President of Panasa-Berlys
- Juan Carlos Franquet — Socio, CEO of Grupo Empresarial Berlys Alimentación
- Miguel Isaacs — Socio, former Socio-Director General of Bantec Group
- Fernando Frauca Amorena — Socio, CEO LATAM and EVP Marketing/Strategy at Telepizza
- Javier Pueyo — Socio, President of Athenea Business&Education Group
- César Mendoza — Director de Fondos (CM Corp / Growth)
- Santiago Lozano — Asociado / Director de Fondos, sits on ~15 boards of portfolio companies
- Alberto Bermejo — Director de Fondos (Mondragón Fondo de Promoción FCR)
- Sergio San Agustín — Director de Inversiones (Innvierte Science Tech Clave Innohealth)
- Guillermo Salanueva — Gerente de Inversiones (portfolio divestments)
- Antonio Tornero — Gerente de Inversiones (Tech Transfer Agrifood)
- Pedro de Álava — Asociado
- Ignacio Prieto, Amaya Tanco, Beatriz Soria — Analistas (Clave Innohealth fund)
- Juanjo Etxalar — Director Área Jurídica
- Adriana Rubio — Directora de Administración; Nerea Carlos — Controller Financiera; Ángela Zaldo, Ana Gómara, María Costanilla — Administración
Decision Process
Clave operates as a partnership across multiple socios and consejeros, with dedicated fund directors and investment managers responsible for sourcing and monitoring within each vertical (Health, Foodtech, Growth, Energy). Directors typically sit on portfolio company boards (Santiago Lozano alone serves on 15 boards), consistent with active, board-level involvement rather than passive capital.
Founder Preferences
Clave's tech-transfer verticals favor scientific founders and university/hospital research teams spinning technology out of institutions like Universidad de Navarra, UPV, UPC, and VHIR. Its Growth vehicle instead favors experienced industrial management teams at SMEs with export track records needing a shareholder transition to fund expansion.
Geographic Focus
Overwhelmingly Spain, with a clear concentration in Navarra (where the firm and several of its regional funds — Navarra Tech Transfer FCR, Mondragón Fondo de Promoción FCR — are based), plus deal flow from Valencia (UPV), Catalonia (VHIR, CRG, Hospital del Mar spin-offs), and the Basque Country (Mondragón cooperative group companies).