HWK TechInvestment Research
Investment Thesis
HWK TechInvestment is a Madrid-based venture capital and public-equity investment manager launched in 2024/2025 by a group of Spanish technology operators and financial veterans. Its founding thesis is that the next decade of enterprise software value creation will be driven by four converging categories: cybersecurity, data infrastructure, observability, and applied artificial intelligence. HWK differentiates itself by combining two synergistic investment vehicles under one roof: an early-stage venture capital arm that backs private B2B software startups, and Fondo Isatis, a UCITS public-equity fund that invests in listed technology companies with market capitalizations above $1B. The firm argues this dual-strategy structure gives it a real-time read on where large-cap technology categories are heading, which in turn sharpens its private-market thesis and sourcing.
Sector Focus
HWK's private venture mandate is tightly scoped to three sectors:
- Cybersecurity (enterprise security, supply-chain and application security, data security posture management)
- Artificial intelligence (applied, business-facing AI rather than foundation models)
- Observability (systems monitoring, telemetry pipelines, data infrastructure)
The firm explicitly frames itself as sector specialists rather than generalists, leveraging the operating backgrounds of its partners (several of whom built or ran Spanish cybersecurity and data infrastructure companies) to evaluate technical risk that generalist funds may miss.
Stage Focus
HWK's venture capital vehicle focuses on Seed and Series A rounds, positioning itself as an early institutional check for technical founders who have a working product and initial market validation. The firm has not disclosed later-stage or growth-stage activity; its practice to date is consistent with early-stage minority participation alongside other institutional co-investors rather than solo-leading larger rounds.
Check Size
HWK's stated ticket size for direct venture investments is €1M-€3M per company. Its actual observed check sizes in 2025 have skewed toward the smaller end and toward co-investment/participation rather than sole-leading, e.g. a €350K investment in Onum Technology and participation (rather than lead) in Qbeast's $7.6M seed and Vidext's €6M Series A.
Lead Tendency
Based on public reporting, HWK appears to typically participate alongside other lead investors (Peak XV's Surge led Qbeast; Flashpoint led Vidext) rather than leading rounds itself, though it led or co-led some smaller, earlier rounds such as icloudCompliance's €2M raise. Lead tendency is best classified as "follows" with occasional co-lead activity on smaller domestic Spanish deals.
Recent Activity
HWK launched publicly in September 2024 with a target of raising €65M across its two vehicles, backed by a board that includes Óscar Fanjul (founding CEO of Repsol, Ferrovial board member) and Sebastián Albella (former president of Spain's securities regulator, CNMV). Since launch the firm has been actively deploying capital into its 2025 vintage: Adaion (energy-grid AI/data platform), Onum (real-time telemetry pipeline, later acquired by CrowdStrike for ~$290M in August 2025), TuringDream, Xygeni (software supply-chain security), Arexdata (data security posture management), icloudCompliance (GRC/compliance software), Qbeast (open data lakehouse indexing), and Vidext (AI video generation for business automation).
Portfolio Highlights
The standout portfolio outcome to date is Onum, which HWK backed with a €350K investment and which was acquired by CrowdStrike in August 2025 for approximately $290M — a strong early proof point for HWK's cybersecurity/observability thesis, though HWK was a minority participant alongside larger backers Insight Partners, Kibo Ventures, and Dawn Capital. Xygeni (software supply-chain/application security) and Arexdata (enterprise data security) are the firm's core cybersecurity bets. Qbeast and Vidext both closed sizable rounds in 2025 with marquee lead investors (Peak XV's Surge and Flashpoint respectively), validating HWK's ability to get access to well-syndicated deals.
Note: HWK's own team-page biography lists Panda Security, Devo, Kiuwan, Altitude Software, and beruby.com as background, but these are prior operating/board roles held personally by CEO Juan Santamaría (former CFO of Panda Security, board roles at Kiuwan/Devo predecessor Logtrust, and beruby.com) before HWK's 2024/2025 founding — they are not HWK fund investments and are excluded from the portfolio company list below.
Team
HWK's governance and investment team blends financial-markets veterans with technology operators:
- Juan Santamaría Uriarte, CEO & Co-CIO: Former CFO of Panda Security; extensive board experience across Spanish tech companies (Kiuwan, Devo/Logtrust, beruby.com).
- José Sancho García, Consejero & Co-CIO: Veteran of the Spanish IT sector, co-leads investment decisions alongside Santamaría.
- Óscar Fanjul Martín, Presidente: Founding CEO of Repsol; vice president and board member at Ferrovial and Marsh & McLennan.
- Sebastián Albella Amigo, Secretario: Former president of Spain's securities regulator, the CNMV.
- Iñaki Urzay Basarrate, Partner: Industry expert covering cybersecurity, AI/ML, and cloud infrastructure.
- Agustín Márquez Dorsch, Operating Partner: Focused on semiconductors, fintech, and payment systems.
- Wences Sevillano, Operating Partner: General operating partner.
- Alfredo Iglesias Colino, Principal, Venture Capital: Leads day-to-day venture deal execution.
- Nicolás Vicente Regidor, CFA, Analista de Inversiones Cotizadas: Covers the public-equity (Isatis) side.
- Bruno Pechi, CFA, CAD, Analista Senior, Risk Management: Risk oversight across both vehicles.
- Pedro Rocha Varela, Analista Junior: Junior investment analyst.
- Irene González López, CFO: Financial operations.
- Esperanza Rodríguez, Directora de Administración: Administration lead.
- Alicia Muñoz, Asistente Ejecutiva: Executive assistant.
- Juan Antonio Sánchez, CMO: Marketing and communications.
Decision Process
With a dedicated Principal running venture execution alongside two Co-CIOs (Santamaría and Sancho) and a formal board (including outside directors Fanjul and Albella), HWK's investment process appears to run through a partnership/committee structure rather than a solo-GP model, consistent with its status as a CNMV-regulated fund manager (S.G.E.I.C.).
Founder Preferences
HWK's public messaging emphasizes backing "exceptional technical teams with global ambition" and pairing capital with the operating experience of a team that has itself built and scaled Spanish/European cybersecurity and data infrastructure companies. The firm markets itself on "operator experience," "patient capital," and hands-on support rather than passive capital.
Geographic Focus
HWK is headquartered in Madrid, Spain, and its venture portfolio to date is entirely Spain-based founding teams (Xygeni, Arexdata, icloudCompliance, Adaion, TuringDream, Onum, Vidext), though the firm states global ambition and its public-equity Isatis fund invests across US and European large-cap technology names. Regulatory oversight spans Spain's CNMV and (for certain fund structures) Luxembourg's CSSF.