"Navarre in the 21st century demands a stronger commitment to the telecommunications sector"

The mission of SODENA (Navarra Development Corporation), as a public company of the Government of Navarra, is to promote business projects for the Navarre region, both local and those attracted from abroad. It was established in 1984 with the priority of contributing to the economic development of Navarra.

Sodena's main objectives are to guarantee business competitiveness and lead strategic business projects that are not being undertaken by private initiative, supporting and promoting the growth of existing or newly created projects, not necessarily located in Navarre.

Sodena's main financial instrument for addressing business projects in the Navarrese Community is venture capital, through a participation, generally minority and temporary, in the capital of companies not listed on the Stock Exchange.

Sodena's CEO, José María Aracama, provides the following summary: "Since its creation, €46,1 million has been invested in 66 operations. Furthermore, the ongoing and completed operations carried out by Sodena in recent years have had a direct impact on 5.300 workers."

Except in its activities as a venture capital company, the entity takes as its point of reference in its contacts with companies and promoters the totality of aid that the Government of Navarra contemplates through its departments (Industry and Technology, Culture and Tourism, Finance, Environment, Agriculture, etc.) and public companies (Navarra Innovation Agency, Cein, Navarra Industrial Land, Namainsa, Ican, etc.).

Business projects

Regarding the business projects in which Sodena is currently participating, José María Aracama points out that: "as a venture capital company we are currently involved in 20 projects, of which 16 are startups and 2 are reorientation projects."

According to their statements, Sodena has held a majority stake (29,97%) in Start Up Capital Navarra for the past two years. Start Up Capital Navarra was created to address the long-term financial needs of newly established small businesses with clearly innovative content. Start Up Capital Navarra has reviewed 25 business projects and decided to invest in five of them. The company's investment in innovative business ventures ranges from €36.000 to €120.000.