SETT Execs at San Sebastián Detail Spain’s $1.75 Billion Sovereign Venture Capital Fund

SETT, the venture capital fund of Spain’s Ministry for Digital Transformation, is making its case at this year’s San Sebastián Festival. The fund’s director general, Javier Ponce, and audiovisual director María Coronado say the €1.5 billion ($1.75 billion) fund is meant to drive growth in Spain’s audiovisual industry by co-investing with private partners.

The fund’s Spain Audiovisual Hub Plan covers financing and equity or quasi-equity investments for Spanish video businesses, whether provided directly or through financial intermediaries. The aim is to draw private investment and improve access to finance for projects tied to films, television, animation, multimedia and interactive content. High-impact projects that concentrate on producing audiovisual content and intellectual property rights, while keeping those rights with the production companies, have been given priority.

What SETT Funds and How

SETT operates as a public investment entity that manages investments across strategic, transformative sectors, with the audiovisual industry among them. It acts as a public catalyst for growth, employment, innovation and talent—all of which are core elements of the audiovisual sector. The fund draws its financing from the European Union’s Next Generation funds.

Ponce said that the co-investment model relies on public-private cooperation to launch initiatives carrying additional risks that make it hard to attract purely private funding. He added that only highly liquid, large-scale markets with a long-established audiovisual industry can raise enough capital to finance major new productions or transformative industry initiatives.

The fund’s investments, as overseen by González Veracruz, currently stand at just under €250 million, he told the executives. Ponce said the real difficulty was the tight deadlines that came with the European funds.

The Fund’s Next Move

Ponce says SETT is not complete. Plans for a new fund called España Crece have been outlined. The new fund will carry a €13.3 billion ($15.6 billion) budget managed by ICO, with SETT handling part of its investments. The audiovisual sector is set to stay among SETT’s key fields of work under the new fund.

Discussions between Ponce and ICO have already started, with the aim of defining the framework and procedures for working together, in order to keep co-investment going in the technologies and sectors the two institutions consider most important.

What the Fund Has Invested So Far

The logic behind the fund is that public investment follows the same conditions and terms as private capital. Before a promoter can secure public funds, they must first persuade a private investor that their company is worth investing in. Once that happens, SETT steps in to co-invest alongside that investor.

The €1.5 billion figure represents the maximum amount that could be taken out; it has not actually been invested yet. So far, the total invested stands at €250 million. The executives cite The Refinery, Moonlighting, Amuse Labs and Milo as proof of the model in action under the Hub fund. The Refinery and Moonlighting together received funding of €25 million, while Amuse Labs and Milo raised €13 million and €19 million respectively.

Ponce says the sector will keep getting support because it drives industrial activity, employment and wider economic effects. The presentation at San Sebastián, however, adds little that is new for the audience there.

A dull, repetitive press release from SETT executives spells out what SETT is, how it invests, what it has invested so far, and what it plans next. The fund has real money, real investments, and real goals, but the executives have not added much to what was known before.

1. SETT is a €1.5 billion ($1.75 billion) fund from Spain’s Ministry for Digital Transformation.
2. It co-invests with private partners to drive growth in Spain’s audiovisual industry.
3. The fund draws financing from the European Union’s Next Generation funds.
4. Its current investments stand at just under €250 million, overseen by González Veracruz.
5. SETT is planning a new fund called España Crece, with a €13.3 billion ($15.6 billion) budget managed by ICO.

Source material: “Ready, SETT, Go: SETT Execs Drill Down on the Spanish Sovereign Venture Capital Fund That Will Drive Industry Conversation at San Sebastián,” Variety.

audiovisual industry · film funding · San Sebastián · SETT · Spanish cinema · venture capital