Study Abroad Programme
Class of 2006
Founder
Hugo Arévalo has been a serial entrepreneur and investor in some of the most prominent startups in Spain since the age of 24. His investment portfolio of more than 30 companies includes Cabify, Glovo, JobandTalent, Lime, Colvin, DeporVillage, Dudyfit, Playtomic, Tropicfeel, Lookiero, Matera and Genially. He is not closed off to any particular sector, but has a preference for eCommerce, Marketplace, EdTech, mobility, DeepTech, logistics and OnDemand.
Currently, he's co-founder and CEO of ThePower Business School (named #1 startup in Spain by LinkedIn in 2020, and #2 in 2021), and co-founder of Grupo Auro, one of the largest mobility companies in Spain that has more than 2500 vehicles in operation.
In addition to acting as an advisor to multiple startups such as Velca or Playtomic, he is also a director of Grupo Sercotel and Dudyfit. He was also one of the investors and partners of Tuenti, a company that achieved one of Spain’s most famous exits when it was sold to Telefónica for 100 million US dollars in 2010. This was followed by other prominent exits such as JobandTalent, Glovo, Deporvillage or Verse. He also founded Buytheface, which was acquired by Offerum and later merged with Groupalia.
Between 2009 and 2012 he worked at Prodigy Capital Group in New York, while also being part of the Board of Jobandtalent (from December 2011 to December 2013). That same year he founded a technology consulting firm dedicated to boosting the Spanish entrepreneurship ecosystem by obtaining both European and Spanish public aid, achieving funding for TicketBis (later acquired by StubHub for one hundred and fifty million euros), La Nevera Roja (acquired by Rocket Internet for eighty million euros) and Jobandtalent among others. At the beginning of 2016, he joined the Board of DeporVillage, which grew its annual turnover from 7 Million Euros in 2017 to 160 Million at the close of 2021, with an EBITDA of 14 Million. Furthermore, he was president of Hawkers until the end of 2017 and is currently a member of Chamberí Valley, a network of Spain’s most successful technology entrepreneurs.
His objective is to escape short-termism, decriminalise failure, and surround himself with the best in order to learn to anticipate. His investment philosophy focuses on market size, constantly looking for solutions that utilise technology to improve upon industry inefficiencies, and finding qualified teams that prioritise execution.
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