Enrique Linares (Plus Partners & letgo): "Capital matters, but the right network and guidance matter more"

Enrique Linares, co-founder of letgo and now founder of Plus Partners, shares how building one of Spain’s first unicorns shaped his perspective as an investor. Ahead of his participation in VDS 2025, he reflects on the lessons of international expansion, the challenges of scaling startups in Southern Europe, and the transformative opportunities emerging in sectors such as health, the future of work, and real estate.

 

After a career marked by the creation of letgo, one of Spain’s first unicorns, how has your perspective on entrepreneurship and tech investment evolved?

Building letgo taught me resilience, speed, and the importance of clarity when everything is moving fast. Last year I founded Plus Partners, an early stage VC focus on pre-seed and seed stage. As an investor now, I try to bring that empathy to founders. Capital matters, but what really moves the needle is the right network, guidance, and helping entrepreneurs grow personally alongside their companies.

 

What key lessons did you take away from letgo’s international expansion, and what do you believe were the decisive factors behind its success in markets like the US?

Expanding letgo internationally showed me that timing, product-market fit, and team culture are critical. In the US, we succeeded because we moved fast, understood consumer behavior deeply, were obsessed with innovation and created a simple, intuitive product that scaled quickly. But perhaps the most decisive factor was assembling an exceptional team—talented, mission-driven people who believed in what we were building. International expansion also taught me humility: every market is different, and assumptions from one country many times does not apply to another.

 

Plus Partners focuses on health and nutrition, the future of work, and technology in finance and real estate. Which opportunities in these sectors excite you most right now, and how do they differ from more traditional venture capital plays?

What excites me most is that these sectors touch people’s everyday lives and are undergoing massive transformation.

In health and nutrition, technology is enabling prevention and personalization at a scale we haven’t seen before. In the future of work, AI and automation are redefining how teams collaborate, which creates both opportunities and challenges. And in finance and real estate, digital tools are democratizing access to assets and making traditionally opaque industries more transparent. These aren’t just incremental improvements—they’re structural changes with long-term impact. Unlike traditional VC plays focused on “hype,” we want to back companies deeply commited to transform these industries, with purpose and real-world application.

 

From your experience as both entrepreneur and investor, what specific challenges do startups in Southern Europe face when trying to scale their businesses?

There are three main challenges:

– Talent: attracting and retaining top-tier talent, especially in leadership roles.

– Capital: historically there’s been less access to early-stage and growth capital compared to Northern Europe or the US.

– Mindset: sometimes founders don’t think globally from day one.

The good news is that all three are changing quickly. Southern Europe has incredible technical talent, more funds are being raised, and role models are inspiring new generations of entrepreneurs to think bigger.

 

Valencia has shown remarkable growth as a tech innovation ecosystem in recent years. What factors do you believe have been key to this progress, and what is still needed for it to fully establish itself as a leading European hub?

Valencia has benefited from three things: strong local institutions and universities, a strong social entrepreneurial mentality, and a vibrant tech entrepreneurial community that is increasingly international.

The quality of life also makes it very attractive for talent. What’s still needed is more scale: larger rounds, more global investors, and more success stories that inspire the next wave. They will come in the coming years, and with those, Valencia can position itself alongside Barcelona, Madrid, and other European hubs.

 

On October 22–23, you’ll be participating in VDS, the international tech event organized by Startup Valencia. What role do you think events like this play in connecting talent, capital, and innovation on a global scale?

Tech events like VDS are critical because ecosystems thrive on connection.

When you bring together entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, and institutions, you accelerate trust and knowledge-sharing. For a city like Valencia, hosting international talent and capital is a multiplier effect—it helps local startups get visibility, attract investment, and build global partnerships.

Personally, I think of these events as a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit: they remind us that we’re part of something much bigger than ourselves.