Tech Scale-Up Expansion to Barcelona: The Understory Case Study & Playbook
International expansion for a tech scale-up is rarely a copy-and-paste exercise. It requires balancing bold growth ambitions with sharp, hyper-local execution on the ground. When Nordic and European scale-ups look to establish a new commercial or operational hub in Southern Europe, Barcelona consistently tops the shortlist.
To understand what it takes to build a successful founding team in Spain, we analyzed the expansion playbook of Understory, the fast-growing Danish scale-up. By combining real-world insights from Morten Nielsen (Head of Commercial Operations) and Julie Sondrup (Chief of Staff) at Understorywith market intelligence from blu - a pan-European recruitment agency headquartered in Barcelona - this playbook breaks down why founders choose Barcelona, how to solve landing blind spots, and how to hire the right founding team.
1. The Catalyst: Why Tech Founders Choose Barcelona
Barcelona has firmly established itself as Spain’s primary tech hub and the 6th largest startup ecosystem in Western Europe. The city boasts over 2,500 startups, 135,000 digital professionals, and accounts for roughly 40% of Spain’s total startup activity. Beyond macro statistics, three strategic drivers make Barcelona compelling for scaling tech companies:
Customer Proximity and Operational Alignment
Setting up a local presence removes language barriers, cultural friction, and time zone gaps. Morten Nielsen explains that Understory was already experiencing organic demand from Spanish businesses; building a dedicated local team allowed them to move significantly closer to active market opportunities.
A Rich Commercial Talent Pool and Scale-Up Scene
Fast-growing tech companies need talent accustomed to high-velocity environments. Julie Sondrup emphasizes that Barcelona's mature ecosystem makes pitching a foreign scale-up much easier:
“We wanted to go properly after Spain, and that means people on the ground who know the market, speak the language and can sit in the same time zone as our customers. It has a deep pool of strong commercial talent, a real scale-up scene, so joining a 50-person Danish company isn't a strange thing to hear.” (Julie Sondrup, Chief of Staff at Understory)
Hiring Power and Long-Term Retention
Beyond initial attraction, the city offers long-term stability for growing teams. As Julie notes, Barcelona is ultimately "a city people want to move to and stay in," making it equally effective for recruitment and candidate retention.
Before securing a physical footprint, every expanding company runs into operational uncertainties that threaten to delay timelines or skew compensation models.
STRATEGIC EXPANSION CHALLENGES
Internal Maturity
Operational readiness
Execution timeline
Strategic timing (Morten)
Local Intelligence
Exact salary benchmarks
Sourcing channel mapping
Brand storytelling (Julie)
Execution and Readiness
For Morten Nielsen, the primary concern centered on internal maturity rather than market potential alone. The core question was whether Understory was fully prepared on all operational fronts before committing to a foreign hub—a milestone they successfully validated prior to launch.
The Local Blind Spot
Lacking hyper-local hiring data and compensation benchmarks is a major risk when making foundational hires. Julie Sondrup details the exact knowledge gap foreign scale-ups face:
“We were clear on what we wanted — we knew the profiles, the bar and what these hires needed to deliver. What we didn't have was the local picture: realistic salary benchmarks, where the strongest commercial people in Barcelona actually come from, and how a hiring process there differs from ours. That's not something you should guess at on your first hires in a new market, because they set the standard for everyone who follows.” (Julie Sondrup, Chief of Staff at Understory)
Building Initial Brand Awareness:
With average tech sector salaries hovering around €51,000 in Barcelona (varying significantly between engineering and commercial roles), positioning an employer brand requires precision. Julie points out that while Understory enjoyed strong category awareness in the Nordics, they were virtually unknown in Spain, necessitating a sharp, compelling narrative to engage passive candidates.
Morten Nielsen (Head of Commercial Operations at Understory) with blu Team Pierre Farré (Partner), Tara Beary (Recruiter) and Kevin Viau (Partner), Barcelona, July 2026.
When Lasse Kjær (Founder at Understory) tells the story of how the expansion project in Spain came to be...: https://lnkd.in/p/ebPXpQSc
3. The Solution: Local Depth Over Distant Reach
When solving the local intelligence gap, defaulting to a large, distant recruitment generalist often falls short. Success lies in choosing a partner that combines pan-European talent reach with genuine, on-the-ground execution in the target city.
This exact dynamic defined the partnership between Understory and blu. Headquartered directly in Barcelona while operating across European markets, blu provided the specialized local depth needed to navigate Spanish hiring nuances.
When selecting a talent partner, Morten Nielsen stresses that track record beats agency size every time, noting that executional readiness and past success on similar expansion mandates were their non-negotiables.
Julie echoes why specialized local expertise was crucial to Understory's launch:
“Honestly, local depth mattered more to us than reach. What we needed in Barcelona was someone who knew that specific market, could benchmark it properly for us and could tell the story of an unknown Danish scale-up credibly to local candidates.” (Julie Sondrup, Chief of Staff at Understory)
4. Founding Team DNA: Mindset Over the "Perfect CV"
The initial hires in a new market shape the local company culture for years to come. Hiring decisions should prioritize adaptability, problem-solving skills, and raw drive over a checklist resume.
Curiosity and Initiative Over CVs
Morten Nielsen advises candidate applicants to focus on attitude rather than matching every line on a job description. In a market launch phase, Understory actively seeks ambitious, collaborative individuals who demonstrate genuine customer curiosity and a eagerness to build something from scratch.
A "Lean-In" Mentality
For Julie Sondrup, early hires must align with a high-velocity, proactive culture. She highlights this non-negotiable trait for Understory's initial Spanish cohort:
“Writing the first chapter of Understory in Spain requires a specific kind of talent. A non-negotiable quality? A lean-in mentality. People who want this company to win and will go the extra mile to make it happen. We have a 'let's fucking go' culture, and that only works if everyone in the room shares it.” (Julie Sondrup, Chief of Staff at Understory)
Doing Homework on the Customer
To stand out during the selection process, Julie's advice to applicants is direct: research the reality of Understory's target customers — tour and activity operators — and show up with concrete views on how to solve their operational pain points.
Leverage Hyper-Local Benchmarks:Partner with an on-the-ground recruitment specialist like blu to access precise compensation data and align your offers with local market expectations.
Hire for Potential and Drive:Select founding team members based on curiosity, initiative, and adaptability rather than rigid CV criteria.
Master Your Employer Narrative:Work with local talent experts who can credibly articulate your mission to top talent in markets where your brand isn't a household name yet.
Do you want to know exactly what to do first - backed by real experiences from our clients and expats on the ground?
StartupBlink Index (2026):Barcelona Startup Ecosystem Assessment (2,565 startups, 40% of Spain's startup activity, ranked 6th in Western Europe).
Mobile World Capital (2026):Digital Talent Overview (135,000+ digital professionals in Barcelona, average tech sector salary €51,000).
Understory Leadership Interviews (August 2026): Direct commentary from Morten Nielsen (Head of Commercial Operations at Understory) and Julie Sondrup (Chief of Staff at Understory).
