Market Analysis
Last updated: February 2026 · Focus: Spain (months 1–6) → Europe (year 2+)
The real competitor is Excel
67% of EU SMBs still manage IT assets in spreadsheets or manually. Only 12% have a mature IT management framework. The primary competitor is not Freshservice or Lansweeper — it is a shared Google Sheet with a list of laptops.
The sales conversation is not "why switch from competitor X" — it is "why stop using a spreadsheet." NIS2 answers that question better than any feature comparison.
Phase 1 — Spain (Months 1–6)
| Segment | Companies |
|---|---|
| SMBs with 10–249 employees | ~180,000 |
| NIS2-affected companies (all sizes) | ~25,000 |
| NIS2-affected SMBs (50–249 emp.) in direct scope | ~12,000–15,000 |
| Small enterprises (10–49 emp.) with indirect NIS2 supply chain pressure | ~20,000–30,000 |
| Total addressable in Spain (10–300 emp., NIS2 pressure) | ~35,000–45,000 |
| Of those: currently using spreadsheets (67%) | ~23,000–30,000 |
Why Spain first
- Home market — no translation needed, no cultural barrier
- Founder's professional network is in Spain
- Spanish SMBs heavily represented in NIS2 Annex sectors: food, manufacturing, logistics, health
- Relatively low ITAM software penetration vs. Germany or Netherlands
- 100% online sales — no geographic constraint within Spain
Phase 2 — Europe (Year 2+)
| Country | NIS2-affected companies | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 30,000–40,000 | High |
| Italy | 27,000–50,000 | High |
| Spain | ~25,000 | Phase 1 |
| France | >10,000 | Medium |
| Netherlands | ~8,000 | Medium |
Expansion sequence: Spain → Germany + Italy → France → Netherlands
The Compliance Wave Timeline
The product launches 18 months before peak demand. Early enough to build community and trust, late enough that the regulation is real and companies feel the pressure.
The math is not ambitious — it is conservative
Reaching €300K ARR requires only 126–252 paying customers depending on plan mix. In a market of 35,000–45,000 Spanish SMBs alone facing NIS2 pressure, that is a 0.3–0.7% market share. The bottleneck is not market size — it is awareness.