Most investors chase trends. A smaller number spot them early and position themselves accordingly. But even rarer is the entrepreneur who can identify a regulatory bottleneck before it becomes valuable and quietly accumulate the scarce assets that will matter most when the market finally catches up.

That’s exactly what Alejandro Betancourt López did with Auro Travel, the Spanish ride-sharing company that became one of the country’s largest holders of private vehicle transportation licenses. Before Uber had established a significant foothold in Spain, before the regulatory battles between taxi unions and app-based services erupted into full-scale conflict, Betancourt López and his partners were buying up licenses that most people considered worthless. VTC licenses (Vehículos de Turismo con Conductor) were available for as little as €5,000 at the time. Many taxi operators saw them as mere bureaucratic add-ons with no real purpose.

“When we started the traveling business in Spain, Auro, we knew that Uber was going to come to Spain and we started accumulating all the licenses,” Alejandro Betancourt López explained. “It was a regulated environment on the licenses for private vehicle transportation. We started accumulating the licenses and it was a gamble, but it was a calculated gamble because we knew that the market was going to shift to private riding industry instead of taxis and it was going to get a lot of hype from it.”

Spain’s VTC market operates under strict limitations. A 2015 regulation capped the number of VTC licenses at one for every 30 taxi licenses, though enforcement proved uneven across different regions. Madrid alone has approximately 8,000 vehicles licensed for ride-hailing services, making each license an increasingly scarce commodity as demand for app-based transportation grew.

Auro Travel now holds approximately 2,000 of these licenses, making it one of the most significant players in Spain’s ride-sharing market. “People were selling this license for nothing because they were like a compliment to the taxi drivers at the time, no purpose for it,” Betancourt López said. “And we definitely thought, let’s buy the whole lot from different taxi holders and hold them.”

The approach exemplifies a broader investment philosophy that Alejandro Betancourt López has applied across industries, from eyewear to oil and gas: identifying where value will concentrate before other market participants recognize the opportunity.

The Value Chain Theory

Alejandro Betancourt López frames his investment decisions through what he calls positioning within the “chain of value.” Rather than simply picking winners, he studies how profits shift across different segments of an industry over time, then moves capital into position before those shifts become obvious to the broader market.

“That’s one of my biggest talents, I think—where the chain of value has been moving along, to have that anticipation that you’re going to be placed there before it gets to that point,” he said. “It’s just to anticipate yourself where the market is going to move and the value in the chain is going to be.”

He illustrates this concept with historical examples from the oil industry. During the Rockefeller era, refiners captured most of the profits because they controlled product quality and distribution. Later, as oil became scarce, value migrated to producers. During the shipping disruptions of the 1940s, fortunes shifted again to those who controlled transportation infrastructure.

“It’s the way you place yourself in any industry that can capture that margin and create that value for yourself or for the investors,” Alejandro Betancourt López explained.

With Auro Travel, he applied this same framework to Spanish transportation. Ride-hailing was already transforming urban mobility across the United States and other markets. Spain’s heavily regulated taxi industry meant that app-based services would eventually arrive, but they would need licenses to operate legally. Those licenses existed, were strictly limited in number, and were trading at prices that didn’t reflect their future importance.

“It was an arbitrage,” Betancourt López said. “It was already happening in the U.S. and other countries that were more advanced. It was a matter of time that it arrived in that specific country.”

Founded in 2017, Auro accumulated licenses while competitors focused on technology development and customer acquisition. Cabify, the Spanish ride-hailing company founded in 2011, had raised over $500 million in venture funding and built operations across Spain and Latin America. Uber was attempting to work within Spain’s regulatory environment after being forced out of Barcelona in 2019 due to strict local requirements.

Auro, meanwhile, was quietly building what would become its most valuable asset: a license portfolio that any serious competitor would eventually need access to.

When Giants Come Calling

The bet paid off more dramatically than even Betancourt López might have anticipated. By early 2022, Auro’s fleet of over 1,100 drivers operating under its licenses had become a pivotal force in Madrid’s ride-hailing market. When Auro signaled it might switch its drivers from Cabify to Uber or Bolt, Reuters reported that the move could knock Cabify from its number-one position in its home city.

The company had moved beyond simply holding licenses. Auro created a division called Arrow that leases its VTC permits to other transportation companies seeking to operate in major Spanish cities. This model turned a regulatory asset into a recurring revenue stream while maintaining Auro’s control over the underlying licenses.

Alejandro Betancourt López described the original calculus behind the investment: “At the end of the day, it was a move for Uber to go and place itself and buy us out. So that worked, and we had the vision to anticipate in that specific industry.”

That prediction proved accurate. Uber purchased a 30% stake in Auro for €220 million in February 2025, valuing the company’s equity at approximately €180 million after accounting for €40 million in debt. The transaction came after the Spanish Constitutional Court ruled in December 2024 that Auro could legally break its previous exclusivity agreement with Cabify, opening the door for the Uber partnership.

Auro co-founder Felix Ruiz told Spanish media that negotiations lasted approximately eighteen months and that the sale was “probably the most difficult, but it’s the one where I’ve made the most money.”

For Alejandro Betancourt López, Auro represents a template he has applied across different sectors. His investments in Hawkers sunglasses, the BDK Financial Group in West Africa, and energy companies have followed similar patterns: identify undervalued assets or market positions, move early, and hold until larger players recognize the value.

“I hit more home runs than I strike out,” he said of his overall investment approach. “I’m very proud of that—that I don’t swing for first base. I always swing for a home run, and I do strike out, and that’s a human thing. Nobody gets everything perfect, but I have a good batting average.”

The Spanish ride-hailing market continues to draw regulatory scrutiny from the European Union, which opened an inquiry in 2023 into whether Spain’s VTC restrictions comply with EU competition law. Whatever the outcome, Auro’s early license accumulation secured a position that proved valuable regardless of which regulatory framework ultimately prevailed.

Learn more: Leading From The C-Suite: Alejandro Betancourt López On Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective C-Suite Executive