Investing in technology builds value in the medium and long term, explains the company Cofi Solutions, an expert in business valuation, in its Future of Value 2026 report, a document that analyzes the current economy and the increasing role that intangible assets, such as innovation or technological knowledge, play in business investment.
The business world is experiencing a quiet inflection point. 50 years ago, the most valuable companies in the world were industrial: their value resided in factories, machinery or inventory. Today, according to the Financial Times, 90% of the assets of the S&P 500 are intangible in nature: intellectual property, brand, software, data, talent and trusted networks.
Data, talent, processes, technology or organizational capacity are part of the so-called intangible assets. Assets that, with the change that the global economy is experiencing, today are increasingly important for attracting investment. In fact, more than 80% of the market value of large listed companies today is explained by this type of intangible value.
The report, which collects and analyzes data from different international studies, also includes examples and use cases of companies with high innovative value: “a European B2B technology company, intensive in product and data, showed modest financial metrics. However, its intellectual property, its recurring customer base and its scaling capacity—all intangible assets—explained a strategic value much higher than that reflected in the balance sheet. The result, a higher valuation and an investment capture 25% greater than estimated.”
The greater the intangible intensity, the greater the growth.
Today, competitive advantage is built not only on market share, but also on qualified human capital or strategic alliances, key elements of intangible capital. These factors determine aspects such as the growth of each company, its resilience, its adaptation to a crisis and also its greater attractiveness to investors and strategic partners, thus reinforcing its intangible positioning.
Julià Manzanas, Cofounder and COO of Cofi Solutions, explains: “Tesla or Vilnyx (acquired by Apple) are examples that business value lies in knowledge and in the construction of intangible value. Those organizations with greater intensity of innovation, knowledge in their teams or brand – that is, with greater intangible weight – show higher growth rates and greater stability in uncertain environments.”
Competitive advantage is built not only on market share, but also on qualified human capital or strategic alliances.
Most strategic decisions, such as mergers and acquisitions, are still based on revenue, EBITDA or historical flows, although in the technology sector more than 70% of business value is intangible. Hence, the investment success rate has fallen significantly to levels of 12%. “Traditional models are not prepared to analyze innovation, intangible value and real risk,” the report states.
From finances to strategic value
Cofi Solutions is a global company based in Barcelona dedicated to the valuation of intangible assets, created in 2020 by a team that combines more than 20 years of experience in the market with young entrepreneurial and innovative talent.
Cofi Solutions’ activity focuses on identifying, valuing and enhancing intangible assets: software, data, intellectual property, brand, equipment, know-how, processes and strategic agreements, all essential components of intangible value, to convert them into usable evidence in decision making. To do this, they combine methodological rigor, economic-financial criteria and their own technological layer, their Futurlytics solution. All their assessments comply with international standards: IAS38, EFRAG, IFRS.
