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Maria Galindo, Secretary of Polítiques Digitals of the Generalitat de Catalunya; Laia Bonet, primera teniente a alcalde of Ajuntament de Barcelona; and Miguel Vicente, President of Tech Barcelona, kicked off ‘the most technological edition of the event’.
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This fifth edition, which once again brings together Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem, coincides with the arrival of the European Union’s first ‘AI Factory’ in the city and the biggest public and private funding opportunities for startups to date.
Barcelona, December 11, 2024. –The fifth edition of Tech Spirit Barcelona, the event promoted by the Tech Barcelona association with the aim of bringing together and boosting the technological and digital ecosystem, has begun with an outstanding turnout of entrepreneurs, investors and corporations, reinforcing Barcelona’s position as a centre of attraction for talent, investment and the development of technology companies. The event organisers expect to reach tomorrow the almost 4.000 attendees registered at the previous edition.
The institutional inauguration was attended by Maria Galindo, Secretary for Polítiques Digitals of the Generalitat de Catalunya; Laia Bonet, primera tinent d’alcalde of Ajuntament de Barcelona; and Miguel Vicente, President of Tech Barcelona. After the official opening, the event kicked off with a programme that will run until tomorrow, with 60 content sessions distributed between the CaixaBank Stage and Tech Barcelona Stage, as well as a dozen workshops and parallel events. In the presentations, 150 experts will analyse the present and future of the technology ecosystem, Barcelona’s position on the European scene and national and international investment trends, as well as sharing success stories of startups, corporations and investors.
‘This fifth edition is the most technological to date’, stressed Miguel Vicente. Deeptech technologies, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, took centre stage, coinciding with the announcement of the arrival of one of the first AI Factories in the European Union in Barcelona, promoted by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, which will bring an investment of 200 million euros. During one of the first morning sessions, the centre’s director Mateo Valero and professor Paco Solé Parellada stressed the need to ‘turn Barcelona into the city of artificial intelligence and chips’.
In this sense, both public and private investment will play an essential role in the development of technology-based projects. In 2025, there is a historic opportunity for public funding for startups, thanks to the creation of the largest investment vehicles ever recorded. These will be led by the European NextGeneration funds and programmes promoted by Enisa, Red es, CDTI, Axis, Cofides, Barcelona Activa and the Generalitat de Catalunya, through the Institut Català de Finances and the Fons d’Inversió en Tecnologia Avançada (FITA). Borja Cabezón, CEO of Enisa, took the opportunity to announce that its funds ‘will be available throughout 2025’.
In the private sector, investor Carlos Trenchs pointed out that ‘the deeptech market is the whole world’. This global interest in the innovations that have emerged in Barcelona was evident in the participation of fifteen prominent international investors, including Frank Bulens (imec expand), Ben Marrell (Breega), Marcus Feuerecker (YZR) and Johan Campe (Claret).
Another main character of the day was artificial intelligence. According to expert Aleix Valls, while 2024 was the year of ‘discovery and amazement’, 2025 will mark the beginning of ‘adoption’. During the event, Amazon Web Services has positioned itself as a leader in the application of generative AI in business, while other corporations such as Damm, Nestlé, Seat, Beko and Esade have also begun this process of integration through open innovation models. The global consulting firm Mind The Bridge, which last week named Tech Barcelona ‘Startup Ecosystem Star’ in Paris, has shown updated data on Barcelona companies in the race for open innovation, placing them at the head of European ecosystems.
The CaixaBank Stage also gave recognition to Barcelona’s ‘local heroes’. Among them, Elisenda Bou-Balust, who managed to get the attention of a giant like Apple for her startup Vilnyx; Marta Estarellas, CEO of Qilimanjaro and a consolidated key figure in quantum computing in Catalonia; and Andrea Gamero, who from her management position at Google has defended the importance of breaking the glass ceiling in the technology sector.
The programme was completed by Xavier Asensi, co-president of Inter Miami, who connected live to explain how he has taken David Beckham and Messi’s team to the highest business and sporting level; Quim Domènech and Sara Pastor, from DAZN, who shared the challenge of turning brands into connecting pieces with sports fans; and Pablo Pantaleoni, CDO of LifeStanceHealth, who, also from Miami, encouraged entrepreneurs in the world of health to ‘have clear objectives, trust in themselves and remain optimistic during the process’.
During this first day, and with the aim of boosting the ecosystem and facilitating the raising of funding by Catalan start-ups, ACCIÓ also organised the first phase of the Catalan Pitch Competition, in which 27 start-ups explained their business model in one minute. The final of the competition will be held tomorrow to decide the Catalan Startup of the Year.
The fifth edition of Tech Spirit Barcelona has the support of ACCIÓ (Generalitat de Catalunya), Ajuntament de Barcelona, CaixaBank, Port de Barcelona, Institut Català de Finances, Adevinta, Amazon Web Services, BME, Danone, Damm, EAE Business School, Eurecat, Freenow, Fundación Albertis, GCO Ventures, G-P, HP, Iris, La Vanguardia, Mango, McCann, Mind The Bridge, Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Naturgy, Nestlé, Payment Innovation Hub, RCD, SCCE, Seat Code, Estrella Damm, Nespresso and Mindset Consulting.
