• Barcelona remains the third favourite European city for entrepreneurs to create a startup, only behind London and Berlin.

• According to Startup Heatmap Europe, 1 in 5 founders would choose Barcelona to start their company.

In which European city would you found your startup? Since 2016, the Startup Heatmap Europe survey – conducted by Deep Ecosystems with the opinion of more than 10,000 founders – has been analysing the attractiveness of cities for tech startups. Since then, London (35%) and Berlin (34%) have been competing for the top two positions, with Barcelona (17%) climbing positions year after year and consolidating in 2023 in third position ahead of Amsterdam (16%), Paris (12%) or Lisbon (12%).

Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem is mature, with more than 20 years of development and a network that favours synergies, growth and, consequently, the city’s attractiveness. More than 2,000 startups (Barcelona & Catalonia Startup Hub 2022) coexist with: large multinational technology companies with a presence in the city, more than 100 innovation hubs of global companies (Tech Hubs Overview 2023), 100,000 digital professionals (Digital Talent Overview 2022), public-private collaboration and an associative fabric that favours it, national and international investment vehicles, a first-class scientific infrastructure and, of course, a quality of life that attracts and retains national and international talent.

Other Spanish cities in the ranking include Madrid (#11), Malaga (#19), Valencia (#33), Las Palmas (#40) and Bilbao (#44). In addition to attractiveness, the report also indicates how the European cities on the list perform when it comes to growing and accelerating startups, as well as the degree of optimism of founders and their preferences. We encourage you to check out the full report here.

• Integrated in the Tech Barcelona ecosystem, the BlueTechPort will host companies interested in innovating in the blue economy, using the Port of Barcelona as a sandbox.

• The project is the embryo of the future space that the Port of Barcelona will open in the sheds of the Moll de Sant Bertran to host initiatives related to innovation and the attraction and training of talent.

The Port of Barcelona and Tech Barcelona have today inaugurated BlueTechPort, a new innovation space for companies whose aim is to promote innovation in all sectors related to the blue economy. The space, located at Tech Barcelona’s Pier 01 in the Palau de Mar, will host companies and entrepreneurial projects linked to the port, logistics and blue tourism sectors, but also to more disruptive sectors, such as underwater robotics, artificial intelligence applied to the marine environment, the recovery of marine biodiversity or pharmaceutical components made from marine products, among others.

“All these sectors represent new opportunities for the maritime and port ecosystem and from the Port of Barcelona we want to be at the side of these initiatives, developing a benchmark for the white economy in Europe”, said the president of the Port of Barcelona, Lluís Salvadó, at the presentation ceremony of the space.

The BlueTechPort area, the first of its kind in the Port of Barcelona, represents a further step in the commitment to innovation in the Barcelona economy, as set out in the Innovation Plan approved in 2021. Through this plan, materialised in specific initiatives such as BlueTechPort and the BCN Port Innovation Foundation, the Port of Barcelona integrates innovation into its global strategy to develop a more sustainable and competitive port and generate benefits for the port-logistics community, its customers and the public.

The collaboration with Tech Barcelona will allow companies that set up in the BlueTechPort to enjoy all the benefits available to the startups that form part of the ecosystem and is another example of the network of alliances on which the Port of Barcelona is building its open innovation strategy. This innovative ecosystem will make up the Blue District, designed to generate synergies between the different institutions and companies present in the Port of Barcelona but at the same time open to attracting leading companies and research centres beyond the port area.

“In 2013, with the creation of Tech Barcelona, we were pioneers in bringing together and strengthening Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem together with the city’s best entrepreneurs. Now, 10 years later, our pioneering spirit is still intact: the creation of the BlueTechPort together with the Port of Barcelona will allow us to consolidate and develop the blue economy, a strategic sector that will play a key role in the transformation of the city”, said Miquel Martí, CEO of Tech Barcelona, at the opening ceremony.

Pier01, a former warehouse located by the sea and owned by the Port of Barcelona, is since 2016 the headquarters of Tech Barcelona, the pioneering association that supports and promotes the technological and digital ecosystem of Barcelona. The association represents over 1,300 companies, from startups to large corporations, always with innovation and technology as a common denominator.

The building, recognised in 2017 as one of the five most important innovation centres in the world according to Forbes magazine, hosts dozens of projects: from innovative startups in health or energy, to innovation spaces of large companies such as CaixaBank, Naturgy or Damm, as well as venture builders such as Antai or Napptilus. In short, it has become a point of reference for everyone who wants to find out how the city’s technological and digital ecosystem works. Barcelona, the main technology hub in southern Europe and the second favourite city for entrepreneurs to create startups, has the presence of more than 2,000 startups and 100 multinational technology hubs.

Sustainability is one of the strategic axes of the companies that make up Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem. The alliance between the Port of Barcelona and Tech Barcelona therefore represents a unique opportunity to develop the city’s blue economy and consolidate the sector as an international benchmark.

Space for companies

The BlueTechPort is designed to welcome start-ups, scale-ups and innovative projects from consolidated companies, which will have the support and collaboration of the Port of Barcelona to carry out pilot tests or test prototypes of their projects, using the port as a sandbox in which to test their ideas and proposals. This collaboration will also allow them to access funds and subsidies for the sectors of the Barcelona economy linked to maritime and port activity while integrating them into the growing innovation ecosystem around the Port of Barcelona and Tech Barcelona.

The location of BlueTechPort at Pier01 is the embryo of the future space that the Port of Barcelona will develop in the current sheds of the Moll de Sant Bertran. After the summer, work will begin on the refurbishment project, renovating the sheds to house the first ecosystemic building for the development of the blue economy. But before that, a second phase will become a reality: the expansion of the BlueTechPort in the areas of the Barcelona dock that will be recovered from the America’s Cup sailing competition once the competition is over.

• Two Barcelona companies, winners of a draw organised by the airline and the association, will travel for free to the most important biotechnology event in the world, which is attended by more than 30 Catalan companies.

• LEVEL and Tech Barcelona have an agreement to support the Catalan entrepreneurial network and bring it closer to the main technological hubs in the United States, which are, in turn, strategic destinations for the company.

Barcelona, 10 May 2023 – The BIO Boston 2023 convention (5-8 June), the most important conference in the international biotechnology sector, will be attended by Trifermed and Chasing Science, two Barcelona companies associated with Tech Barcelona, winners of a draw for two round-trip airline tickets to Boston. For this promotion, LEVEL and Tech Barcelona have counted with the collaboration of Biocat, an organization that promotes and accelerates the life sciences and health sector in Catalonia, and that leads the international action of more than 30 Catalan institutions and companies to Bio Boston 2023.

Thanks to LEVEL’s direct flight linking Barcelona and Boston, Barcelona’s long-haul airline will take these companies to the outstanding event on 4 and 5 June, strengthening ties with one of the world’s leading healthcare hubs. The main mission of the link between LEVEL and Tech Barcelona is to strengthen the internationalisation of the city’s technological ecosystem and facilitate connectivity with Boston, and one of its main conventions in the biotechnology sector is a great example of this.

The capital city of Massachusetts is a strategic destination on the East Coast of the United States for the airline, as well as for its partner Tech Barcelona, as it allows synergies to be generated in the fields of health, biology and technology. In fact, another example of the LEVEL partner’s commitment to biotechnology science is the new Pier07 building, specialised in the health sector and located in the heart of Barcelona, which has been in operation since February this year.

Ricard Falomir, Chief Digital & Operations of LEVEL: “As a long-haul airline based in Barcelona, we feel the responsibility to connect our city and support the business community in Barcelona, such as the one built by our partner Tech Barcelona. An event as important as Bio Boston is the ideal opportunity to strengthen ties with a strategic destination such as Boston, both for LEVEL and for Tech Barcelona”.

“Tech Barcelona is delighted to see our alliance with LEVEL facilitate the presence of technology and digital companies from Barcelona at BIO 2023 in Boston, one of the most important events in the biotech sector on a global scale, promoting the Barcelona brand as a technological, innovative and cutting-edge health city in a benchmark environment”, says Miquel Martí, CEO of Tech Barcelona. On this occasion, he adds, “we are especially excited that Chasing Science and Trifermed, members of the association with a presence at Pier07, have been the winners of the flight raffle, and will be able to accompany the thirty Catalan institutions and companies that will attend the conference together with Biocat”.

• As trilogues begin on the Data Act, 13 startup communities have come together to ask policy makers to balance the incentives and costs involved in the value chain of dataset creation and maintenance

Barcelona, 27 April, 2023-. Tech Barcelona, the private non-profit association that represents Barcelona’s digital and technological ecosystem, has signed an open letter to policy makers calling for improvements in the regulatory framework to stimulate a dynamic data market and innovation. The letter highlights the need for a regulatory environment that encourages startups to use and share data.

As trilogues begin on the Data Act, 13 startup communities have come together to ask policy makers to balance the incentives and costs involved in the value chain of dataset creation and maintenance. Several provisions of the Data Act, in their current form, present significant technical and legal challenges for startups which will create legal uncertainty in how data should be handled. That’s why the entrepreneurial ecosystem asks for three key improvements on the final text, to ensure that the Data Act fulfills its promise of boosting Europe’s competitiveness and innovation capacity:

– Scope: Clarity and proportionality.
– Cloud switching: Data portability & interoperability provisions for startups.
– International data transfers: rules that encourage taking advantage of the global data economy.

For the Data Act to achieve its goals of stimulating a competitive data market, opening opportunities for data-driven innovation, and making data more accessible for all, policy makers should focus on designing a clear, proportionate, and equitable data-sharing environment that provides startups with legal certainty while preserving their capacity to experiment and grow. This will be critical to unlocking the full potential of data and ensuring that the European tech sector remains competitive and innovative in the global market.

The Data Act is a proposed legislative framework being developed by the European Union to facilitate the sharing and use of data in Europe. The aim of the Data Act is to stimulate a competitive data market, open up opportunities for data-driven innovation, and make data more accessible for all. The Act is expected to address issues related to data ownership, access, and portability, as well as data governance, privacy, and security. The European Commission is currently working on the proposal, and it is expected to be presented to the European Parliament and the Council for consideration and adoption.

The Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act)

Tech Barcelona joined twenty European startup and AI associations last month to call for balanced regulation in future AI legislation in Europe. The initiative is part of a joint manifesto that seeks to preserve the innovation capacity of European actors in the field of AI.

Reed the full open letter: The Data Act should be as clear and simple as a Startup Pitch.

• Presented by the European Commission in April 2021, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act has sparked intense debate among policymakers, civil society, and the business community at the European level

• Tech Barcelona joined Allied for Startups in January 2023 to advocate for the voice of Barcelona’s digital and technological ecosystem in Brussels

Barcelona, April 5th, 2023-. Tech Barcelona, the private non-profit association that represents Barcelona’s digital and technological ecosystem, has joined twenty European startup and AI associations to call for balanced regulation in future AI legislation in Europe. The initiative is part of a joint manifesto that seeks to preserve the innovation capacity of European actors in the field of AI.

The Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), presented by the European Commission in April 2021, has sparked intense debate among policymakers, civil society, and the business community. And the rise of certain AI techniques and concepts, such as General Purpose AI (GPAI) and generative AI (such as ChatGPT), has added even more complexity to the discussion. In this context, European startup and AI associations take the opportunity to remind policymakers of the fundamental elements that should be included in the AI Law to preserve the innovation capacity of European actors and ideally, further drive it through:

• A pragmatic and proportional approach to defining high-risk AI systems.
• Sandboxes suitable for startups and other innovative companies to maximize their usefulness.
• A governance model that genuinely involves stakeholders.
• Future-proof requirements and obligations.

Tech Barcelona joins Allied For Startups

Tech Barcelona has joined Allied For Startups to strengthen its presence in Brussels and actively participate in political debates affecting the technology industry worldwide. Allied For Startups is a global network of startup associations based in Brussels, whose mission is to create a better policy environment for startups and entrepreneurs. The organization represents startups and entrepreneurs on policy issues and advocates for policies that support innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation.

With this alliance, Tech Barcelona aims to increase its participation and collaborate with other startup associations to share best practices and promote policies that support innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe.