• The agreement opens up business opportunities abroad for startups in the Barcelona ecosystem

• The public business entity will have a physical presence at Pier01, the association’s headquarters

Barcelona, January 25th, 2023. – ICEX Spain Export and Investment has signed a collaboration agreement with Tech Barcelona, a private non-profit association that promotes the city’s technological and digital ecosystem, to promote the internationalisation of startups and facilitate their business opportunities abroad.

For ICEX, the importance of the agreement with Tech Barcelona stems from the need to channel towards international technology hubs in Spain the business opportunities that ICEX instruments represent in terms of supporting the technological and innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem, with the idea of joining forces with leading entities.

Tech Barcelona, through the Urban Tech Campus, and mainly Pier01, where the association’s headquarters are located, has become a meeting point for the different actors that make up Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem, fostering innovative development and decisive contacts between agents in the ecosystem.

For this reason, ICEX has established a physical presence at Pier 01 to better understand the characteristics and needs of the Barcelona ecosystem and to develop its informative work on international business opportunities for the companies located there, as well as promotion supported by the new ICEX instruments.

Chema Blasco, Director of Infrastructure, Health and ICT at ICEX, explains that “the protocol signed between ICEX and Tech Barcelona, as well as the contracting of a physical space for ICEX at Pier01, responds to the interest of reaching more actors of the technological and innovative entrepreneurship ecosystem in Barcelona with information about commercial promotion instruments for the startup ecosystem managed by ICEX, which are proving to be successful”.

According to Blasco, “there is no better way to do this than hand in hand with a partner like Tech Barcelona, as it opens up the possibility of incorporating ICEX into existing activities in the ecosystem and creating new joint actions with actors in the Barcelona ecosystem in terms of business development abroad for startups, attracting talent, funds and top foreign startups and promoting open innovation, and thus providing continuity in a more specialised way to the important work that the Territorial Directorate of Trade of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism/ICEX in Barcelona has been doing. The clients that receive ICEX services are to a large extent startups, scaleups, corporations and investment funds in the ecosystem”. Finally, he confirmed that “this example can serve as a model for collaboration in other key cities in the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem”.

Miquel Martí, CEO of Tech Barcelona, assures that “we work to provide the ecosystem with the maximum resources to grow and promote the international expansion of startups and scaleups. For Tech Barcelona, the international relevance of the ecosystem is a strategic priority, and having ICEX close by must contribute to accelerating this process”.

• The startup offers solutions based on artificial intelligence and Big Data with the aim of identifying and retaining technological talent

• Tech Barcelona has promoted different initiatives such as Tech Up Nights, Workshops and Working Groups to address the challenges of the future of work

Barcelona, 23 November 2022. – Talent Match, a human resources consultancy based in Barcelona, joins Tech Barcelona as a Corporate Partner. This agreement will allow the Catalan startup, which offers innovative solutions based on artificial intelligence and big data, to become more involved in attracting and retaining talent in Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem.

Talent Match has a matchmaking platform that collects the characteristics and preferences of each candidate to cross-reference them with the requirements of the vacancies offered by companies. On the other hand, it also applies data engineering techniques through which it analyses the data generated by employees, with the aim of understanding their needs and predicting future situations.

In Barcelona, the demand for technological profiles grew by 40% in 2021, while the supply of available profiles only grew by 10%, according to the Digital Talent Overview 2022. Given this situation, the partnership with Talent Match aims to identify the most innovative tools to improve and facilitate the selection process; retaining the best talent in the city through technology.

Miquel Martí, CEO of Tech Barcelona, assures that “innovation in human resources must be a priority for startups and corporations to be able to attract and retain the best talent, especially in a market as competitive as the technological one. Having allies like Talent Match will undoubtedly facilitate this process for all players in the ecosystem, and will position Barcelona both nationally and internationally as the ideal city to work in”.

In the words of Guillem Llacuna and Jordi Valenzuela, co-founders of Talent Match, “at Talent Match we consider Tech Barcelona a reference within the startup ecosystem in Europe. For Talent Match, as a startup linked to the field of talent and technology, it is a pleasure to be part of it and to be able to do our bit by working together with other technology companies that also see the area of talent as an opportunity to innovate and a key factor in the success of any company”.

Tech Barcelona, as a private non-profit association representing more than 1,200 companies in the digital and technological ecosystem, works to anticipate the tools and trends that are transforming the future of work. That is why, this year, it has promoted different initiatives such as Tech Up Nights, Workshops and specialised Working Groups.

• The agreement aims to jointly promote and support disruptive projects in the edutech and culture sectors

• The cooperative will invest in edutech’s entrepreneurial projects under the Abacus Next investment plan

Barcelona, 22 November 2022. – The cooperative Abacus has joined Tech Barcelona as a new Corporate Partner. With this agreement, the cooperative is committed to participating in initiatives aimed at promoting business development and digital talent in the fields of content creation and distribution for education and culture, and to identifying investment opportunities in start-ups in these fields.

This collaboration will allow the cooperative nature of Abacus, with the participation of nearly one million consumer members and more than 700 working members, to be incorporated as a way to innovate and add value in the digital environment of the Tech Barcelona ecosystem, based on a set of initiatives that facilitate the transfer of knowledge between the two organisations.

Salva Garcia, co-director of Abacus, values this alliance very positively and considers that “for the cooperative it is a great learning opportunity due to the leadership that Tech Barcelona exercises in the European digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. This agreement will provide us with experience and knowledge to advance and consolidate the Abacus Next investment and strategic plan, especially in edutech and culture, two pillars of our commitment to digitalisation”.

According to Miquel Martí, CEO of Tech Barcelona, “Abacus is a leading organisation with a long experience and a benchmark in the education sector. Its incorporation into Tech Barcelona is an example of how a model of innovation in constant evolution can have a social and economic impact, as well as a reference for many of the industries that have the challenge of facing the digital transformation”.

• The agreement illustrates the commitment of the venture builder with the creation of tech-based startups

Barcelona, October 26th 2022. – Farside Ventures, a venture builder specialised in creating ‘deep tech’ startups, joins Tech Barcelona as a Corporate Partner. The alliance will clearly illustrate the commitment Farside Ventures has to the creation of projects based on tech transfer, as well as reinforcing its connection with the rest of tech agents of the entrepreneurial and innovative tech ecosystem.

Farside Ventures brings together the verticals 101 Ventures, 5G Ventures, The Data Venture, Fintech Ventures and Sustainability Ventures, specialised in markets such as smartphone, 5G, blockchain, metaverse and financial technology, which already have 18 startups in their portfolio and €20.5M in funding. The venture builder, founded by the entrepreneurs Rafael García-Escarré, Marc Borrell, Jordi Priu, Oriol Relats and Guillemro Briones in Barcelona in 2020, aims to promote a hundred startups in the next four years, with a value raging between €75M and €100M.

Tech Barcelona, a non-profit association that promotes Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem, represents more than 1,200 innovative companies from all sectors who share a common commitment to technology.

Rafael García Escarré, co-founder and CEO of Farside Ventures, stated that “joining Tech Barcelona means working hand in hand with an entity that shares our spirit of creating an advanced entrepreneurial ecosystem. Without a doubt, this collaboration will allow us to continue working to contribute to barcelona’s leadership and thus position the city as a benchmark on the international technology scene”.

For his part, Miquel Martí, CEO de Tech Barcelona, assures that “the commitment of a group of investors to promote technology transfer through the creation of startups is a good example of the evolution and maturity of the ecosystem. From Tech Barcelona, we want to support all initiatives that contribute to add value and encourage more and more technology-based startups”.

• El acuerdo conecta la innovación y las soluciones de transformación digital de GFT con las startups y corporaciones de Barcelona
• La compañía alemana, especializada en soluciones tecnológicas para el sector financiero, asegurador e industrial, cuenta con un laboratorio de innovación digital ubicado en Sant Cugat

Barcelona, 20 de octubre de 2022. – Tech Barcelona, la asociación sin ánimo de lucro que vertebra el ecosistema digital y tecnológico de Barcelona, incorpora a la tecnológica alemana GFT como nuevo Corporate Partner. La compañía alemana, que cuenta con una larga experiencia en el mercado español, hace una apuesta decidida para implicarse más con el talento e innovación de startups y corporaciones de Barcelona.

GFT, fundada en 1987 y ubicada en 16 países, desarrolla soluciones tecnológicas y ofrece asesoramiento especializado a empresas del sector financiero y asegurador, así como de la industria manufacturera. Además, dispone desde el 2014 de un laboratorio de innovación digital ubicado en Sant Cugat, un espacio seguro que ofrece la posibilidad de simular escenarios reales a través de demos y prototipos tecnológicos. Adoptando las últimas tendencias tecnológicas e investigando sobre los nuevos hábitos y comportamientos sociales que derivan de ellas, este LAB desarrolla nuevos modelos actuando como puente entre las startups, las pymes y las grandes corporaciones.

Manuel Lavín, CEO de GFT en España, valora muy positivamente esta alianza. “Tech Barcelona es a día de hoy uno de los principales pilares del ecosistema de startups europeo y no ha parado de sumar partners en todos estos años. GFT quiere formar parte de esta gran familia de la innovación tecnológica y el emprendimiento para seguir apostando por la cocreación”.

Por su parte, Miquel Martí, CEO de Tech Barcelona, destaca que “grandes empresas internacionales y con experiencia como GFT hagan una apuesta decidida por Barcelona y su talento, hecho que sin duda beneficia al ecosistema de startups y corporaciones de la ciudad. Desde Tech Barcelona compartimos además su espíritu colaborativo, que permite trabajar de forma conjunta para alcanzar soluciones innovadoras e impactar positivamente en la sociedad”.

La multinacional GFT lleva dos décadas operando en España, periodo en el que ha realizado más de 2.500 proyectos para más de 100 clientes de todo el mundo, con un equipo de 2.000 personas repartidas entre sus sedes de Alicante, Lleida, Madrid, Sant Cugat, Valencia y Zaragoza.

• Both entities sign a collaboration agreement that connects them as “Strategic Partners” for the next four years

Barcelona, 14 October 2022. – Avançsa and Tech Barcelona signed a collaboration agreement on Tuesday for the next four years with the aim of promoting initiatives to encourage and promote the activity of the business ecosystem of the technology and digital sector in Catalonia, with Barcelona as a city of reference.

ech Barcelona is the independent non-profit private association that works together with entrepreneurs, startups, large corporations and other entities and agents of the ecosystem to position the city of Barcelona as one of the main technological and digital hubs at an international level.

In this sense, Avançsa will be able to count on the support of Tech Barcelona in its general initiatives to promote economic activity in Barcelona, attract talent and generate social impact, including identifying needs and proposing general proposals and measures.

For its part, Avançsa will support Tech Barcelona in the association’s promotion and representation activities in the field of entrepreneurship and the technology and digital sector, which aims to position Barcelona as a global hub of reference, as well as to attract investment, companies and talent in these areas.

In this way, Avançsa and Tech Barcelona become Strategic Partners to collaborate on strategic projects and organise activities together.

• The agreement promotes the connection of Italian startups and companies with the Barcelona ecosystem to generate activity and attract projects

Barcelona, 5 October 2022 – The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Barcelona and Tech Barcelona have signed an agreement to boost the connection of Italian startups and innovative companies within the city’s digital and technological ecosystem. This collaboration reinforces Barcelona as a world reference city in attracting investment, companies and talent.

Tech Barcelona, a non-profit association that promotes the technological and digital ecosystem of Barcelona, currently represents more than 1,000 members and 1,200 companies from all sectors that have technology as a driver of transformation. For its part, the Italian Chamber of Commerce supports more than 200 companies with a strong presence in the Italian-Spanish market, as well as small and medium-sized start-ups and companies with the intention of expanding. The companies represented by the Italian Chamber of Commerce belong to different sectors of the so-called ‘Made in Italy’ in Spain and strategic sectors for the Catalan economy, such as logistics, pharmaceuticals and agri-food.

According to Federica Falzetta, Secretaria General de la Cámara de Comercio Italiana in Barcelona, “in the last decade Barcelona has become a technological and digital hub of great importance. In this new environment, the number of Italian companies aligned with the world of information technology has been growing to the point that the Chamber has decided to undertake different strategic actions, such as MyStart BCN and the partnership with Tech Barcelona, to align its services to this new digital technological environment”.

Alessio Merella, member of Tech Barcelona and Business Development Manager of Abinsula, an Italian software company with presence in Barcelona, assures that “under this alliance, we promote the Italian ecosystem represented by the Chamber: synergies, networking and strategy for the mutual growth of these two important institutions”.

According to Miquel Martí, CEO of Tech Barcelona, “the close relationship we have with the Italian Chamber of Commerce should serve to attract even more investment and talent, as well as to generate opportunities for the city”. He also adds that “involving relevant actors with international representation in the economic and technological development of the city is an essential step to position Barcelona as a world reference hub”.

• The agreement promotes and brings new forms of financing to startups and companies in Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem.

Barcelona, 27 September 2022. – Crowdcube, the European community funding platform for startups and private companies, joins Tech Barcelona as a Corporate Partner to promote and bring new forms of funding to startups and companies in Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem, as well as to contribute to their growth through the participation of small investors.

Crowdcube, with its European headquarters in Barcelona, is a company that enables entrepreneurs to raise funds with the added benefit of having the support of its community. Since it began operations in 2011, more than €1.5 billion has been invested in over 1,300 deals across Europe. In Spain, where it has been operating since 2014, it has channelled more than €65 million in 138 capital increases, with clients such as Heura Foods, Wuolah, Velca, ID Finance and TropicFeel.

Tech Barcelona, the private non-profit association that supports and promotes the city’s technological and digital ecosystem, represents more than 1,000 members – entrepreneurs, founders, executives and investors – from more than 1,200 companies, and has more than 70 partner organisations, national and international leaders in their sector.

Pepe Borrell, VP International of Crowdcube and CEO of Crowdcube Europe SL, celebrates the partnership: “It is an honour for us to be part of Tech Barcelona and contribute to the projection of a democratised, more varied and diverse investment ecosystem. Barcelona has remained the spearhead of our growth strategy in Europe and with the partnership we will continue to work to strengthen Barcelona’s position as an international benchmark in investment and innovation”.

For Miquel Martí, CEO of Tech Barcelona, “the incorporation of Crowdcube as a partner brings new funding and growth opportunities for entrepreneurs in Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem. From Tech Barcelona we want to raise awareness of these alternative forms of capital, which involve large communities with a special interest in technology and which increase Barcelona’s capacity for development as an international hub”.

• The collaboration agreement promotes the co-creation of innovative projects focused on the infant and maternity field

Barcelona, 14 September 2022 – i4KIDS, the pediatric innovation network coordinated by the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona, and Tech Barcelona, the private non-profit association that supports Barcelona’s digital and technological ecosystem, have reached a collaboration agreement to promote the development of innovative technological solutions in healthcare and integrated care, with a special focus on the infant and maternity field.

For Tech Barcelona, this collaboration is part of its commitment to the health and life sciences sector as one of the strategic axes of the digital and technological ecosystem. In the upcoming months, Pier07, a hub of reference in business innovation that will host corporations, institutions and startups in the sector, will start operating. The building, located at Via Laietana 26, will be available to i4KIDS professionals with the aim of offering a space for co-creation and collaboration between leading clinical environments and the business sector.

For Jaume Pérez, Director of Innovation and Knowledge at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona, “the agreement will allow us to build a framework of collaboration to encourage innovation in the maternity and infant field, a strategic pillar of the hospital that we promote through our i4KIDS pediatric innovation HUB. Through this networking with Tech Barcelona we want to identify and support those projects that stand out for their ability to generate a change in the health and well-being of children and mothers”.

Miquel Martí, CEO of Tech Barcelona, assures that “in Tech Barcelona’s firm commitment to the health sector, the collaboration between the technological and digital ecosystem of Barcelona and i4KIDS, a benchmark in healthcare and scientific innovation, is a great opportunity to give meaning to technology through solutions that generate a positive impact on children and their families”.