Is Barcelona The New Tech Hub?
Is Barcelona becoming the new Silicon Valley?
Projects such as Barcelona Tech City, the support from the public sector with initiatives such as Barcelona Activa and the Mobile World Congress make the capital of Catalonia an entrepreneurial reference. Yes, there is more in Barcelona than just tapas, wine, good weather and beautiful beaches.
To create a successful innovation ecosystem, innovation clusters require six key ingredients – Skills, accommodating policy framework, infrastructure, low cost structures, a good lifestyle offering and serendipity. We at Inlea have looked at this very closely and we can clearly see examples of this in Barcelona, with these key ingredients working together to create a successful economic development programme, in terms of delivering outcomes.
So, let’s have a look at the companies that have a big presence here in city.
Privalia, King, SocialPoint, Vistaprint, Exoclick, ABA English, Softonic, Gameloft, CornerJob, Criteo, Akamon, Trovit, Letgo, Wallapop, Skyscanner, eDreams, Budgetplaces, and Travelclick are just a few of the big names located in the city.
Also, investments in tech companies are rapidly increasing both in number of companies as in the amount of money being invested.
Entrepreneur
Guillem Sanz, CEO of Bebitus, an online shop specialized in babies, considers Barcelona “the first Spanish referent to hold trade fairs and world conferences. These types of meetings encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, undoubtedly, and bring together small and large entrepreneurs from all over the world. It also gives voice to small creators who are already beginning gurus of the business world with papers that feed the creative capacity of attendees.”
Everything you would expect to find in Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs can find it in Barcelona too, except for a different culture regarding risk.
Professionals who have been able to develop their businesses on both sides of the Atlantic have found that there is a higher tolerance, more ambition and willingness to work hard in San Francisco; where successful projects receive more support and interest from other startups.
Not everything is perfect in Barcelona, but it is taking steps to continue growing and improving in order to become the global epicentre of entrepreneurship.
