Barcelona is a place of innovation and business high spirit. Everything contributes to promote the city of entrepreneurs, from its setting and facilities to its institutions and entrepreneur culture.
Many start-up projects are born every day in the city. What is more important is the fact that those projects combine talent with an important business network, which, together with foreign investors and several business opportunities, results in the perfect setting for a successful business.
Figures account for that. Nowadays, Barcelona is the entrepreneurship destination and stands out as the 4th most attractive European city for investment in start-ups, showing a total of 39 venture capital funds (Ernst & Young).
Together with that, the impact resulting from the celebration of events makes entrepreneurs and business angels see the city as the European Silicon Valley. Business conferences, seminars and presentations gather experts in the most diverse fields in events like 4YFN, within Mobile World Congress.
Apart from that, organizations like ACC1Ó, 22@Barcelona, Barcelona Activa or PYMEC account for a public committment as regards the creation of new businesses and their internationalization.
Always expecting new opportunities, international investors and business angels have not hesitated at the time of laying their eyes on a city with the best and most innovative market projects.
This is part of Barcelona Brand and the entrepreneurial spirit of a city that is constantly reinventing itself.
Characteristics of a city of entrepreneurs
Different types of start-ups see the light and expand throughout the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, under Barcelona’s sky. There are several reasons that make Barcelona one of the best cities in the world to start a business, some of them being more important than others.
One of them is the entrepreneurial environment created by huge investment forums, which, at the same time, has encouraged the participation of huge investment funds.
The link between universities and development centres has also been of paramount importance. Some key contributions to the creation of start-ups ‘made in Barcelona’ have been made by technology universities (UPC, UPF, etc), creative universities (Elisava) and big business schools (IESE, ESADE, etc).
Institutional initiatives, like ACC1Ó or Barcelona Activa, are also to be considered. Their constant support to entrepreneurs and businesses has resulted in many successful projects.
Another reason is the high standard of life in Barcelona. Its closeness to the sea and to the mountain causes admiration throughout the whole world.
All those reasons render Barcelona the perfect setting for business development.
Scenario for business
Those interested in developing business in the city of Barcelona have found different scenarios to do so. One of them is the intersection between Paseo de Gracia and Diagonal Avenue in Eixample Neighbourhood, a place frequently chosen by important businesses to establish their headquarters. Another business spot is the border between Pedralbes and Les Corts Neighbourhoods, which has also been important, especially as a financial district.
However, after some time, other scenarios were born because of the need of more extense spaces and places where new synergy could emerge. These new business areas have found their place in 22@Barcelona in PobleNou Neighbourhood and Plaza Europa.
In Plaza Europa, the setting is a new economic district that grows next to the extended facilities of Fira de Barcelona (Gran Vía M2) and the fabulous Ciudad de la Justicia (City of Justice). It’s a new business centre between them that hosts several big international companies.
On the other side of the city, the destination for many expanding businesses is Distrito Tecnológico 22@ (22@ Technological District). Its an extension of Diagonal Avenue that reaches the sea and hosts both huge companies and new start-ups. It has an area of 1,000,000 square metres available to build offices in the upcoming years, or in other words, an area equivalent to 23 blocks of Eixample Neighbourhood.
Different types of companies find their home in Barcelona, where they can easily communicate with clients and develop new projects within an international economy.
Entrepeneurs and business angels in Barcelona
The importance of Barcelona’s entrepreneurship is not only based on creation. The city also looks for a way in which those worthy ideas come true. There are frequent meetings between investors and entrepreneurs aiming at making that possible.
Barcelona has been one of the first European cities offering these types of events. An example of that is Angel Capital Expo, organized by Keiretsu Forum.
Those events help find talents around Bareclona and generate business opportunities by means of the so-called business angels. Undoubtedly, the role of investors has changed. They have now an active role, offering entrepreneurs points of view that are much more connected to the business world and its evolution.
It’s not news that business angels networks, represented in Europe by EBAN, as well as business accelerators, are experiencing a boom time. Just one year ago, there were 500 private investors in the business angels networks, whereas now that number has doubled.
After several business meetings, entrepreneur and investor finish agreeing the details of their deal during different types of events organized by the city itself, including conferences, round tables on marketing techniques and seminars on legal aspects given by prestigious experts.
This results in a referent cluster for entrepreneurs in the south of Europe, strengthening the image of Barcelona as a business city with entrepreneurial spirit.
