Precedents

In November 2011, the mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias, visited the headquarters of LetsBonus, a company that Miguel Vicente had created two years earlier, which already employed more than 300 people doing business in Europe and Latin America. From the conversation between Trias and Vicente came the idea of supporting Barcelona as a great European e-commerce hub. In Barcelona there were beginning to be entrepreneurs and digital assets but they needed to be organized. In the summer of 2012, under the auspices of Barcelona Activa, brainstorming sessions were held that brought together the then-incipient sector, with prominent companies such as LetsBonus, Atrápalo, Trovit, Anuntis, Softonic, Groupalia, Inspirit, ItNet, Intercom, Socialpoint, eDreams or Ulabox.

Birth of E-commerce & Tech Barcelona

The group of entrepreneurs led by Miguel Vicente and the lawyer Ignasi Costas (RCD) promoted the creation in 2013 of the Barcelona E-commerce & Tech association. Miquel Martí, previously Biocat's director of innovation and finance, was in charge of designing and leading the project, as CEO of the organization.

Barcelona Tech City

The association was renamed Barcelona Tech City to embrace a broader spectrum of technologies and companies. Right from the start, it became the organization that led the way to Barcelona becoming the leading digital ecosystem in southern Europe: an ecosystem created from the bottom up, to unite and align entrepreneurs, startups, corporations, investors, universities, and administrations.

MVP and the foundation of Pier01

Martí dedicated this first stage to bringing together members of the ecosystem — in the first year there were already xxx associates — and studying major global innovation hubs. He also searched for a physical and symbolic space that would allow it to become a meeting point and would itself explain what the ecosystem of Barcelona was.

Inauguration of Pier01

The space was found in November 2015 and was finally inaugurated in July 2016 at the Palau de Mar. Pier01 is a corporate headquarters that is at the same time a large campus where dozens of companies live, an activity center, a coworking space, and a meeting point for national and international players when they are in the city.

The plaudits arrive

Barcelona Tech City receives the Ignasi Pujol award for Foment de l'Emprenedoria from Diari Ara, the Digitaliza award from El Periódico and the Carles Ferrer Salat award from Foment del Treball in the R&D category. The ecosystem begins to consolidate: Barcelona appears for the first time in the top European cities for entrepreneurship (third in the Atomic ranking).

Inauguration of Pier03

The urban technology campus project began to take shape with the creation of Pier03, a transversal space with companies such as Tiendeo, Viko, Novartis and The Valley. The building houses the historic 7 Portes restaurant, owned by Paco Solé Parellada (promoter of the Innova program at the UPC, a pioneer in Spain in the creation of technological projects at the university) and it was also the first place in Barcelona where Picasso lived.

BcnTech4Women and internationalization

Barcelona Tech City grew while promoting its values. Miquel Martí visited several leading international hubs, such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel, in order to learn from them. At the same time, the #BcnTech4Women project was launched: Barcelona Tech City's commitment to gender equality in the technological and digital sectors in Barcelona.

Tech Spirit and Covid-19

The pandemic forced the cancellation of the Mobile World Congress and 4Y4N, but Barcelona Tech City with other partners managed to create a five-day event where we were able to give a voice to the ecosystem, with full safety measures in place. Tech Spirit was a "one shot" event organized in order not to miss the opportunity for meetings and networking during the most important weeks of the year for the digital and technological ecosystem.

Urban Tech Campus and Tech Barcelona

The Urban Tech Campus project became even more relevant: the Pier05-Fintech Hub, the HealthTech Pier and the Urbantech projects were developed. The evolution translated into a new brand: Tech Barcelona.