Barcelona, 16 November 2022 – Tech Spirit Barcelona celebrates its 3rd edition and has become the benchmark meeting for the local technology community with an international outlook and ambition. The event, promoted by Tech Barcelona, will take place on 30 November and 1 December at the Llotja de Mar in Barcelona, and will bring together entrepreneurs, startups, scaleups, corporations and investment funds to discuss the present and future of the sector as well as share success stories and stories of the ecosystem.

With the slogan “In Barcelona, we tech”, Tech Spirit Barcelona already has 4,000 registrations and more than 130 confirmed speakers in 60 colloquiums and round tables. Featured speakers include Toni Ruiz (CEO of Mango), David Martín (founder and CEO of Tradeinn), Elisenda Bou-Balust (founder of Vilynx and Head of Apple Media Knowledge), Alexandre Prot (co-founder and CEO of Qonto), Ana Boldú (CEO of Platanomelón), Rob Cassedy (CEO of Wallapop), Carlos Blanco (Encomenda Smart Capital), Ana Maiques (CEO of Neuroelectrics), Aleix Puig (CEO of Vicio), Carlota Pi (Executive President of Holaluz) and Jaume Roures (CEO and founder of Mediapro), among others.

The event’s two stages will also feature representatives of success stories from the entrepreneurial sector such as Factorial HR, Tropicfeel, Exoticca, Minoryx, Ona Therapeutics, Doctomatic, Methinks AI, Roka Furadada, Vottun, Bloock, Citibeats, Worldsensing, 011h, Housfy, Venvirotech and Hannun; the vision of organisations such as Barcelona Supercomputing Center and America’s Cup Team New Zealand; international projects such as HP, Pepsico, Nestlé and Danone; and the investment point of view of Wayra, Antai Venture Builder, Asabys, Encomenda Smart Capital, Notion, Aldea Ventures, Inveready, Korelya Capital, Seastainable Ventures, 4Founders and Digital Horizon VC, among others.

Pavlo Kartashov, CEO of the Ukrainian Startup Fund, will explain from Kiev how Ukraine is relying on the technology sector for the future reconstruction of the country.

On the other hand, the Catalan Pitch Competition, organised by ACCIÓ, will be held, in which 27 start-ups will compete. The startups will have one minute to explain their business model to the public and to a panel of experts made up of investors, who will be in charge of naming the Catalan Startup of the Year.

Tech Spirit Barcelona is supported by ACCIÓ (the agency for competitiveness of the Departament d’Empresa i Treball of the Generalitat de Catalunya), Ajuntament de Barcelona, CaixaBank, Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, Estrella Damm, HP – Printing Emotions by Alium, Institut Català de Finances, Mango, Mobile World Congress, Port de Barcelona, Wayra – Telefónica Innovation, LLYC, dwfRCD, McCann, La Vanguardia and Llotja de Mar – Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona, as host.

During the event, which is free of charge and requires prior registration, the public will be able to enjoy the experiences of renowned national and international entrepreneurs, as well as the experience and vision of major corporations and investment funds that have committed to Barcelona as an international technology hub.

Barcelona, a pole of attraction for talent and investment

Barcelona’s startup ecosystem is made up of more than 1,900 startups, a figure that strengthens the city’s position as the leading European technology hub in Southern Europe. Growth in recent years has been sustained: the number of startups has grown by 11.4% compared to 2020, and by 75% compared to 2016, according to ACCIÓ data.

The startups as a whole have a turnover of €1.71 billion and have generated more than 19,300 jobs. The Catalan ecosystem has demonstrated its ability to attract international talent, as 25% of the workers and 17% of the founders of the startups are foreigners. In terms of investment, 2021 was a record year for startups in the ecosystem, which raised a total of €1,479M.

With the aim of positioning itself as a point of reference in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, Tech Spirit Barcelona was born in February 2020 spontaneously when a group of entrepreneurs reacted to the cancellation of 4YFN and the Mobile World Congress (MWC), and has managed to consolidate itself as a benchmark event for the entrepreneurial, technological and innovation ecosystem.