The Secretary for Business and Competitiveness and CEO of the Agency for Business Competitiveness (ACCIÓ), Albert Castellanos i Maduell, announced on Tuesday that there are currently 1,835 foreign companies operating in technological sectors in Catalonia. According to data from the Government of Catalonia, this represents a 5.9% increase compared to 2022 and a 34% increase compared to 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Castellanos announced this during the opening of the fourth edition of Tech Spirit Barcelona, one of the main annual events held in Catalonia in the field of start-ups and technology and digital companies.

During his speech, Castellanos underline the history of the start-up ecosystem in Catalonia over the last decade and emphasised "the commitment of Tech Barcelona, accelerators, private entities, and the Government to turn Barcelona and Catalonia into a hub for start-ups and entrepreneurship on a European scale". The Secretary for Business and Competitiveness of the Government of Catalonia underlined the importance of "public-private collaboration" during these 10 years, a factor that has allowed Barcelona to become "the leading hub for start-ups in southern Europe, the second most popular in the European Union to found a start-up, and the fifth in funding rounds raised". "Just six years ago, we had half the number of start-ups we have now, and they raised four times less funding than they do today,” he emphasised.

According to data released by the Government today, the 1,835 foreign technology companies located in Catalonia represent 19.8% of the total foreign subsidiaries with a presence in our country (9,255 companies). These companies come mostly from the United States (19% of the total), France (13.4%), the United Kingdom (13%), Germany (10%), and Italy (5.3%). By sector, the companies operate mostly in ICT and electronics (56%), audiovisual (10.5%), health products and services (9.4%) and R&D (9%).

Tech Spirit, the technological spirit of Barcelona and Catalonia

Tech Spirit was born four years ago spontaneously after the cancellation of the 4YFN and MWC conferences due to the pandemic. It features more than 140 speakers and over 70 talks with participants from companies such as Holaluz, LinkedIn, Nestle, the Emirates Team New Zealand – America's Cup, Bayer, Cruïlla, and Dindog, among others, to discuss the present and future of the local technological ecosystem, engage in networking, and share success stories.