The Government of Catalonia has signed an agreement with the agency Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) to promote the entrepreneurial and start-up ecosystems of Catalonia and Flanders. The aim of this initiative is to strengthen the bond between the start-up ecosystems of Catalonia and Flanders, offering a willingness to cooperate in sharing relevant information for their advancement. In this way, they undertake to exchange relevant information in the economic, trade, and investment fields. At the same time, they also propose to cooperate for a period of two years – extendable for two more years – in boosting their respective local start-ups by facilitating connections between companies, agents, and investors from both ecosystems.

According to Albert Castellanos, the CEO of ACCIÓ – the Government’s Agency for Business Competitiveness – “Flanders’ start-up ecosystem features notable elements such as a strong emphasis on investment in R&D or the application of deeptech technologies, aspects that align with the focus Catalonia aims to place o our start-up ecosystem”.

Along these lines, he emphasised that “the best way to consolidate this ecosystem is through collaboration:doing so with someone who shares the same values and objectives, such as the commitment to generate knowledge through science and research, is a pleasure and a privilege”.

The Catalan start-up ecosystem, on the rise

This agreement comes a week after the presentation of the study analysing the Catalan start-up ecosystem in 2023, conducted by the government. This report notes that in 2023 there were 2,102 start-ups in Catalonia, the highest figure in the historical series, which began in 2016.

Furthermore, for the first time, the total number of employees in start-ups in Catalonia has exceeded 20,000 (specifically 20,665) and the total turnover has surpassed 2 billion euros, reaching 2.112 billion euros.