IQS Tech Factory organized on February 26 “Catalonia as a Hub for Industrial Entrepeneurship” at Tech Spirit Barcelona. The conference, which brought together the key players of the industry in Barcelona -public institutions, investment funds, accelerators, educative centers.
On 26 February IQS Tech Factory organised Catalonia as a Hub for Industrial Entrepreneurship in Tech Spirit Barcelona. The event, which brought together the key players from the industry in Barcelona -public institutions, investment funds, accelerators, training centres, along with representatives from international industrial start-ups and participants in IQS Next Tech-, demonstrated that the Catalan capital is prepared to become an international point of reference in the sector.
Over the last five years the Catalan capital has evolved to give the region everything it needs to integrate all the parties involved in creating a great industrial ecosystem. In this sense, Catalan industry currently represents 20% of the total GDP.
Oriol Pascual, the director of IQS Tech Factory, highlighted the relevance of the industry as the core of high added value economic systems: "Truly resilient economies are those in which the industrial sector has a crucial role", he explained.
The need to incentivise corporate venturing to overcome the lack of investment by large companies in start-ups was one of the pending subjects in Barcelona indicated in the speeches during the event.
"The sector's success comes from the contribution tat local companies make to the start-ups founded in the ecosystem", highlighted Josep Lluís Sanfeliu, founder of Asabys.
"The biggest companies are Trans-Atlantic corporations and the start-ups that we incorporate are motorboats. They are very fast and we have to know how to adapt to them, because our experiences with them have been very positive and have provided great results", admitted Mónica Gispert, the director of Innovation and Business Development of the multinational pharmaceutical company Uriach.
Both start-ups as well as corporations are calling for greater involvement by the public administrations to achieve more successful partnerships in the future: "Governments know the concerns of both parties, but they have to make a greater effort so that we can forge connections", highlighted Juanjo Canuto, CEO of Steering Machines, the winner of the 2019 Most Promising Industrial Start-Up Award during the latest edition of IQS Tech Fest.
On the other hand, the lack of local talent is one of the aspects that needs to be corrected in the city. According to Miquel Rey, the General Business Manager of Eurecat: "The market demands call for around 10,000 engineers annually, but in Catalonia we only have around 4,000 graduates every year".
For Heriberto Saldivar, Managing Director of Brinc Accelerator, one of the world's leading accelerators, the solution is in opening the market to importing international talent, as other European capitals such as Madrid, Berlin and Paris have done.
"Barcelona has everything to activate its potential at the local level and abroad, but it still is very difficult to bring in foreign talent. The goal is not only to be a great ecosystem, but to know how to project it abroad", he concluded.
Catalonia as a Hub for Industrial Entrepreneurshipwas jointly organised with Institute of Next. The event, which forms part of the Tech Spirit Barcelona entrepreneurship week, has been promoted by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Zona Franca Consortium and Uriach.
On 26 February, IQS Tech Factory also organised the debate entitled Beyond tech ventures: opportunities in industrial entrepreneurship, where the participants highlighted the adaptation of the Chinese industry through innovations that have generated millions of jobs.
The event, moderated by Oriol Pascual, featured Alfons Cornella, the Founder and President of Institute of Next and one of the leading innovation experts in Spain and Xavier Ferràs, the Director of Business Intelligence in Esade Business & Law School.
"Industrial start-ups have a greater capacity to create work than the service sectors. To do so, a proper industrial ecosystem is the only solution to create a powerful middle class", explained Cornella in agreement with Ferràs.