60% of the capital resources that went into seed-stage financing for companies born in Barcelona in 2021 no longer come exclusively from investors linked to the project or the closest environment of their entrepreneurs, but rather from international funds.
This data highlights the transformation taking place in the city's entrepreneurial ecosystem and is in line with changes observed across Europe, a market that is acquiring a primary role in the knowledge economy and in the construction of B2B (Business-to-Business), as revealed in the session A tech perspective for recovery 2022, organized by Tech Barcelona.
"The financing of future companies, those that people are creating, is changing," explained Carlos Trenchs, head of Aldea Ventures, a venture capital platform based in Barcelona. "About ten years ago, when First-Time Entrepreneurs sought funding for their early-stage projects (pre-seed or seed capital), the capital basically came from their closest environment, but currently there are global investors willing to allocate their resources to innovative solutions that are born with a global vision and are promoted by people with a proven track record and experience," Trenchs added.
In a review of the future prospects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the session also gathered the opinions of Silvana Churruca, director of the Payment Innovation Hub; Noemí Moya, head of Voi Technology for Spain and France; and Montse Daban, scientific director of Biocat. The speakers agreed on Barcelona's capabilities to position itself as a city to attract innovative, technological, and disruptive projects and to attract international talent.
Health, mobility, and fintech —the three sectors represented by the speakers— are areas in full technological expansion and clear examples of where significant disruption is occurring and where many initiatives are emerging that capture a large part of capital investment, highlighted Carlos Trenchs. Initiatives arising in these fields "from their global vision, adapt to different markets and diverse economic realities, hence their interest," specified the director of Aldea Ventures.
For this reason, not only is foreign capital observed arriving in Barcelona ---"often already in a coordinated manner," as the director of Tech Barcelona, Miquel Martí, has highlighted--- but also the local investor has modified their perspective and "is now looking at European and international projects to allocate their resources".
The sum of Europe, as a market; technology, as the driver of value creation, and the so-called softwarization of the economy; and teams with talent and experience to develop it are the keys that will mark the future of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the speakers highlighted.
"Europe is going to play a very relevant role in the knowledge economy because the future comes from B2B, not B2C, in which Europe fell behind," explained Carlos Trenchs, adding that "one of the consequences of the pandemic has been that capital has flowed more easily and now 45% of all grow capital invested in Europe comes from the United States".
On the other hand, at the local level, during the debate it was highlighted that the Administration has a relevant role to assume: if Barcelona wants to play a role in the innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem, one of the great challenges is how the Administration finds its place to adapt reality to the innovative environment. And, secondly, the administration also has a fundamental role in attracting and retaining talent and, in this sense, Barcelona has an appeal due to its quality of life, legal certainty, business and entrepreneurial environment….