Barcelona has climbed to seventh position in Europe for investment in technology companies in 2021. The city's entrepreneurial ecosystem has received a total of 1,503 million dollars from international investors, a figure that quadruples the amount received in 2020, estimated at 365 million dollars, according to data published by Atomico State of European Tech 2021, the most relevant study on the technology sector in Europe.
Thanks to this 300% increase in the volume captured by investment rounds, Barcelona has risen from the twelfth position in the ranking it occupied in 2020 to seventh position in a ranking led by London, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, Amsterdam, and Munich. The Catalan capital thus positions itself ahead of other European reference cities such as Madrid (in tenth position with 1,159 million dollars), Vienna, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Dublin, Tallinn, Oslo, or Milan. This seventh position is similar to that obtained in 2019 (sixth), 2018 (seventh), and 2017 (sixth).
The total investment at a European level exceeds 100,000 million dollars for the first time, a figure that also triples that of 2020; thus, the tech ecosystem in Europe reaches a value of 3 trillion dollars. This growth is due to the increasing number of European unicorns, that is, startups valued at more than one billion dollars. According to Atomico, Europe already has more than 300 unicorns; of the four in Spain, two are based in Barcelona, Glovo and Wallbox, and two in Madrid: Jobandtalent and Cabify. In fact, to reach the 1,500 million dollars raised this year in Barcelona, the financing rounds closed by Glovo and Wallbox and by other large technology companies such as Wallapop or Travelperk have been decisive.
"Europe firmly positions itself as a global technological actor in 2021, with a record capital of 121,000 million dollars invested and 98 new unicorns", states the study, which points out that European startups "are growing more than ever". Now there are also 26 decacorns or tech companies with a value exceeding 10,000 million. Europe "has become a breeding ground for companies in all sectors, from frontier technology to cryptocurrencies and enterprise software as a service (SaaS)". "European founders can create successful companies from Europe", adds Atomico, who also detects that "a new generation of entrepreneurs is emerging that is putting social and climate impact at the center of their mission". On the other hand, the venture capital sector is confirmed as the main source of financing for technological startups, along with IPOs, many of them carried out through a new type of listed vehicle called spac (special purpose acquisition company), the formula used, for example, by Wallbox.
A new generation of entrepreneurs is emerging that is putting social and climate impact at the center of their mission"All indicators show that we are recovering with great solvency from the global crisis, attracting investments, creating new quality jobs and consolidating the commitment to support the city's economic fabric with a model that combines more competitiveness, more sustainability and more equity", highlighted the first deputy mayor for Economy, Work, Competitiveness and Finance, Jaume Collboni, in reference to the Atomico study.
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