Catalonia has 294 companies dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT) sector, with a combined turnover of more than 1.585 billion euros. According to a report by Acció, the Generalitat's agency for business competitiveness, the figure has increased by 7% compared to 2021. The study also details that the number of Catalan companies specialized in IoT increased by 5% year-on-year in 2022 and already employ about 6,770 people.
According to Acció, Catalonia is positioned as the leading region in southern Europe in attracting foreign investment in the IoT field, with a total of 136.2 million euros in the last five years. The report foresees that by 2030 both the number of connected IoT devices and the revenues of the global market in this sector will triple, reports ACN.
IoT is defined as the digital interconnection of objects in different fields (domestic, industrial or urban, among others). The Acció report points out that it is an "emerging" sector and that 85.7% of the companies that make it up are SMEs, 30.7% are startup and 41.8% are companies that are less than ten years old. According to the study, 8.1% of Catalan startup use IoT as their main technology. During the last five years, Barcelona has positioned itself as the leading region in southern Europe in attracting investment in this sector.
Overall, Catalonia has attracted 9 projects (4.2% of the total invested in IoT in Europe) worth 136.2 million euros (4% of the total invested). In addition, a total of 466 jobs have been created. In the city ranking, Barcelona is the second metropolis in southern Europe in closed rounds by IoT specialized startup, only behind Milan. In the whole EU, the Catalan capital ranks seventh, with 19 funding rounds worth 24.2 million euros in the last five years.
Growing market: triple the revenues by 2030
The restrictions marked by Covid-19 highlighted the need for many business activities to be able to operate remotely. In fact, the context of the pandemic facilitated the emergence of new applications linked to the field of IoT. The growth benefited industries such as manufacturing and also other fields such as consumption, agriculture or logistics, among others. IoT offers multiple applications in different sectors and business areas; route optimization, the use of autonomous and connected vehicles, improved production management or remote monitoring of patients in the health field.
Today, the global IoT market continues to grow. According to the Acció study, this market is expected to triple its revenue by 2030, reaching more than 621 billion dollars. Likewise, it is also estimated that the number of connected devices worldwide will triple during this time. One of the main challenges facing IoT is the growing impact of cyberattacks carried out through connected devices. Thus, it is estimated that the market for the security of connected objects will amount to 38.9 billion dollars by 2025.