Investors put the focus on European entrepreneurs with Barcelona in the spotlight

Barcelona is one of the main European entrepreneurial hubs, due to the dynamism of its ecosystem, access to technological talent, its international connections, and even the quality of life the city offers. However, those who choose to undertake from Barcelona still have the same handicap as those who do so from other parts of Europe: financing, and that is that finding investors continues to be one of the biggest challenges to propel a startup.

Given this situation, which is replicated throughout Europe, founders of large European startups have taken a step forward to boost the ecosystem and innovation with a European seal, with Barcelona as a prominent place. The initiative, materialized under the name Project Europe, brings together nearly 200 of Europe's most relevant founders, including that of the fintech Cledara, Barcelona's Cristina Vila, along with co-founder Brad van Leeuwen. As Vila details, the focus is on founders under 25, and they plan to allocate 200,000 euros as initial investment in between 10 and 20 startups in the first year. But more will come later: the initial goal is to reach at least two or three sets of between 10 and 20 emerging companies at a European level. For now, the fund has already raised more than 10 million euros, as Vila details.

The program, initially promoted by the British Harry Stebbings, seeks to boost European entrepreneurship in a context where "many founders choose to go outside Europe because they don't find enough capital there," highlights Vila. This is how the reflection that led to the project arose: "What can we do to make more founders create their companies here?" Thus, the fund's investors are not only looking for a monetary return, but also to strengthen the ecosystem at a European level and generate opportunities within it, as highlighted by the founder of Cledara, which has offices in Barcelona and London.

To advance in this direction, the initiative offers not only funding, but also accompaniment to new founders by already expert founders, who in turn open doors to a network of valuable contacts and experience. "Something that Europe needs are investment funds that have people who have been founders, have created companies and have made them grow," highlights Vila. "When you are creating a company, there are many things that, if your investors have already experienced them, can be better faced," she adds. In fact, this modality of founders investing in new founders is more common in the United States, something that Project Europe wants to start changing: "Many startups created in the United States are, in reality, by European founders."

In fact, Vila went through a similar process. Trained at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) and UPF-Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM), Vila moved to London, where she began working in banking. After nine years at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, she moved into the fintech field, in a startup with the goal of creating a bank for emerging markets. "There I learned the speed at which a startup has to move," and something else: "The chaos that using various software tools can represent for technology companies when they are not centralized."

It was at this point that she considered launching a company that would solve this issue: "The world of software was going to continue to grow, companies would use it more and more, and that chaos had to be fixed." With this objective, Vila decided to launch Cledara in 2018 from London. Shortly after, and as a result of Brexit, the company opened its first office outside the United Kingdom, precisely in Vila's native Barcelona. From the offices in the British and Catalan capitals, Cledara also piloted its landing in the United States two years ago, where it continues to expand. In addition, the company continues to work on new integrations and automations, linked above all to artificial intelligence.

"More than expanding geographically, we are focused on expanding the product," and they do so with a team of 65 professionals, 25 of them in Barcelona. Now, the entrepreneur who left Barcelona to seek opportunities two decades ago, works to ensure that European founders do not have to go beyond their borders due to lack of funding, within Project Europe. All with one goal: to boost European entrepreneurship and encourage the next generation to take greater risks to solidify a Europe of innovation, in which Barcelona has much to say.