More than 140 'startups' and 280 companies set up in Norrsken's 'hub' in its first year

A community of 1,200 members, 140 startups, 280 impact companies, and about twenty venture capital firms and accelerators. With these elements, Norrsken House Barcelona has woven an impact economy ecosystem during its first year of activity, making it the largest technology and impact hub in Europe.

Since its opening a year ago in Barceloneta, the center promoted by the Swedish Norrsken foundation has organized 244 events and has received more than 15,000 visitors. Among them, internationally relevant figures have passed through the hub, such as the founder of Skype and Atomico, Niklas Zennström, and the president of Banco Santander, Ana Patricia Botín.

This new ecosystem that has emerged next to the W Hotel and the Desigual headquarters includes actors such as the first global scientific climate risk platform, Mitiga Solutions, which has raised eight million since it began operating in the hub and has about fifty employees.

Barcelona will become the epicenter of the impact economy next week, hosting Norrsken's Impact Week and the Ship2B Impact Forum.

Companies and startups cohabit in the hub with venture firms such as M-Ventures, with 600 million euros in its portfolio; Kompas VC, with 160 million; Lumo, with 100; Spintop Ventures, with 30, and the Evergreen and Blink VC family office. The ecosystem has investment agents and also acceleration agents, with impact funds S2Xpeed, Zubi Labs and Bitesize Ventures, which provide tools and resources to startups to facilitate their innovation and scaling.

The Swedish foundation launched the center a year ago with the aim of connecting entrepreneurs with the resources, knowledge and networks necessary to boost their impact projects. "It's about generating a positive social or environmental impact, so that we can grow within the limits of planetary boundaries, and not exceed them," defended the CEO of Norrsken House Barcelona, Marc Jordana. The Swedish foundation pursues these same objectives from its Stockholm hub and its Kigali hub, which aim to "foster solutions in areas such as climate technologies, healthcare, biotechnology and other emerging sectors."

With the aim of continuing to grow in Barcelona, the foundation's priority is to continue building bridges with the local ecosystem and other European cities, as well as with institutions such as Acció and Barcelona Activa. The hub also prioritizes attracting new international investors to the Catalan capital and generating new opportunities, as well as promoting impact projects and initiatives.

Barcelona, city of impact

Precisely Barcelona will become the epicenter of the impact economy next week, when the Catalan capital will host Norrsken's Impact Week, and also the Ship2B Impact Forum. This will be the first time that the city will host the Impact Week, which has held four editions in Stockholm.

Norrsken's event will bring together key figures in sectors such as technology, sustainability and entrepreneurship, who will be able to connect with impact funds that have a portfolio capital of more than 314,000 million euros. The Swedish foundation's conferences are expected to bring together more than 1,500 attendees from 58 countries, including entrepreneurs, investors, founders, business leaders and policymakers.

The program will include about forty activities, with speakers such as the head of TED Talks, Chris Anderson; the founder of Wise, Taavet Hinrikus; the founder of Ecosia, Christian Kroll; the director of Google's AI program, Anna Koivuniemi; the co-founder and CEO of the Danish sustainable fashion firm GANNI, Nicolaj Reffstrup, and the founder of the global EAT Forum platform, Gunhild Stordalen, among other speakers who will delve into the impact economy and its role in addressing current challenges.

For its part, the eleventh edition of the Ship2B Impact Forum will bring together representatives from companies such as the Gates Foundation, Amazon WS, BMW Foundation, Decathlon, Bridges Fund, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, European Investment Bank, and Cofides. The event, which will be held on November 6 and 7 under the motto Leading the Next Stage, aims to mark a before and after in the impact economy ecosystem and rethink the system to give it new momentum.