The 10 most disruptive companies in Catalonia

The search for new business models, the use of technology, and the possibility of exponential growth and international scalability are some of the characteristics shared by the ten most disruptive companies in Catalonia, selected by Acció, part of the Department of Business and Labor. Among consolidated companies and startups, those chosen are Flax & Kale, BMAT, GPAInnova, Kave Home, Uriach, Able Human Motion, AllRead, Fregata Space, Innovamat, and Intrega Therapeutics.

The competitiveness agency highlights that disruptive companies will register better results this year compared to other innovative companies. According to Acció's data, 78% of disruptive companies expect to increase turnover; 30%, to create new jobs; and 18%, to increase income from licenses and royalties.

• Flax & Kale

When healthy food was not yet so fashionable, Teresa Carles and Ramón Barri dared to open a vegetarian restaurant, the first in Lleida. Against the current, their culinary bet ended up being discovered as an option not only profitable, but, above all, for the future. From its origins in the kitchen of El Paradís, it was born Flax & Kale, a food company, with restoration as its main activity, but also focused on R&D, with the inauguration in 2018 of its own innovation center to research and create new healthy consumption alternatives.

• BMAT

According to its founders, "a group ofnerdsof music created BMAT in 2006, as aspin-off from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). They started by testing the technology to find new functions with which to enjoy songs, but ended up finding a market niche:musical monitoring. Through the use of artificial intelligence and big data, the company is dedicated to controlling the reproductions of musical pieces on televisions, radio stations, nightclubs, and digital platforms around the world, with the aim of being able to remunerate copyright to creators and music owners.

• GPAInnova

In 2013, Pau Sarsanedas, Pau Guasch, Arnau Garrell, and Gerard Tordera created GPAInnova. In less than ten years, the technology-based company has specialized in different industrial fields, such as machinery for metal surface treatment, naval robotics, medical devices, and high-power electronics. It has delegations in the United States and China ---Hong Kong and Shenzhen---. In mid-2021, it opened a new 6,000-square-meter headquarters in Barcelona.

• Kave Home

Francesc Julià, a turner by profession, started in the furniture sector at just 20 years old as a furniture representative. Two years later, he created Julià Group, a company distributing mattresses and beds in Girona. Since then, in the early 80s, the company grew and diversified its activity, eventually taking the name Kave Home in 2013. It wasn't until 2019 that the first physical stores arrived, located in Barcelona, Madrid, and Vigo, to which nine more have been added in Spain. The furniture and decoration design brand based in Sils is already present in more than 80 countries, with the use of technology, sustainability, and new materials as its emblem.

• Uriach

The family group is focused on strengthening its leadership in the segment ofconsumer health, as evidenced last year with the sale of its B2B pharmaceutical business. With the new structure, Uriach closed 2021 with a turnover of 235 million euros, a 42% increase compared to the previous year. In a process of international expansion, with the purchase ofthe Romanian company Medimoworthe German Sidroga, France continues to be the great pending subject for the owner of brands such as Biodramina, Fisiocrem, Cistitus, Utabon, and Aerored.

• Able Human Motion

Thisstartupfrom Barcelona works to ensure that everyone can move and walk. To do this, they have created a new generation robotic exoskeleton, characterized by being lighter and more economical than current ones. The use of robotics, thebig dataand the cloud have been the tools they have used to make it possible. The Guttman Institute and Asepeyo are some of the clinical centers that have already validated it, pending its commercialization.

• AllRead

To be able to detect, read and digitize any supply chain to streamline production processes and reduce the time spent interpreting it. The startup uses thedeep learning to analyze all the information contained in containers and freight wagons, both on the surface and in license plates or barcodes, processing it and offering the data in a simple way. AllRead was born at the Computer Vision Center (CVC) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). It has already been tested in ports such as Barcelona, Bilbao, and Algeciras.

• Fregata Space

From Poblenou, thisstartupis capable of determining air and water quality anywhere in the world immediately, using satellite images. With the use of technologies such asbig data andmachine learning, this company from the emerging New Space sector obtains precise and predictive information that can be used to detect patterns and find solutions to reduce pollution and environmental impact. It already operates in almost 120 countries.

Acció highlights that disruptive companies will obtain better results this year: 78% will increase turnover and 30% will expand their workforce

• Innovamat

Mathematics has always been difficult to teach, which is why Innovamat has created software that brings them closer to students in a more competent, personalized, and fun way. Augmented reality, puzzles, and mobile applications to learn basic concepts that were previously too difficult to understand and were soon forgotten. Based in Sant Cugat del Vallès and created in 2017, it has managed to add more than 1,200 centers and 12,000 teachers.

• Integra Therapeutics

The biotech has created a gene writing platform with the purpose of preventing and curing genetic and oncological diseases. The method ofIntegra Therapeuticsis based on the insertion of DNA fragments into the genome. Founded in 2020 as aspin-off from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) by doctors Marc Güell and Avencia Sánchez-Mejías.

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