The American private investment fund XY Booster will land next year in the Catalan capital. With a planned investment of five million, the venture builder will locate an innovation hub in the city center. Under the name Q House, it will operate from Passatge Domingo, next to Paseo de Gràcia, in a 2,500 square meter space distributed over seven floors and with a capacity for 400 people.
The five million investment will be allocated to the adaptation of the property, its interior design by Alto Interiorismo, and the installation of technological and audiovisual equipment, such as an immersive room that will host immersive experiences with virtual reality.
The building will house the offices of XY Booster and also teams from the startups it promotes, in addition to a 4.0 laboratory focused on robotics, prototyping, virtual reality, and 3D printing. The property will also feature areas for corporate activities with a capacity of up to 340 people, as well as a private social club for employees and external professionals, within a hub that aims to generate business and also sociocultural synergies and strategic relationships.
The fund's activity is based on identifying niche markets with specific inclusion challenges and addressing them with innovative solutionsThe corporation has chosen the Catalan capital to open its hub after it was founded in 2022 in New York by the Catalan entrepreneur Robert Monturiol. The businessman launched XY Booster as an investment fund focused on companies incubated in Spanish-speaking markets scalable internationally, with the aim of promoting projects linked to improving the quality of life of underserved social groups. In this vein, it is based on identifying niche markets with specific inclusion challenges and addressing them with innovative solutions that incorporate cutting-edge technology.
The fund currently promotes about thirty social impact projects. And it is that "the direct consequence of betting on social impact initiatives is the generation of wealth, understanding it not only as high economic performance, but also as social benefits, education, development and security," according to Monturiol. A descendant of the renowned engineer Narcís Monturiol, the promoter of XY Booster has promoted more than 100 digital transformation and customer experience initiatives throughout his career, such as Ictineo Plataforma, which he recently sold to the second largest private bank in Latin America, Bradesco.
Following this philosophy, 40% of XY Booster's staff is made up of neurodiverse profiles —including Monturiol, who is dyslexic—, since "neurodiverse talent brings points of view outside the standard" and allows them to be disruptive and more competitive in the market, according to him.
The fund, with a staff of 50% women, began its activity in 2022 with a team of 50 people, and currently has more than 400 collaborators and offices in New York, San Francisco, Mexico, Madrid and Barcelona, where it arrived last year opening the startup studio The CX Lab, which will now be integrated into the new hub that will land in the city.