Barcelona is a leading city in the fintech sector, with cutting-edge companies such as NoviCap, Typs, BNC10, Goin, and Verse. Now, Barcelona Tech City, the Barcelona Stock Exchange, and the Generalitat want to go a step further, creating a financial technology hub in the stock market of the Catalan capital, which is expected to open in mid-next year for emerging companies in the technological and digital sector, including e-commerce and blockchain activities. The new center will follow the model that the Barcelona TechCity association has promoted in buildings such as Pier01 and Pier 03, bringing together experts, startups from these sectors, and large corporations under one roof to foster the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
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Barcelona and Catalonia aspire to consolidate their leadership in a sector that is transforming the way of understanding traditional banking, with innovative proposals such as contactless payment from mobile phones, access to cash from anywhere in the world without commissions, crowdfunding platforms, or cryptocurrencies. The Generalitat, through the Department of the Vice-presidency and of Economy and Finance, has contributed to the development of this new financial hub in the Stock Exchange with the aim of enhancing the visibility and competitiveness of the Catalan fintech cluster.
"We have approved a Government agreement that makes it possible for the Barcelona Stock Exchange building, owned by the Generalitat de Catalunya, to become a fintech hub through the collaboration between the Barcelona Stock Exchange and the Institut Català de Finances, integrally managing the entire building so that innovative companies from the financial sector can come and it becomes a financial hub of European reference," explains Lluis Juncà, general director of Economic Promotion, Competition and Regulation.
The intervention of the Government has allowed Barcelona Tech City and the Barcelona Stock Exchange to connect, a process that began during the event Barcelona, the Fintech City at Four Years From Now (4Y4N) in 2019, the event for startups organized during the Mobile World Congress (MWC). With events like this, which continued this year at the Barcelona Tech Spirit, the Generalitat wants to show institutional support for companies in the fintech sector, in addition to creating a meeting space between various actors, as has been the case.
The process to create this hub began during the event Barcelona, the Fintech City, organized by the GeneralitatRepresentatives of Barcelona Tech City contacted the Barcelona Stock Exchange after 4Y4N, a fact that has ended up leading to an agreement between both institutions for the creation of the association's new Pier in the office building where the Barcelona stock market is located on Passeig de Gràcia. In the beginning, thehubit was only going to have the ground floor and the first four floors of the building, which are the ones occupied by the Stock Exchange. But,the Department of the Vice-Presidency and Economy has reaffirmed its commitment to fintech by granting a real right of surface of the upper floors ---from the 5th to the 9th--- to the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF), for a period of 12 years. The ICF may directly exploit these spaces or transfer them to third parties, which must be existing or newly created companies,startupsor companies that are already in a growth phase.
This lays the groundwork for this technological center in the financial sector, which aims to be a pioneer in Catalonia and a benchmark in Europe. The Government wants to boost the ecosystem, in an innovative and dynamic environment that serves to create synergies throughout the entire value chain and support companies that develop digital businesses in the financial sector.
The ICF will be key in this hub, increasing its influence and notoriety in the country's economy, especially in innovation for banking and finance. In addition, the public financial entity will be able to strengthen its position in the financial and technological ecosystem of Barcelona and Catalonia, from a privileged location in the city center and in a symbolic building for the country's economy.
The 'Pier 05', future fintech hub
The new fintech hub of Barcelona Tech City will be part of the association's project to generate an urban technological campus in the city, integrated by the different properties that are being developed as a result of the success of Pier 01. The objective of this initiative is to place Barcelona at the forefront of leading capitals for emerging companies in the technological field, from the point of view of different sectors such as fintech, mobility and logistics, health or sports.
The Barcelona Tech City association wants to generate an urban technological campus in the city, integrated by the different properties that are being developed as a result of the success of Pier 01In the case of the Stock Exchange Pier, which will be Pier 05,a workspace will be generated for startups, investors, venture capital, traditional banking, and insurers, with the intention of producing an optimal environmentto energize and create alliances. It also aims to facilitate access forstartupsto the different resources of the capital markets and thus consolidate its growth.
Another important factor in the future Pier 05 is the knowledge that will be available to startups, which are not used to imagining themselves on the stock exchange floor. The alliance between Barcelona Tech City and Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) will make the latter provide companies with the experience to make them grow through its market infrastructures, such as the Stock Exchange, the MAB or the Pre-Market Environment.
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