A new ecosystem of companies where music, sports, and major events converge has taken shape at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. Nestled in a representative location for all three sectors, the center has begun operating with ten initial resident companies. Named The Venue Barcelona, it will be the headquarters of A-Champs, the Association of Manufacturers and Distributors of Sporting Goods (Afydad), the Barcelona Music Tech Hub (BMTH), the Barcelona Sports Hub (BSH), Sportmas, Talent Passport, Toda&Nel·lo, TPC Matchpoint, Tuwa, and WeVolv.
This new business framework, which will connect companies, entities, and startups linked to these three sectors, occupies 1,100 square meters on the south facade of the Estadi Olímpic. Equipped with 14 work modules, a coworking area, and an outdoor space of 400 square meters, the center has been adapted with a budget of 2.8 million euros, contributed by Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (BSM). In this new space, initiatives linked to three areas that intersect in venues precisely like the Estadi Olímpic will coexist, a venue for major events, memorable international concerts, and relevant sporting events, such as Barça's matches while the Camp Nou renovations continue.
The new center has started its activity with a working day involving a hundred companies from the three implicated areas, who have agreed on the desire to promote disruptive projects that provide innovative solutions to the industry's needs. In this inaugural session, companies participated in working sessions aimed at devising joint solutions to some of the challenges facing the triad of industries. Mobility, sustainability, water management, promotion, catering, the application of new technologies, and the generation of new experiences aimed at fans are issues that will be addressed from the new center, promoted by BSM in collaboration with Barcelona Activa and the Institut Barcelona Esports (IBE).
The ten companies and initiatives located in The Venue form an ecosystem that "will foster a constant dialogue between companies to generate concrete solutions that respond to these current and future challenges" of the three sectors, according to The Venue co-founder, Emilio Risques. The diversity of the companies will contribute to energizing this dialogue, with proposals ranging from Afydad, which brings together 100 companies and 250 sports brands, to WeVolv, founded by American basketball player Jori Davis to allow athletes to independently manage their careers and lifestyle with the support of the sports community.
The company TPC Matchpoint, creator of software focused on the comprehensive management of sports center activity, and A-Champs, linked to innovative and interactive training, are also examples of companies related to sports that will work from The Venue. The platform that connects manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in the Sportmas sector, and the Barcelona Sports Hub will also do so. This initiative, also promoted by the IBE and the City Council, promotes the sportech field by collaborating with 380 entities, companies, and startups.
Connecting the sports sector with tourism, Tuwa aims to contribute to the development of sustainable sports events. For its part, the business sector comes into contact with sports and also with music, culture, and entertainment with Talent Passport, while the Barcelona Music Tech Hub energizes a community of more than 80 professionals, startups, and investors in the digital technology industry. Providing legal umbrella to all companies in the ecosystem, Toda&Nel·lo will provide legal services to the initiatives of the innovation center.
In addition to serving as a base of operations for resident companies, startups and projects, The Venue will collaborate with leading actors who will participate in the testing of projects promoted from the new ecosystem of the Estadi Olímpic. An example of this is the benchmark in the live music industry, Live Nation, which will facilitate the realization of proof of concepts and pilots of solutions arising from The Venue companies in the events it holds in the Anella Olímpica.
The impetus of The Venue precisely reinforces the role of this venue "as an innovation platform in the field of music, sports and events," according to the director of the Anella Olímpica, Carme Lanuza. "It is a new role capable of energizing the local fabric and attracting talent, which adds to the contribution made by spaces such as the Palau Sant Jordi and the Estadi Olímpic in positioning Barcelona as a venue for major events and shows," added the head of this area of Montjuïc facilities, which in 2023 closed a record year.
The Venue will have the collaboration of leading actors who will participate in the testing of projects promoted from the new ecosystem of the Estadi OlímpicThe new ecosystem will be managed by a UTE formed by four large firms linked to the promotion of innovation centers and the acceleration of startups. The company specialized in converting ideas into products B-Bruce will promote the brand development of the proposals emerging from the center, while Ongoing will use the marketing of results to optimize concepts and experiences that arise from startups and companies of The Venue.
For its part, The Mother Trees will lead the application of an open and collaborative innovation concept within the ecosystem, and U-Skale will be responsible for accelerating the initiatives, creating innovative business models that seek to impact their respective sectors. As pieces of a mechanism, each actor will play a particular and at the same time joint role, within an initiative that aims to position Barcelona as a benchmark in the confluence of music, sports, and major events.
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