The Port of Barcelona and Tech Barcelona inaugurated this Wednesday an innovation space that will host between 10 and 15 emerging companies dedicated to the blue economy, with about five employees per company. So far, seven have already shown interest.
The new hub will be located in Pier 01, the building that Tech Barcelona launched ten years ago to bring startups and corporations under one roof and now represents more than 1,300 companies. The participating startups will rent the desks they need in the space that Port de Barcelona and Tech Barcelona have enabled in Pier 01, as do the rest of the companies it hosts. According to the promoters, the investment to launch it has been minimal.
The BlueTechPort will be dedicated to finding new business models for traditional sectors such as port, logistics, and tourism. It will also focus on more disruptive ones such as underwater robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) applied to the marine environment, and drugs made from marine products. "All these sectors represent new opportunities for the maritime and port ecosystem," defends the president of the Port of Barcelona, Lluís Salvadó.
The companies will be able to use the port as a sandbox to carry out pilot tests or test prototypes in its facilities. This collaboration will also allow them to access funds and subsidies. For now, no startup has been selected to be located in Pier 01, and the participants will be chosen by both agents in a consensual manner.
The new space is part of the strategy that the Barcelona Port Authority (APB) is promoting to find new ways to improve the operation of its companies or reduce their environmental impact. It follows the same line as the launch a few weeks ago of the BCN Port Innovation foundation.
In addition, the BlueTechPort of Pier 01 is a first step of the hub of innovation that the Port de Barcelona will locate in the old warehouses of the Sant Bertran dock, very close to the Ronda Litoral and with marginal use for years. According to the APB, work on the rehabilitation project will begin after the summer. The space will be transformed to host companies, but it will do so while preserving the physiognomy and structure of the six buildings that make up the warehouses, adapting it to the new tenants and incorporating maritime elements and a green corridor. Another piece will be at the Moll de Barcelona, where innovative companies will also be located when the America's Cup ends.
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