The Tech Spirit consolidates itself as the reference meeting for 'startups'

The Tech Spirit Barcelona has once again filled the Llotja de Mar this week. This initiative emerged in February 2020 as a response to the cancellation of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and, especially, the 4 Years From Now (4YFN), the international showcase for local startups during the four days of the most important congress for the mobile phone sector. A few days before the lockdown, the event gathered some 5,000 people and demonstrated the resilience of the Catalan capital, while maintaining the spirit of 4Y4N.

The meeting became a symbol and Tech Barcelona, formerly Barcelona Tech City, has wanted to update it with an eye on recovery after the pandemic. It has done so with a smaller format and a duration of only two days, bringing together more than 140 speakers. "We have decided to repeat to turn Tech Spirit into the reference event for the Barcelona entrepreneurial ecosystem with a global outlook," explains the president of Tech Barcelona, Miguel Vicente. More than 5,000 people have registered to participate in it, a similar figure to that obtained a year ago.

With a program of 70 conferences and round tables, Tech Spirit has featured the participation of startups such as Wallbox, Factorial, Scopely, Worldsensing or SeQura, and multinationals such as Microsoft, Pepsico and The Knot Worldwide that have recently decided to set up in Barcelona or strengthen their technology centers. It has also allowed to learn about new initiatives such as that of Porsche Digital, which opened a headquarters in March in the Seat:Code building on La Rambla.

The presentations have served to expose the good moment that the entrepreneurial ecosystem is facing after the wave of digitalization that has occurred with the pandemic, Vicente emphasizes. "A moment of euphoria is being experienced," he remarks. After covid initially hindered the arrival of funds, the virtuality it has imposed has allowed liquidity highs to be reached and an unprecedented increase in investments to be registered, generating opportunities in multiple sectors, not only in health.

There has also been space for speed datings. Acció has facilitated some 500 ten-minute meetings to connect different startups with about 60 investors. It has also organized a competition among 24 emerging companies to choose the best of the year, in which the public voted live for the one they considered should be the winner after a brief presentation. Nixi for Children, dedicated to creating virtual reality for children who have to undergo an operation, with the aim of reducing pre-operative anxiety, has been chosen. Gate2Brain, The Blue Box, Feeder or QBeast have been some of the finalist companies.