Multinational companies such as Unilever and PepsiCo have partnered with Barcelona Tech City to get closer to emerging companies and boost innovation within their organizations. Both companies want to be in permanent contact with the talent, technologies and startups based in Pier 01 and in the other buildings that Barcelona Tech City is creating in the city, with the aim of integrating into their daily lives this way of operating so different from that of a traditional corporation.
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Unilever and PepsiCo have become global partners of Barcelona Tech City, joining other companies such as Adevinta, Airbnb, Epson, KPMG, Naturgy, Nestlé or Novartis. Currently, the association led by Miguel Vicente and Miquel Martí represents more than 1,000 companies in the digital and technological sector based in Barcelona and collaborates with the different agents that make up the entrepreneurial ecosystem, from entrepreneurs, startups and investors to SMEs and large companies, as well as universities and business schools.
The CEO of Barcelona Tech City, Miquel Martí, values that the additions of Unilever and PepsiCo continue to reinforce the role of large corporations in the association and consolidate them as the digital and technological hub of reference in Southern Europe. Both Unilever and Pepsico have their corporate headquarters in Spain in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, in business parks located in Viladecans and Cornellà, respectively.
For Martí, the alliance with Unilever, with more than 400 leading brands in food, household products and personal hygiene, will allow them to learn from "their experience in sustainability and positive impact on society." With brands such as Skip, Dove, Knorr, Lipton, Frigo, Magnum or Axe, Unilever has been taking measures since 2010 to improve the well-being of its customers and reduce its environmental footprint, through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.
Likewise, Martí points out that PepsiCo will provide them with "knowledge of consumer trends and behavior at a time of transformation like the current one," taking into account its privileged position in the food and beverage sector, with brands such as Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Alvalle, Quaker and Tropicana.
Transferring the entrepreneurial spirit to Unilever's operations
In Unilever's case, the collaboration with Barcelona Tech City has resulted in the creation of an intrapreneurship program, with the aim of integrating the spirit of startups into the multinational's daily operations. Unilever's Head of Open Innovation, Santiago Molinas, indicates that the company is betting on collaborations like this to execute projects in a faster and more agile way thanks to being more in contact with the market and they have found in Barcelona Tech City the "ideal partner". The new area of Unilever led by Molinas also wants to generate an internal transformation, making it easier for its staff to get used to working in a different way, and an external one, supporting small local businesses.
Unilever's intrapreneurship program consists of involving the multinational's employees to develop projects they had in mind for a long time, but had not been able to promote due to lack of time or resources, and doing so hand in hand with startups. "Now they have an opportunity," Molinas emphasizes. Initially, employees presented a total of 30 ideas and the first filter reduced them to ten, with the advice of Barcelona Tech City, which helped Unilever see which ones were more viable. Later, Unilever's management chose five and presented them to about fifty startups that could contribute to their resolution.
The initiatives chosen by Unilever's management received different proposals from startups during a pitch day, with a minimum of three companies interested in solving each project. Finally, the multinational chose two startups, which will work to develop their idea. The other three projects will be managed internally. "We seek the evolution of the person who contributes the idea and who is part of a startup environment. It is a way to catalyze and motivate this new culture within Unilever," explains Molinas.
Implementing disruptive technologies at PepsiCo
The multinational company in the food and beverage sector seeks in its collaboration with Barcelona Tech City a way to foster the integration of digital knowledge and innovative techniques, and to improve its relationship with consumers. PepsiCo also wants to generate unique shopping experiences for the consumer, innovating in the retail area with the development and implementation of new disruptive technologies, such as the intensive use of data, artificial intelligence, or 3D printing.
The Director of Food for PepsiCo in Southwest Europe, Iker Ganuza, emphasizes that this alliance is born with the desire to "work closely with those who bring innovation" to be able to apply it in their business at a time of cultural changes. "As a multinational and global company that we are, we also want to contribute to the development of Barcelona Tech City and all the actors that comprise it, bringing our experience and offering opportunities to work together," he adds.