Catalonia and Barcelona’s main Investment Forum celebrated its 25th anniversary on November 6th, 2020, in what was its most global edition ever. Current times called for online gatherings, and the good news were that everyone, from literally anywhere, was able to discover the dynamism and strength of Southern Europe’s leading startup hub.
Catalonia and Barcelona are home to 1,500 startups, a number that has increased 38% over the last three years. Barcelona is Europe’s 3rd most popular city among startup founders and, over the last 5 years, the region has attracted 2,800 million euros of private investment.
Online networking
The Investment Forum 2020 is the ideal place to network and do business with entrepreneurs, investors and major companies from Barcelona and Catalonia in one digital space. They all met up on the Investment Forum platform during the week prior to the main event.
21 startups not to be missed
The 21 most promising startups presented their projects divided into three categories: Life & Health Sciences, ICT, and Other Technologies.
The winner of the 2020 edition was Bitmetrics, a Catalan startup that has created an AI camera for robotic arms.
| Life Sciences & Health | ICT | Other Technologies |
|---|---|---|
| Aimentia HealthTech | Bitmetrics | Advanced Air Mobility |
| Aortyx | bnc10 | Ebredrone |
| Droplite Technologies | Finteca | Freeverse |
| Flomics Biotech | humanITcare | Global Candace |
| Onalabs Inno-Hub | Ionic AI | Issimo |
| Renalyse | StockCrowd Technologies | Re-circula Solutions |
| Roka Furadada | Vottun | SmartMonkey.io |
Watch the pitches by the 7 best startups in Life Sciences & Health
Watch the pitches by the 7 best startups in ICT
Watch the pitches by the 7 best startups in Other Technologies
Welcoming the Netherlands as our guest country
The Netherlands, named 4th most competitive nation in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2020, was this year’s guest country.
With over 2,700 active startups, the Netherlands has become the 3rd European hub in this field. A dynamic ecosystem with almost 80,000 tech jobs, and with a far higher talent concentration than in other major European capital cities.
Featuring pioneers such as Booking or TomTom to Adyen or Takeaway, Amsterdam offers a startup-friendly environment that connected with Catalonia at the Investment Forum.
Connecting virtually from the Netherlands, Marleen Evertsz, CEO of nxchange, was the 2020 Investment Forum’s keynote speaker. She specializes in developing new decentralized and digitalized financing formulas, particularly for small businesses.
Investors Panel
The Investment Forum 2020 panel included a total of 9 investors and venture capital firms. The local ones were Asabys Partners, Caixa Capital Risc, Inveready, Lanai Partners, Swanlaab Venture Factory and BStartup-Banc Sabadell.
Representatives of Dutch venture capital funds BGV, Endeit and ICOS Capital were also panelists at the Investment Forum.
Investment Forum 2020 Program (November 6th, 2020)
09.30 h - 09.45 h
Inauguration by Mr. Ramon Tremosa, Minister for Business and Knowledge
09.45 h - 10.00 h
Investing in the 21st Century: Technology to Empower Startups and Investors, by Marleen Evertsz
10.00 h - 10.20 h
Pitches by the finalist startups in Life and health sciences
10.25 h - 10.45 h
Pitches by the finalist startups in ICT
10.50 h - 11.10 h
Pitches by the finalist startups in Other technologies
11.15 h - 11.25 h
Presentation of the Enterprising Career Award, Amsterdam Office Award and Investment Forum Award
11.25 h - 11.30 h
Closure by Mr. Joan Romero, CEO of ACCIÓ
