Catalonia sees its number of Blockchain companies double over the last year

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) are emerging in many sectors of the economy and their number has doubled in Catalonia in only one year, coming to almost 80 companies in 2019. According to a study from Catalonia Trade & Investment, the blockchain sector currently employs 400 people, working largely in startups (68% of total companies), with the technology expected to have a significant impact on Catalan society.

Distributed Ledger Technologies group together technologies that store, distribute and facilitate value exchange between users. Within this broad area, blockchain specifically aims to make performing transactions both secure and reliable.

Data from the study highlights that global blockchain spending is expected to reach $12.4 billion by 2022, with an annual growth rate of 76% from 2018 to 2022. Moreover, 53% of senior executives believe that blockchain will be disruptive to their businesses in the next 24 months and place this technology as one of their top 5 priorities.

Catalan business cases

Technology centres in Catalonia are already developing projects in the area, such as Eurecat, UPC University, InLabFib or I2Cat. Some of the Catalan companies also working in this sector are Vottun, Scytl, Block Tac, Ubiquat, Freeverse, ViDsigner or Finboot Technologies.

Moreover, Barcelona is also home to the European Blockchain Convention, the leading congress in Europe for this sector and where main tendencies are discussed, as well as providing an excellent networking experience.

Pier 03, a new location for blockchain startups in Barcelona

Barcelona Tech City recently opened a new hub that will provide office space for startups focusing their activity in blockchain technology. Going by the name Pier 03, it is an extension of the famous Barcelona startup hub Pier 01, recognized by Forbes as one of the 6 most innovative hubs in the world.

Located in the Barceloneta area, Pier 03 is only 3 minutes away from Pier01, and covers a total area of some 3,500 square metres. In the near future Barcelona Tech City plans to expand it by a further 2,500 square metres, while hosting about 100 professionals.