“Barcelona is a hub of talents and attracts very good professionals”
Amanda Gilabert, Head of Respimat factory at Boehringer Ingelheim
Top International R&D players in Catalonia
Catalonia is the region that received the most R&D investment projects in all of Europe (fDi Markets, 2021), making it a key innovation hub in the continent. See below some cases of cutting-edge multinationals performing R&D in Catalonia.
Catalonia, a dynamic hub for innovation and R&D investment.
Catalonia has a thriving research culture, which has helped it become a hub for industrial, R&D, and tech investment. It received the most R&D investment projects in Europe in 2021, and tech investment has grown by 85% over the last five years, with 320 projects being recorded.
Barcelona, Catalonia's capital, is the third favorite city worldwide for R&D investment and the first in Europe (Global Cities Investment Monitor, 2023).
Catalonia boasts the highest number of innovative companies in Spain and is a leader in European patent applications. Over 50% of its exports show high to medium-high technological levels, and it also leads in R&D investment in Spain, accounting for 44.6% of total investment in 2021.
With only 0.1% of the world’s population, Catalonia produces 0.79% of worldwide scientific production and 4% of EU-27. That’s why, when one thinks of innovation hubs in Spain and southern Europe, one thinks of Catalonia.
With 75% of the 50 leading global innovative companies with a presence in Catalonia, it's clear why it's considered the best place to invest in R&D in both Spain and the rest of Europe.
Discover the thriving R&D ecosystem in Catalonia and the international companies that have already set up shop here.
Top International R&D Players in Catalonia.
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ABB
Catalonia is home to ABB’S first collaborative innovation center (CIC) in Europe, working on robotics, augmented reality, and 3D vision technologies.
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MICROSOFT
With Microsoft's R&D Hub in AI in Barcelona, the US company works in advanced software engineering areas, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning, with a UX team working on products like Bing, Edge, Windows, and Azure.
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AMAZON
Amazon has based its R&D Center in Catalonia, specializing in Machine Learning and Big Data, and employs 100 software scientists and engineers.
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HP
HP has based its global 3D printing and large format printing center in Catalonia. 2,300 professionals from 60 nationalities work in the world’s largest laboratory for research, development, and innovation in 3D plastics and metal printing.
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FICOSA/PANASONIC
Ficosa/Panasonic's Tech Center for advanced technology vision, safety, connectivity, and efficiency systems for the motor and mobility sector drives the Group's global research. It supports the 14 development centers it has worldwide.
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ASTRAZENECA/ALEXION MS
In 2022, AstraZeneca opened a global development hub in Barcelona to coordinate international projects across the company's five major therapeutic areas. The hub is expected to reach 1,000 employees by 2028.
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ROCHE
Roche chose Catalonia to base its digital research and development center dedicated to designing, constructing, implementing, and maintaining the Roche Diabetes Care digital platforms worldwide.
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DANONE
Home to one of Danone’s main global scientific centers, unique in having three facilities in one location: a new product development pilot plant, a packaging design laboratory, and a ferments manufacturing center.
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OMRON
OMRON bases its European Automation Center and R&D Center in Barcelona to develop state-of-the-art automation solutions for industry.
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SONY AI
Sony AI set up an R&D center in Barcelona focused on gastronomy. The flagship project empowers chefs with AI and robotics to unleash creativity in recipe creation and execution.
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CISCO
Co-located with the Cisco Innovation Center in Barcelona, the company has launched a center for designing next-generation semiconductor devices, the first of its kind for Cisco in the European Union.
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INTEL
Intel has based its pioneering RISC-V microchip design laboratory in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center with a preliminary team of 300 people.
Discover the R&D hubs’ locations.
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