More than 2,500 people, nearly double the number from the previous edition, attended the third edition of the Barcelona Deep Tech Summit. This edition featured over 70 experts and showcased projects from 47 start-ups that offer disruptive solutions to the key challenges of today’s society: biomedicine, quantum technology, new materials, the energy transition, sustainable construction, space data collection, and robotics, among others.

Jordi Valls, Deputy Mayor for the Barcelona City Council’s Economy, Finance, and Economic Promotion Area, praised the impact of the BDTS, both nationally and internationally: “The city is proud to host an event as large as the Barcelona Deep Tech Summit, which drives the creation of a high added-value economy with a clear impact on people’s well-being. Deep tech also requires deep value at the service of society”.

Valls emphasised the need to strengthen public-private partnerships in order to boost the deep-tech ecosystem, as well as the need to build a wide network of knowledge transfer offices that can accelerate the introduction of deep tech solutions to society.

The final day featured the presentation of the award for the best deep-tech start-up of 2024. This time, the winner was AEInnova, a spin-off founded by several PhD researchers in microelectronics, telecommunications, and energy from the Autonomous University of Barcelona’s Department of Microelectronics.

AEInnova aims to transform energy-intensive industries into more digital and sustainable sectors with the lowest possible environmental impact. AEInnova is considered a key innovator in the EU for autonomous IoT sensors. It has won more than thirty international prizes, some of which were awarded by the United Nations for its involvement in the fight against climate change.

The Barcelona Deep Tech Summit is organised by Barcelona City Council through Barcelona Activa, in collaboration with five Catalan universities (UB, UAB, UPC, UPF, and UOC), and with the institutional support of the Government of Catalonia and the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Tourism. This year, new strategic partners have joined in: Aldea Ventures, IESE Business School, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Mobile World Capital Barcelona, and Tech Barcelona.

The third edition of the BDTS was held for the first time during the Smart City Expo World Congress.

A steadily growing sector in Catalonia and Spain.

The BDTS also presented the latest data on current state of the sector in both Catalonia and Spain.

According to the latest analysis of the deep tech start-up ecosystem, presented by Acció, there are currently 340 deep tech start-ups in Catalonia, a 6% increase compared to last year. These companies employ 2,735 people, a 17% increase compared to 2022, and generate 166 million euros in revenue (a 3% increase).

The analysis highlights that Barcelona is Europe’s leading hub in terms of funding raised by deep tech start-ups, with 544 million euros from 2019 to 2024, ahead of Copenhagen, Madrid, and Amsterdam.

Meanwhile, according to the “Barcelona, the deep tech spin-off ecosystem in Spain” report presented by Mobile World Capital, the country now has 1,210 deep tech companies with a total turnover of 2 billion euros and 12,200 skilled jobs. Of these companies, 55% are located in Catalonia and Madrid.

The sectors with the most spin-offs are health (35.6%), ICT and the digital environment (17%), industry and manufacturing (12.4%), and energy and sustainability (12.4%).