2025 BARCELONA GLOBAL en

In collaboration with:

A project by:

The survey aims to gain insights from entrepreneurs in Barcelona to identify key strengths, challenges and opportunities of Barcelona as a scale-up hub. Feedback from these scale-up founders will help us pinpoint areas for improvement and strengthen Barcelona's ecosystem for growing businesses.

Barcelona Scale-Up Ecosystem: Insights from Founders

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ACCIÓ,2023

Fifth-largest hub in the EU in terms of funding rounds attracted by startups in venture capital in the 2019-2023 period

Fifth-largest ecosystem in the EU in terms of the number of scale-up

Second-largest startup hub with the highest number of founders from local universities in the EU

Second-favorite hub of founders in the EU

Largest ecosystem for startups in Southern Europe

The Scale-Up Monitor is a report designed to track and analyse the growth of scale-up companies in a specific region.

Scale-ups are companies that have progressed beyond the startup phase and achieved significant growth in revenue or number of employees. This study includes a comprehensive survey and three focus groups to provide in-depth insights into the factors driving scale-up success and the challenges encountered.

Barcelona

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Scale-Up Monitor 2024

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Among the non-Spanish founders, 14% are from the EU and 9% are from outside the EU.

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of foundersare female

10%

The majority founders are between the ages of 31 and 40

41%

of foundersare Spanish

77%

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Average profile of a Scale-up Founder

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Other

Science Park

Incubator/Accelerator

Venture Builder

Hospital research institute

University

Independently

How was your company founded?

76%

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12%

2%

2%

4%

2%

2%

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Rest of the EU

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Rest of Spain

Barcelona

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6%

65%

29%

As of 2024, where are the headquarters of your company?

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Other reasons

22%

10%

12%

53%

6%

Barcelona’s quality of life

Access to right employees at the right salaries

Attraction of international professionals to Barcelona

Family or personal reasons

Good european connections

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Why did you choose Barcelona´s region to set up your company?

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33%

37%

41%

Other issues

Lack of funding

Tax environment

Non-business friendly regulations

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What are the 3 key areas you believe can be improved in Barcelona?

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International transport connections

Tax on stock options

Wealth tax for me and my business partners

Administrative procedures for me and my employees

Difficulties to attract talent

Administrative procedures to setup and run my business

Income tax

Corporate tax

Regulation related to my business

Access to funding

4%

12%

18%

22%

14%

14%

20%

33%

24%

41%

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Home

2%

9%

17%

21%

18%

34%

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Are there any specific barriers that are preventing your company from growing?

12%

Manufacturing

11%

Digital Healthcare

10%

Transportation and Logistic

9%

Hospitality, travel and tourism

9%

Convenience products such as food and drink, detergents, basic hygiene, etc.

7%

Financial Institutions and professional services

6%

Digital and Media

5%

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Electronic devices

5%

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Energy

4%

Automotive industry

4%

Sustainability

2%

Life Sciences

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2%

Education

14%

Other

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• Barcelona’s ecosystem is highly diversified, essential for a dynamic scale-up hub.

• Major sectors: healthcare, manufacturing, consumer products, and hospitality.

• Data and advisory committee insights guided the focus group selection.

In which sector/s is your company developing its activity?

Are there any specific barriers that are preventing your company from growing?

Other

Finding talent

Access to funding

Selling internationally

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45%

63%

18%

25%

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What are the main challenges for you company?

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How many employees does your company have?

Less than 10

Between 51-99

Between 31 and 50

More than 100

Between 11 and 30

7%

20%

24%

24%

25%

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90% of companies employ international staff, and 84% have employees from outside the EU, highlighting the importance of international talent for scale-ups in Barcelona

What is the percentage of non-Spanish nationals amongst your employees?

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None

More than 50%

Between 25-50%

Less than 25%

12%

39%

10%

39%

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How many employees does your company have?

A Significant Improvement in Talent Availability: Only 25% of scale-ups faced talent access challenges in 2024 (down from 34% in 2021). Management Talent: 55% of companies found needed management professionals in 2024 (up from 31% in 2021). Digital Talent: 41% of companies accessed digital talent in 2024 (up from 22% in 2021).

6%

None

More than 50

Between 30 and 50

Between 11 and 30

Between 1 and 10

14%

47%

8%

25%

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How many people do you plan to hire in the next 18 months?

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Founders rated the availability of growth and expansion funding at 3.41/7, down from 4.39/7 in 2024.

15%

13%

13%

3%

15%

6%

17%

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18%

International venture capital

Corporate venture capital

Public funding

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Crowdfunding

Bank loans

Self-funding / friends and family

Local venture capital

Business angels

Founders rated seed funding in Barcelona at 3.8/7, down from 4.2/7 in 2021.

What are your main funding sources?

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Despite the ongoing challenges of accessing funding, those who succeed are attracting significant investments. 22% of founders in our sample secured over €20 million, up from 12% in 2021, indicating a more mature and selective funding environment.

14%

18%

22%

16%

10%

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None

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Between €3 - €5 million

Between €1 - €3 miilion

Between €0.1 - €1 million

Between €5-€20 million

More than €20 million

22%

Since October 2023

What has been the total amount of funding raised by your company?

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63%

37%

No

Yes

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Do you have plans to go through new investment rounds in the next 18 months?

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41%

Personal life

31%

Talent availability

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25%

Interesting entrepreneurial ecosystem

22%

Cost base

12%

Interesting market opportunities

8%

Part of an international network of cities

6%

Convenient intercontinental transport connections

4%

Convenient European transport connections

4%

Security

4%

Quality of digital infrastructures

2%

Schools

2%

Business friendly regulations and procedures

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What do you value the most in Barcelona’s region?

42%

None

24%

18%

16%

More than 50%

Between 25-50%

Less than 25%

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What percentage of sales do you record outside of Spain?

54%

22%

24%

Mostly non-EU

Half EU, half non-EU

Mostly EU

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Where do most of your sales outsides of Spain go?

Promote entrepreneurial culture through Implementing entrepreneurial education in schools and universities. Offer ongoing workshops and seminars focused on business skills. Foster a culture of entrepreneurship through campaigns and events, celebrate local successes, and promote mindset geared towards innovation.

Entrepreneurial Culture

Support startups in international expansion with expert advice and connections. Develop tools or platforms to connect entrepreneurs with potential clients locally and globally.

Selling Internationally

Establish collaborative networks and infrastructures. Facilitate networking among entrepreneurs, investors, and support entities. Develop mentorship programs, create accesible coworking spaces, and provide advanced tech and R&D resources. Establish innovation centers and accelerators, offer professional services for startups, and encourage collaboration in open innovation.

Promote the generation and retention of talent throug enhancing university-company collaboration to align training with sector needs and drive innovation. Provide updated training for professionals, and adopt an inclusive approach to attract diverse talent.

Implement stable and favorable policies for the entrepreneurial sector like tax reductions and streamlined procedures. Support startups with grants, scholarships, and tailored regulations. Simplify bureaucracy and strengthen intellectual property laws to protect innovations at all stages

It is crucial to generate more investment particularly in the early stages by attracting international investors and offering better tax incentives. Implement programs that support public-private co-investment. Although the Spanish Startup Law addressed some entrepreneurial needs, it should better cater to investors.

Calls to action

Collaboration and Support Among Key Players

Finding Talent

Regulatory Barriers

Access to Funding

Challenges

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Calls to action 2025

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Barcelona Global develops strategic proposals for the future of Barcelona, promotes specific projects together with its partners, and mobilizes them so they get to know the city and each other, to ultimately better support and promote Barcelona as a global talent hub.

The association has a network of more than 170 members who are living and working abroad, and 17% of international members that chose Barcelona as their ideal city to live and work in.

Barcelona Global is a private, independent and non-profit association composed by 279 of the city's leading companies, research centres, entrepreneurs, business schools, universities and cultural institutions, and more than 1000 professionals aiming to make Barcelona one of the world's best cities for talent, and economic activity.

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About us

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Make it happen!

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2%

4%

2%

4%

4%

2%

For the funding availability

This is where the founders were based

It is where my target customers are

For the support offered by public institutions

Convenience to travel to locations in other continents

Barcelona offers good training for my employees

2%

Not an international city, too local

2%

Bad quality of digital infrastructures

2%

Too small or uninteresting entrepreneurial ecosystem

4%

Lack of interesting market opportunities

4%

Difficult access to talent

6%

Cost base

6%

Bad intercontinental transport connections

8%

Security

20%

Housing

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