What makes Barcelona and Catalonia the best startup ecosystem in southern Europe?

The growth of the startup ecosystem in Barcelona and Catalonia is undeniable. The region has seen a 9% increase in the number of startups compared to the previous year, as well as a 10.5% increase in both jobs and turnover.

This has also been confirmed by the third StartupBlink Startup Ecosystem Awards organised by the prestigious global research platform in economics and innovation. The award, collected by ACCIÓ, the Catalan Ministry of Enterprise and Employment agency for business competitiveness,​ demonstrates the regional leadership position occupied by Barcelona and Catalonia since 2020 and its strength as the best startup ecosystem in southern Europe.

Barcelona is the second-favourite hub for founders when setting up a startup in the European Union, and also the second city in the EU with the highest number of founders from local universities. These figures have been taken from the ACCIÓ report “Analysis of the startup ecosystem in Catalonia 2025”, extracted from the digital platform Barcelona & Catalonia Startup Hub, a reference directory of the Catalan entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Barcelona-Catalonia Startup Ecosystem: joint promotion of the local ecosystem

Barcelona City Council and ACCIÓ have been cooperating since 2022 to promote Catalan startups. The collaboration, under the Barcelona-Catalonia Startup Ecosystem brand, aims to strengthen the region’s positioning as a leading hub for startups, increasing its international connections and attracting startups, scaleups and unicorns to settle there and generate employment.

This year, almost 50 Catalan startups participated at world-leading entrepreneurship and technology fairs, including TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, SWITCH in Singapore, Web Summit in Lisbon and Slush in Helsinki. There, they have been able to connect with other startup ecosystems, customers, investors and partners.  In addition, networking events and the promotion of Barcelona’s technological and innovative ecosystem have been held in all missions.

It is worth noting that the investment attracted by startups in Catalonia over the past five years has increased by 127% compared to the previous period, reaching 6.104 billion euros. The financial sector, traveltech and healthtech account for more than half of this investment.

Another key, pioneering element in promoting enterprise in the city is Barcelona Activa, the City Council’s local development agency. Its programmes and services provide support and resources for launching entrepreneurial projects, with advice, innovation environments and incubators, digital tools and much more. All these services can be discovered at the monthly information sessions held in English at the Barcelona Activa offices.