According to a study by ACCIÓ (the Agency for Business Competitiveness) based on the Dealroom (international provider of technological data) database, Barcelona is the No.4 city in the EU in terms of receiving start-up funding rounds. In the ranking, Barcelona scores higher than hubs such as Amsterdam and Munich, and only behind Paris, Berlin and Stockholm.

Moreover, the €1.479 billion raised in 2021 place Barcelona as the sixth highest EU city according to the volume of investments received. The amount triples the €427 million raised in 2020 and doubles the 784 million in 2019. It is also 65% higher than in 2018, which had been the highest figure recorded to date.

Barcelona: an ideal place to start and grow

51% of the amount raised comes from rounds reaching in excess of $100 million (or €88 million), which means that more than half of these projects are already in the consolidation or growth phase. The most prominent of these are Glovo, Wallapop and TravelPerk.

The remaining rounds in the lower stages have reached €724 million, the highest figure recorded for accumulated investments of these amounts. This proves that Barcelona is both a good city to create start-ups as well as to scale them up.

The figures also place the city as the fourth largest EU ecosystem with the most scale ups, in other words, emerging companies that have raised more than $1 million in funding, reaching a total of 310 companies. Currently, there are 5 unicorn companies valued at more than $1 billion which have been nurtured in the city: Adevinta, Glovo, Letgo, Wallbox and eDreams ODIGEO. It is also home to 15 future unicorns, technological companies valued at between $250 million and $1 billion, such as Colvin, Factorial and Paack.