I recently had the chance to pay a quick visit to Pier01, the impressive innovation hub for startups, investors and corporates situated inside the iconic Palau del Mar in Barcelona - on the 1st of May, when it was closed due to a public holiday and there was basically nobody there :)
Nevertheless, I'm impressed with what's been happening in Barcelona in the last few years. Six years ago, I lived in the city for a while and there weren't really that many spaces entrepreneurs, freelancers and ecosystem stakeholders alike could turn to.
Fast forward to today and there's plenty of choice between the likes of MOB, OneCoWork, multiple WeWork options, H-FARM, Spaces 22 Arroba, Betahaus, Talent Garden, Attico, etc.
That said, Barcelona Tech City has built something special with Pier01, and it's just getting started. The association, after all, represents more than 800 entrepreneurs, startups and corporations - so the demand tends to outstrip the supply.
Today, the organisation is unveiling Pier03 (that's right, they skipped over 02), a brand new tech hub with space for many more of its members, a specialised venue focused on blockchain technology, and the headquarters of the also-brand-new Barcelona Civic Tech House.
Located in the Els Porxos d’en Xifré - the building is actually quite close to Pier01 - the new venue’s size is approximately 3,500 square meters, with and additional 2,500 square meters more planned thanks to a green roof.
“This exciting new Pier helps accelerate the growth of Barcelona’s technological and digital ecosystem and consolidates the focus and business investment in this sector. It increases the capacity of the ecosystem to create new synergies and spaces and foster development of new projects for members.
The different companies and organizations that will be part of Pier03 will benefit from the cross-pollination of digital and technological ideas on their businesses”, said Miguel Vicente, President of Barcelona Tech City.
If you haven't been paying attention, there are definitely some interesting companies coming out of Barcelona lately (Badi, Travelperk, Glovo, Typeform, Letgo, 21Buttons and Red Points, just to name a few scale-ups) so we are definitely going to cover more of them in the near future.
And I'm looking forward to visiting Pier03 (so I can asked what happened to 02, for one).
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