The clean tech ecosystem in Barcelona is small, but solid. New models of clean tech use IT as a key elements (cleanweb). Here some insights about its players, what works, and what needs to be improved.

1. Entrepreneurship &
Clean tech in Barcelona
Oriol Pascual
oriol@enviu.org
@onsustain

2. M
!
H
T
Y
US has MORE support
programs to early-stage
entrepreneurs than the EU

3. Accumulated number of incubators in
top 10 EU countries by GDP

4. Spain
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•
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The first incubation program launched in 1989
Currently, Spain hosts 38 startup programs - most
launched after 2010
Ticket size: between 20-60K
Average equity share across accelerators: 8-14%

5. Catalonia
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7 m. inhabitants - Barcelona: 5.1 m
Catalonia produces 1% of the world’s scientific
output

6. Barcelona
9 accelerators/incubators in Barcelona
Barcelona, leads in clean tech sub-categories:
• Smart City
• World Mobile Capital
• Large “sharing economy” community

7. Rise of the renewables
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1997-2013: Spain became a world leader in PV
and wind energy production
Of all Spanish patents, 43,6% are related to solar
Spain is the 5th country in the world in number of
patents in renewables, after US, Japan, Germany
& UK

8. Fall of the renewables
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Today, Spain is an unattractive and risky market to
invest in renewables
Of the 50 factories PV silica and related in 2011,
only 10% remain open today, with a focus in
inverters and exports
photo by treedork

9. Challenges
Current clean tech challenges are not about
fundamental science:
• Complex financing & incentives
• Failure to communicate to consumers
• Poor sales channels

10. Cleanweb
Efficiency
CLEAN TECH
INTERNET
OF
THINGS
Data &
networks
COLLABORATIVE !
CONSUMPTION
Market
re-structuring

11. SunPower
Connecting small investors with high-quality
renewable energy projects

12. Opower
Using behavioural science to change
consumption patterns

13. The Barcelona entrepreneur
Barcelona
Silicon Valley
33.29
34.12
5% / 95%
10% / 90%
Education (dropout vs. master+PhD)
1 : 10
1 : 2.5
Serial entrepreneur
41%
56%
% non-technical founding teams
12%
16%
Customer (B2B vs B2C)
5:2
2:1
Working hours per day
8.25
9.95
Age
Gender (F/M)
Source: Telefonica

14. Ecosystem
Government
programs
Trade Shows
Incubators
Startups
Clean tech
entrepreneurship
BARCELONA
Universities
Investors
Dedicated
Spaces

15. Clean tech Incubators
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KIC InnoEnergy
Fundación Repsol
Eco-Emprenedor XXI

16. Government programs
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Green Economy Plan
TECNIO/ACC10
Biocat

17. 22@
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Transformation of a neighbourhood
Private foundation managed the transition
After 10 year: +1500 (tech) companies

18. Universities
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UPC - Campus Energia
ESADE
IESE - Clean tech Venture Forum

19. Investment
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Business Angel Networks
Business School forums (ESADE -IESE)
Engineers’ fund
Keiretsu

20. Other Interesting players
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Sant Pau
Regional Centre for Cleaner Production
Barcelona Lab
IAAC + Valldaura

21. Trade shows
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EV Symposium
Smart City Expo
Mobile World Congress

22. Clean tech Startups

23. Smart Citizen
Environmental data monitoring board &
community

24. Enerbyte
Using behavioural science to change
consumption patterns

25. Urbiotica
Smart City solutions

26. BNstar
Smart water & energy consumption

27. Volta BCN
Electric motorbike made in BCN

28. What works
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Barcelona attracts international talent, and retains
local due to the attractiveness of the city itself
Barcelona is Mobile World Capital
Proactive local government; “business friendly”
Bottom-up entrepreneurial community
Catalonia produces 1% of all research in the world but does’t have a direct translation in valorisation of
this science

29. To improve
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Lack of ambition: local startups think small, a local win is
enough rather than conquer the world
English is not yet common language amongst all society
To fund a limited company is expensive and bureaucratic
Need for more “learning by doing” education, rather than
fact-based education

30. To improve
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More success stories
Early stage funding clearly insufficient
Many players, but fragile ecosystem due to insufficient
funding resources
Not enough projects with high growth potential

31. Final thoughts
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Regulation can be an enabler or barrier for clean
tech to create a positive impact
Clean tech is evolving towards new forms that have
IT as central element
Barcelona has the ingredients to become a reference
in clean tech for the south of Europe and the
Mediterranean

32. Oriol Pascual
oriol@enviu.org
@onsustain

33. Contents
•
Context
•
Clean tech in Spain
•
BCN ecosystem
•
What works & what to
improve

35. Brief history of
clean tech in Spain

36. Rise of the renewables
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•
Period 1997 - 2013 represents a high point on
renewable energy installations
Spain became a world leader in PV and wind
energy production

37. MetroMile
Unlocks car data to take out the hassle and
expense out of driving. Pay-per-mile insurance

38. Smalle Technologies
Kinetic energy harvesting applied to
maritime solutions