Invest in Barcelona-Catalonia

FROM THE US TO BARCELONA.
What's attracting leading CEOs to Barcelona-Catalonia?

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    This 2024 expand your business in a place full of vision and vibrancy.

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Facts & Figures

  • TOP INVESTOR IN CATALONIA

    The US stands out as one of the world’s top investors in Catalonia, accounting for 1,100 firms

  • US TECH INVESTMENT

    28% of foreign tech investment in Catalonia comes from US companies

  • 4TH TECHNOLOGICAL CITY

    Barcelona is the world’s 4th most technological city

  • TALENT AVAILABILITY

    Barcelona ranks highly for availability of scientific and engineering talent

  • TOP AUTOMOTIVE REGION

    Catalonia is Southern Europe’s top automotive manufacturing region hosting 10,800+ companies in the sector

  • FIRST STARTUP HUB

    With 2,100+ startups, Catalonia is the 1st startup hub in Southern Europe

  • MOST INNOVATIVE CITY

    Barcelona is Europe’s most innovative city, and the world’s 4th most creative city

Learn more about Barcelona-Catalonia Facts & Figures.

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Barcelona-Catalonia is one of Europe’s top locations in life sciences

Barcelona-Catalonia is home to 50% of the Spanish Pharma industry. Companies like Grifols, Esteve, Almirall or Ferrer are Barcelona-based. Come and discover a world-class network of medical institutions, hospitals, research centers, healthcare multinationals and pharma companies that have created a leading industry in life sciences.

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Access to highly skilled talent

Catalonia is Europe’s densest pharma & biotech cluster. The region has 94 organizations in the life sciences industry, 800 research groups and 25,000 researchers. Barcelona-Catalonia is a magnet for talent from all over the world and is home to +1,200 companies in the life sciences industry.

Network access: top global companies and research centers

Barcelona-Catalonia is in the Top 10 in Europe in number of clinical trials and, since 2008, capital investment in Catalonia’s life sciences companies has multiplied by 12. Catalonia has major scientific facilities such as the Alba Synchrotron, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, National Genome Analysis Centre, Hospital de la Vall d’Hebron, Hospital Clínic, and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu. The biggest medical imaging database in Europe is held in Barcelona.

Discover a High-Tech Automotive Ecosystem in Catalonia

Catalonia stands out as one of Europe’s leading car manufacturing regions, with up to 25% of the automotive market in the Mediterranean area. It is home to three production plants and a SEAT R&D center, part of the world-leading Volkswagen Group. Furthermore, Catalonia has a strong network of engineering companies and labs in the connected vehicle sector, as well as some 600 TIER suppliers and technology providers that boost the industry’s competitiveness.

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Get the Best Out of our Cutting-edge Labs for Autonomous Car Testing

Besides being Europe’s 4th most innovative city, Catalonia and Barcelona offer state-of-the-art labs and testing for connected and electric vehicles. Catalonia Living Lab​​​​ is a one-of-a-kind infrastructure in Europe that provides routes on public roads and controlled environments for testing and validating autonomous driving cars.

Enjoy Catalonia’s strategic position in Europe

Barcelona and Catalonia enjoy a very strategic location in Southern Europe, with fast and easy access to markets in the rest of Europe, the Mediterranean region and the North of Africa. Leading infrastructures like the Port and the Airport of Barcelona ensure excellent connectivity with plenty of international cargo routes for your automotive needs.

Barcelona-Catalonia, southern Europe’s hub for the gaming industry

Videogaming is soaring in Barcelona, which is defined by a strong ecosystem of both local and multinational companies. It is the largest videogames hub in Southern Europe, offering a great opportunity for global studios seeking to open their European headquarters.  US studios enjoy a talented and highly skilled workforce, such as Scopely, Activision- Blizzard or Socialpoint.

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The new destination for setting up AAA studios

With Barcelona hosting the Mobile World Congress and already being a global benchmark in mobile gaming, video game companies are also taking advantage of the opportunities to invest in AAA studios. The talent pool needed to create this blockbuster games (programmers, designers, artists, animators) is coming out of Barcelona’s specialized video game programs, university courses and Master’s, and code academies.

Attractive area for foreign investment in gaming

Catalonia is the 2nd region in Europe in foreign direct investment job creation within the video game industry. It is also the 3rd region in the continent in the number of foreign investment projects in gaming.

The United States leads tech investments

The number one sector for North American companies operating in Catalonia is ICT, followed by chemicals and the food industry. It is noteworthy that 28% of foreign tech investment in Catalonia comes from US companies, ahead of Germany, France, Japan and the UK.

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A growing ICT industry on all fronts

As one of Europe’s leading ICT hubs, Catalonia offers everything the modern ICT firm could possibly need and it is a pole of attraction for foreign tech investment. Barcelona is considered the 4th tech city in the world, the 4th most prepared city for the technological future, and the 5th European city in tech investment attraction. The number of ICT companies has grown 31% since 2013, with Catalonia being home to 22.2% of all ICT companies in Spain.

Preferred destination for digital hubs

The ICT sector in Catalonia is undergoing rapid growth and seeing global multinationals such as Amazon, Google, HP, Cisco, Microsoft or Oracle locating their latest technological hubs in the area. From 2012 to 2030 Barcelona is the Mobile World Capital. This means that not only the international flagship mobile event is held yearly here, the GSMA Mobile World Congress, but also a whole range of activities and programs all year around are creating a dynamic professional ecosystem for the mobile and its satellite industries.

Our services

Catalonia Trade & Investment advises US companies on the steps to open a business in Barcelona-Catalonia. Save time and money with a one-stop shop for your investment project in Barcelona-Catalonia.

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    Business location service

    Get all the information you need about industrial buildings, land, business centers or office spaces throughout Barcelona-Catalonia. Choose your new business location based on your specific needs.

  • Setting up your company

    Setting up your company

    We’ll help you establish your company in Catalonia and start doing business in Southern Europe. Trust our local knowledge and get support during all the investment process.

  • Access to talent

    Access to talent

    We identify and facilitate access to all sources of available talent– local and international - for US companies with investment projects in Barcelona-Catalonia.

American companies in Catalonia.

  • Alexion Group

    Alexion Group (AstraZeneca) will invest €800 million and create 1,000 new jobs in Barcelona with the largest-ever foreign R&D investment in Catalonia.

    Learn more about Alexion Group
  • Teladoc Health

    The virtual medical services company, Teladoc Health, has set up its international HQ in Barcelona employing around 500 workers.

    Read more about Teladoc Health
  • Intel

    Intel has joined forces with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) and are setting up a pioneering RISC-V microchip design lab to develop a new generation of supercomputers that will break the zettascale barrier.

    Learn more about Intel's project with BSC
  • Activison-Blizzard

    Activision-Blizzard acquired the Catalan game studio Digital Legends for the development of the next mobile Call of Duty game as well as other high-quality mobile titles.

  • American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM)

    American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM), specializing in the design, engineering and manufacturing of automotive driveline systems and components, has a new 15,600 m2 production plant in Catalonia, with a workforce of over 300 people.

    Discover AAM's business in Catalonia
  • Microsoft

    Microsoft has established its first R&D hub in Spain, located in Barcelona, with some 200 workers specializing in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Software Development and Data Science.

    Discover Microsoft's activity in Barcelona
  • PepsiCo

    PepsiCo, Inc. has established the company's first digital hub in Europe in Barcelona. This Hub will serve as a Center of Excellence for PepsiCo Global Digitalization priority programs, creating around 500 jobs, together with its Dallas office.

    Discover why Pepsico chose Catalonia
  • HP

    HP has its worldwide HQ and R&D center for 3D and Large Format printing in Catalonia where over 500 R&D engineers are working, creating over 150 patents per year.

  • Apple

    Apple has installed a world-class Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AIML) engineering team in Barcelona. Covering around 6,000 m2, the tech giant has doubled its presence in the city, making it Apple's biggest AIML department in continental Europe.

  • Take-Two Interactive

    Take-Two Interactive purchased the gaming studio Social Point for $250M. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Barcelona, Social Point is a highly-successful free-to-play mobile game developer that focuses on delivering deeply-engaging entertainment experiences.

    READ MORE ABOUT TAKE-TWO

Our offices in the United States.

Catalonia Trade & Investment’s 5 offices in the US have a team of experts in foreign investment with in-depth knowledge of both your market and Catalonia’s vibrant business ecosystem. Contact us and discover how Catalonia can help you in all your investment needs.

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Latest News.

Discover the latest news from Barcelona-Catalonia, southern Europe's hub for business and life for US companies.

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