The Venue has gathered around 100 companies and organisations at the opening event to define some of the collaborative projects it will be promoting, such as jointly resolving challenges to the sector in areas like sustainability, water management, mobility, incorporating new technologies and marketing
The business centre has officially opened with 10 resident corporations, organisations and start-ups with support from leaders in the sectors involved, who will collaborate in developing the projects that arise at The Venue
The ecosystem of music, sport and major event companies is now up and running at The Venue Barcelona. The innovation centre, located in the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and promoted by Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (BSM) in conjunction with Barcelona Activa and the Barcelona Sports Institute (IBE), has opened its doors today by hosting a work day with companies from the three sectors involved and other related ones. The session shared with the entire ecosystem the aim to promote disruptive projects that provide innovative solutions to industry needs by launching different sectoral challenges.
At the opening event, the 10 resident sectoral companies, start-ups and associations at The Venue were named: A-Champs, AFYDAD (Association of Manufacturers and Distributors of Sporting Goods), BMTH (Barcelona Music Tech Hub), BSH (Barcelona Sports Hub), Sportmas, Talent Passport, Toda & Nel·lo, TPC Matchpoint, TUWA and WeVolv.
In addition to the resident companies, start-ups and projects, The Venue Barcelona will also enlist collaboration from leading corporations, which will participate in developing and testing the projects promoted by the ecosystem at the Estadi Olímpic. One example is Live Nation, a benchmark in the live music industry, which is joining the project as the first promoter to partner with The Venue Barcelona. The concert-organisation company will work with BSM to facilitate concept and pilot tests of the innovative solutions that come out of The Venue Barcelona in the events held at the Anella Olímpica venues.
At the project presentation, the Anella Olímpica director Carme Lanuza stated: ‘With the impetus of The Venue Barcelona, we at BSM have boosted the role the Anella Olímpica aims to play as a platform of innovation in the fields of music, sports and events. This new role should be capable of revitalising the local community and attracting talent, coupled with the way venues like the Palau Sant Jordi and the Estadi Olímpic contribute to positioning the city of Barcelona as a site of major events and shows.
The co-founder of The Venue Barcelona, Emilio Risques, went on to highlight the importance of creating an ecosystem capable of getting both the resident corporations and start-ups and major partner firms involved. ‘We’re excited to embark on The Venue Barcelona's journey and host both the first projects and important partners such as AFYDAD, BMTH, BSH, Live Nation and others that will join us. Today we are reaffirming our commitment to creating a vibrant ecosystem that fosters a constant dialogue among companies to generate specific solutions that meet the current and future challenges facing the music, sports and events sectors and adjacent industries.
Collaboration to meet the sector’s challenges
The opening event brought together around 100 representatives of companies, start-ups and organisations from sectors associated with the activities of the business centre's ecosystem. They all participated in work sessions aimed at coming up with joint solutions to some of the challenges facing the major events, sports and music industries; needs that entail other related activities such as mobility, sustainability and water management, promotion, marketing and catering, and the application of new technologies to create new experiences targeted at fans and consumers.
In these sessions, The Venue Barcelona has advanced some of its projects to foster dialogue among the resident and the partner companies to generate new products and services that will be tested and implemented, in coordination with BSM, at the venues in the Anella Olímpica, including the Palau Sant Jordi and the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. The ultimate goal is to promote high-impact innovations in the sectors involved.
First resident initiatives, companies and organisations at The Venue Barcelona
The Venue Barcelona is starting its journey with 10 resident companies, start-ups and associations which will work on disruptive projects in the music, sports and major events sectors and their adjacent industries.
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A-Champs: experts in the design of innovative and interactive sports training solutions with the application of a technology based on multisensory stimulations through light, sound and vibrations. The company's projects are based on the premise that high performance in sport occurs when the body and mind are trained together.
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AFYDAD: the Association of Sporting Goods Manufacturers and Distributors encompasses more than 100 sports companies and 25 sports brands. Founded in 1968, it promotes competitiveness in the sector via specialised services and representation of its common interests.
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BMTH: The Barcelona Music Tech Hub promotes and facilitates a community of more than 80 professionals, start-ups and investors in the music tech industry with the aim of generating synergies and fostering innovation, investment, knowledge and digital transition in the sector.
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BSH: The Barcelona Sports Hub is a joint initiative from the Barcelona Sports Institute and Ajuntament de Barcelona which is part of its strategy to support the sport-tech centre as a key area for innovation and one of the city's emerging economic sectors. Its activities encompass more than 380 organisations, companies and start-ups. As part BSH, The Venue Barcelona is joining the effort to make the city an international benchmark in the exchange of knowledge, talent, resources and business initiatives in the world of technology and sport.
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Sportmas: This company has developed a platform that connects manufacturers, distributors and retailers in the sports sector to exchange information on products, digitise logistics processes and manage sales activity.
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Talent Passport: The company aims to create a space for talent development devoted to creating successful business projects in the fields of music, sports, culture and the entertainment industry.
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Toda & Nel·lo: The law firm provides legal services to companies associated with the innovation centre to guarantee a strong legal framework for all initiatives developed at The Venue. Toda & Nel·lo contributes to the legal security and success of companies and start-ups in The Venue Barcelona.
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TPC Matchpoint: The company has created software designed to comprehensively manage sports centres’ activities.
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TUWA: The TUWA business project connects the sport and tourism sectors to contribute to the development of sustainable sporting events and circular products.
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WeVolv: Founded by the professional basketball player Jori Davis, this company has created an ecosystem of users from the sports world that enables athletes to independently manage their careers and lifestyle with the support of the community. The project helps each athlete gain access to trusted resources validated by other sport professionals in order to reach their maximum potential on and off the playing field.
The Anella Olímpica, a space for innovation
The Venue Barcelona has a space measuring 1,100 m2 located on the south façade of the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and is equipped with 14 work modules, a large coworking area and other spaces to facilitate dialogue among the companies working there. In addition, 400 m2 of outdoor space have been provided to host outdoor activities. BSM has earmarked a budget of €2.8 M for the refurbishment of the spaces.
The Anella Olímpica is an international benchmark in event organisation. With The Venue Barcelona, it is positioning itself as a platform of innovation and the development of disruptive high-impact projects in the activities it hosts.
A strategic consortium for the project’s expansion and outreach
In charge of managing The Venue Barcelona is a consortium of companies that have successfully managed projects in recent years, in areas such as the design and promotion of innovation centres, management of start-up acceleration programmes and developing results-oriented marketing solutions to position companies and businesses in their growth phase.
The companies in charge of managing The Venue Barcelona will support the resident companies and start-ups in developing their projects, from conception to launch and even in business expansion.
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The MotherTrees: The MotherTrees will lead the application of the concept of collaborative open innovation within The Venue Barcelona ecosystem. Its ‘Innovation Solution Puzzle’ methodology helps to solve complex challenges quickly. This will contribute to creating a collaborative environment between companies, leading to innovations that have a positive impact on the sectors involved.
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B-Bruce: B-Bruce promotes the development of innovative branding and creative concepts for the optimal positioning of solutions and brands. The company works on disruptive proposals with the goal of impacting on the public's experience at events and consumers and customers in related sectors by innovating in the way they interact with the companies and their products and services.
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Ongoing: Ongoing is a touchstone in the use of data to expand the impact of innovations and scale up projects. At the heart of the Anella Olímpica, it will introduce results-based marketing to optimise the concepts and experiences that emerge from the resident companies and start-ups.
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U-Skale: U-Skale is a company specialising in accelerating the business of the start-ups and companies at The Venue Barcelona. It will provide a specialised methodology and the tools, resources and mentoring needed to scale up their solutions and create a sustainable impact in different sectors.
