About ESA BIC Barcelona
We are the Business Incubation Center of the
European Space Agency in Barcelona located in the RDIT Building in the
Mediterranean Technology Park (PMT), Castelldefels (Barcelona)
How it all started
In 2003, the ESA Technology Transfer and Business Incubation Office, initiated its business incubation centrer in 2003 to foster new start-ups and spin-offs by giving them access to ESA knowledge and technology and by incubating them in science and technology parks throughout the Members States.
ESA BIC Barcelona’s activity started in 2014 on the UPC Campus in Castelldefels. It was the very first ESA BIC in Spain. In its first four years, until 2018, the centre selected and incubated 27 companies. Those companies have already successfully developed and implemented several products, services or applications for industrial purposes in both the local and international market, and have been a source of job creation.
They are related to:
· Drones
· Datellite communication technologies
· Data compression processes
Some of them are Aistech Space, Dapcom Data Services, Dares Technology, e-Stratos Geosystems, Hemav, Rokubun and Tinkerers.
ESA BIC Barcelona was selected again in 2022 as one
of the incubators that the ESA promotes in science and technology parks across the EU to accelerate start-ups based on innovative space technologies or infrastructures.
Boosting Catalonia’s
aerospace industry
ESA BIC Barcelona has restarted operating in 2023 with a permanent call for companies under a programme promoted by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC), the Mediterranean Technology Park and the Catalonia Government as part of the NewSpace Strategy of Catalonia.
It is our intention to become an essential part of the space innovation ecosystem, connecting players together and building strong space clusters.
We seek entrepreneurs who develop applications using space-based systems (such as satellite navigation, earth observation, or satellite communication), also who use space technologies in a non-space domain, and who develop innovative products and services for the space sector.
The incubation programme aims to support the creation of innovative space tech start-ups to boost Catalonia’s aerospace industry by incubating 18 companies starting this year until 2025. It has a budget of 1.8 million euros—a third of which (600,000 euros) will be provided by the Government of Catalonia—and is supported by other regional institutions.
Incubation programme benefits
The companies selected for the ESA BIC Barcelona programme will receive funding of 50,000 euros, co-funded by ESA and the Government of Catalonia.
They will also have access to the scientific and technical knowledge of ESA and the UPC and will be given up to 1,000 m² of office space— for common areas, coworking spaces and other modules— in the RDIT building.
They will also benefit from a mentoring, training and technical and commercial advice programme designed by the UPC, which includes business coaching and technical, legal and intellectual property advice for up to two years.
Additionally, ESA BIC Barcelona incubatees will also benefit from being connected to the UPC’s innovation ecosystem and the NewSpace Strategy for Catalonia community, from attending aerospace fairs and events, and from becoming members of the ESA BIC community, with more than 29 incubation centres located in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Switzerland,Ireland, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Denmark, Greece and Luxembourg.
Being connected to the University’s knowledge ecosystem will give them added value, as the UPC is Catalonia’s leader in space science and technology education and research, with state-of-the-art laboratories like the DroneLab, located on the Baix Llobregat Campus, and the NanoSat Lab, located on the North Diagonal Campus in Barcelona.