Pier 01, Barcelona’s New Startup Headquarters, Will House 1000 People

The new entrepreneurial headquarters in Barcelona has a name: Pier 01.

The building which until now has been home to the Historical Museum of Catalunya, will be filled with around 70 cutting edge startups – counting around 1000 workers in total.

Well-known companies such as Holaluz, Letgo, Tiendeo and Byhours are already working inside the 10.000 square meter building.

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More than just one pier

Miquel Marti is the CEO of Barcelona Tech City, the umbrella organization that has been administrating and responsible for bringing together all the companies under the roof of Pier 01.

“We calling it Pier 01 because of how a pier is where the boats arrives and gets shelter, and that what we’re doing for Barcelona startups, giving shelter,” Marti tells Barcinno and adds that the 01-number may reflect that there’s more tech hubs popping up around the city.

In the weeks and months to come, companies like Antai Venture Builder, the BeRepublic-BeAgency group, Nuclio Venture Builder, Connector, Napptilus, Geenapp, 101 Startups and LetMeSpace and many others will move into the building.

€3.5 million remodeling

Although talks and rumors about the giant tech-hub has been widespread for quite some time, we first covered the story last November.

While the negotiations and renovations in the building taken longer than what the initial plans, but now the opening date is set and the tech adventure begins on the 9th of June.

All in all, they have spent around €3.5 million on building and remodeling the new power house on Barcelona’s port.

Marti says the project could not have been done without their partner SCCE (Sociedad de Centros Comerciales Españoles), which has given the necessary funding to complete the building.

Represents the old and the new

Albert Gregorio is the occupation, business and tourism manager at Barcelona Activa. He thinks Pier 01 will put Barcelona on the map of European entrepreneurial hubs:

“Barcelona Tech City is a clear example of the maturity in the entrepreneurship and digital ecosystem in the city of Barcelona. This is a project with a growth path and expectations that place Barcelona without a doubt as a leading city in the digital sector.”

Also the new mVenturesBCN is located in the building, together with their newest accelerator partner Numa they will house the first batch of startups at Pier 01.

CEO Marti says the building’s symbolism is perfect for its purpose:

“It’s the most traditional Barcelona history together with the latest in design, dynamism and entrepreneurship.”

Marti explains that the space will host several third-party conferences, Meetups and workshops, as the building’s aim is to become the backbone of the digital sector in the city.

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