There were four cats and now there are more than 2,000. There are probably a few more at this point, considering the annual growth rate of the number of startups in Catalonia according to the census carried out by the Generalitat. A few days ago it was noted that people don’t realize how much the ecosystem in Barcelona has grown since the early days. The Spirit of Technology stage featured Ana Maiques, co-founder of Neuroelectrics, highlighting the vibrant energy of the entrepreneurial generation fractus. This phrase honors the Catalan company that pioneered technology eliminating the physical antennas of mobile devices. It is easy to recall a handful of entrepreneurs who started something now widely recognized as iconic. Tech Barcelona Foundation celebrated its tenth anniversary at this congress.
Ten years ago, Xavi Pont, Maite Fibla, and Clara Navarro met in a bar to explore how to promote what was then called social entrepreneurship: building a company to solve social problems while earning income. Navarro recalls that the movement was gaining traction in other countries but was not emerging strongly in Spain. The idea proposed was Ship2B Foundation, a type of accelerator designed to help develop such projects and connect them with investors who cared about the mission, what is now known as social entrepreneurship influence.
What began with four struggling projects evolved into an accelerator that invested in over 200 initiatives, with an extraordinary 86% still active. A 55 million euro investment vehicle, Ship2B Ventures, funded nearly 25 projects. Notable success stories include Sylvestris Group, which now aims to reforest forests by creating job opportunities for people at risk of exclusion; RepSol and Hispasat have stakes in related ventures; and Cebiotexa Biotechnology is developing a biodegradable fabric impregnated with small doses of radiation or chemotherapy to help prevent metastases after tumor removal.
Ship2B seems to have found a new direction after ten years of operation. The decade began with the accelerator becoming more specialized, launching a channel focused on fundamentally social projects, with a sustainable approach that aims to fund those who create impact rather than just profits.
These projects cannot rely on venture capital because they are not large-scale enough to deliver big returns, yet they are not NGOs or charities. The question then becomes: who funds them? The answer lies in enterprise philanthropy. This is viewed as a growing area, one that focuses on making a measurable social return while advancing innovative solutions.
Ten years ago, it was demonstrated that profit and a better world can go hand in hand. The next frontier now appears to be the philanthropic enterprise. There are social problems too important to solve with traditional subsidies or sole philanthropic giving. If diverse actors work together, the impact can be greater and faster. The idea is not to get rich, but to earn a return on investment through social outcomes, a concept sometimes described as mixed finance, combining venture capital, public administration, and philanthropy. This could be a key to unlocking scale across complex challenges.
The possibility is clear and the signals are loud enough that even government programs have begun to pay attention. Ship2B recently shifted away from the traditional accelerator model to focus entirely on this new approach. The question now is whether new specialized funds or training programs will be launched to prepare the next generation of investors who will influence funding decisions as wealth grows. The sense is that this new direction is here to stay.
Navarro concludes with an optimistic note: there is a strong appetite to experiment. A pilot program is underway to test small initiatives that could, in a few years, encourage the creation of a fund reaching into the hundreds of millions of euros.