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UPF Incubation Spaces: ten years promoting entrepreneurial talent

The facility, which supports innovative companies created in the UPF community has hosted 25 emerging projects since its inauguration.

14.05.2021

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The UPF Incubation Spaces are celebrating their tenth anniversary. This infrastructure was set up in 2011 with the aim of contributing to the development of innovative companies emerging from the UPF environment. Throughout the last decade, 25 emerging companies have benefited from these spaces that are part of the Barcelona Activa business incubator located at carrer Almogàvers no. 165.

Thanks to these facilities, companies created in the university community have the chance to make use of workspace at below-market price for three years. Incubated projects are also provided with a range of services, such as support from the Innovation Unit - UPF Business Shuttle and from Barcelona Activa, access to business training programmes and support in the search for funding and contacts.

Companies created in the university community have the chance to make use of workspace at below-market price and services and access to business training programmes and support in the search for funding for three years

Moreover, shortly, UPF spinoffs (i.e., companies created based on knowledge or technologies owned by the University) that so wish will have the opportunity to gain access to a coworking space, again at a reduced price, which they will be able to use for a year.

Currently, the UPF Incubation Spaces host four companies at different states of maturity, engaged in a variety of sectors: the startups Cofi, MyRealFood, Parallel Solutions, and Reboot Studio, created by University alumni.

According to the UPF vice-rector for projects in research, Enric Vallduví, “during these ten years, the UPF Incubation Spaces have shown that they are a useful tool for consolidating entrepreneurial projects as they provide support and an operational base to companies at a critical stage of their development, while facilitating communication between projects that face similar situations and problems”.

“It helped us grow”

The UPF Incubation Spaces are “an excellent facility, well suited” to startups, according Derek Lou, University alumni and co-founder of Parallel. This company, which has created a platform for document exchange between professionals, joined the facility in early 2021. The main virtue that Lou highlights is “the affordable price”, which he considers “an advantage in the initial moments of the creation of a business project”. He also underlines the “information and resources” the entrepreneurs receive from Barcelona Activa.

RateNow is another project at the Almogàvers incubator during these ten years. It provides companies with solutions to find out the degree of satisfaction of their users with digital and physical solutions. The startup, which includes a UPF alumni among its proponents, spent some time at the UPF Incubation Spaces between March 2016 and February 2020. “The experience was very positive and it helped us grow as a company”, says its founder, Guillermo Sanchez.

“Sharing common spaces with other teams helps exchange useful knowledge and experiences with other entrepreneurs”

From his point of view, having an infrastructure with all the practical needs covered, in a “pleasant, light, modern space equipped with all the comforts”, helps entrepreneurs not to “waste energy” on this kind of issues and allows them to “be more focused on the day to day of the business”. Another advantage he stresses is sharing common spaces with other teams: “You can exchange useful knowledge and experiences with other entrepreneurs”, he explains.

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