A new business incubator located at the bottom of the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium will diversify the public uses of the Montjuïc mountain. A dozen companies mainly dedicated to music, sports and the organization of major events opened The Venue yesterday.
It’s just a first step. This City Council initiative also aims to seriously promote the entire Olympic ring and also the rest of Montjuïc. After all, we are in one of the heart of the city.
The first companies to set up shop are A-Champs, Asociación de Fabricantes y Distribuidores de Artículos Deportivos (AFYDAD), Barcelona Music Tech Club (BMTH), Barcelona Sports Hub (BSH), Sportmas, Talent Passport, Toda
In addition to companies, startups and other resident projects, The Venue will have the collaboration of leading corporations that will participate in the development and testing of projects promoted from the Olympic Stadium ecosystem. One of these is the major concert promoter Live Nation.
We are talking about around 1,100 square meters located specifically on the south facade of the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium and distributed in fourteen work modules. In addition, the facility has another 400 square meters outside in order to set up outdoor activities.
The investment by the Barcelona City Council company Serveis Municipals came close to 2.8 million euros. The new equipment is also born thanks to the Barcelona Sports Institute (IBS) and the Barcelona Activa agency. The Venue is designed to host up to a hundred firms.
What it’s about is generating collaborations between all the companies that set up there and also the long list of great events that take place right here throughout the year so that the mountain is much more than just a stage for lots of concerts and excursions. Around two million people pass through the ring alone every year. Montjuïc can play many more roles, not only that of a postcard.
Carme Lanuza, director of the Olympic ring, emphasized yesterday at the presentation of the initiative that “with The Venue Barcelona we contribute even more to the contribution already made by spaces such as the Palau Sant Jordi or the Olympic Stadium itself in to position the city of Barcelona as a venue for relevant shows. And in this way we reinforce the role that the ring wants to play as a platform for innovation in the field of music, sport and major events. In this way we will be able to address a wide variety of issues related to sustainability, mobility, restoration, production…”.
“In reality – added Emilio Risques, one of the managers and founders of The Venue – we intend to orchestrate a new ecosystem dedicated to international innovation. This innovation center will promote a constant dialogue between companies to generate concrete solutions that respond to current and future challenges. We will have many perspectives, and the fun is in combining everything that each part can do. The idea is to energize the social fabric and attract talent”.
In fact, the inauguration of this innovation center was a work session that brought together nearly a hundred firms aimed at devising joint solutions. Most of the professionals who went to the premiere left a good impression.