The main budgetary items were for employment policies (39.7 million euros) and the promotion of funding and companies (7.4 million euros) through subsidies, along with the advance of investment through two funds for start-ups in the city. The agency also backed tech training, with the consolidation of services provided by the Cibernàrium and the IT Academy, which gave training to more than 17,000 people, as well as backing for strategic cities for the city through the conceptualisation of three economic activity hubs that will see the light during the course of 2025.

Measures to improve employment all around the territory

Over 58% of people attended to by Barcelona Activa in 2024 approached the employment services. In this respect, the satisfactory execution of the collaboration agreement with the Catalan Employment Service (SOC) stands out, having been renewed with a budget or 22.56 million euros.

Besides the consolidation of the “Barcelona for quality employment” agreement, the green light has been given to the new plan for quality youth employment 2024-2030, which should provide help for 30,000 young people a year and entail an investment of 100 million euros in the period up to 2030.

Insertion programmes facilitated work contracts for 530 unemployed or vulnerable people, who directly contributed to strategic projects for the city such as the Pla Endreça.

Barcelona Activa services include the perspective of proximity through coordinating with the districts and corresponding departments to produce the economic development plans of the six districts with below-average social and economic indicators in the city. The first of these for the third edition, by Sants-Montjuïc Activa, was presented in 2024.

Strengthening the business and entrepreneurial network

Barcelona Activa helped 6,802 companies and 1,452 entrepreneurial projects in 2024, some 64% of which were headed by women, a priority collective for the agency.

In addition, 7.4 million euros was awarded in economic support to drive companies and add vitality to the city economy through programmes such as “Impulsem el que fas”, “Crea feina” and Autono+.

Further progress was made in the execution of the Accelera fund in 2024, with 10 million euros to reactivate private investment in the city after the paralysis of the pandemic, and the Deep Tech fund, also worth 10 million euros. Between them, the funds have now invested in a range of 107 start-ups, providing nearly 4,000 jobs in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The launch of the Barcelona Investment Fund, a new venture capital fund with 30 million euros in municipal funding, will help diversify the range of investment in these sectors, regarded as strategic, and also to attract foreign investment.

Boost for local talent

Barcelona Activa provided training for more than 17,000 people in the digital sphere through various training services operating from the Cibernàrium. These included initiation in the digital sphere through basic tech training; specialist digital upskilling, backing for local talent through advanced reskilling at the IT Academy, 42 Barcelona and XTalento in professional ICT profiles with the highest demand among companies.