The UPC showcases its deep tech entrepreneurial talent at the Barcelona Deep Tech Summit 2026

The Barcelona Deep Tech Summit 2026 opened its doors today in Hall 3 of Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue, as part of the Smart City Expo World Congress. Until Thursday 5 November, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) is showcasing its entrepreneurial ecosystem with a delegation of 15 technology-based companies: seven UPC spin-offs, three UPC start-ups and five start-ups incubated at ESA BIC Barcelona, the European Space Agency's business incubation centre at the UPC's Baix Llobregat Campus.

Since this morning, the UPC stand has been hosting the first meetings between the entrepreneurial teams and investors, corporations, research centres and institutions from the European deep tech ecosystem.

A stand to bring UPC technology to market

The UPC stand has been organised by the Innovation Management Service of the Research and Transfer Area. The service has coordinated the companies' participation, split into two shifts, and is supporting the teams so that they can make the most of the opportunities for visibility, networking and contact with investors that the Summit offers.

For spin-offs and start-ups emerging from the UPC, being present at an event like this is key. Many of these projects are making the leap from the lab to the market, a stage at which a good connection with an investor, a customer or an industrial partner can accelerate their growth. For the University, this presence highlights how the research it generates gives back to society in the form of companies, skilled jobs and solutions to major global challenges.

Catalonia's leading university for deep tech spin-offs

The UPC's participation in the Summit comes just days after the publication of the report El ecosistema de spin-off deep tech en España 2025 (The deep tech spin-off ecosystem in Spain 2025), produced by the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation and the CSIC's Institute of Public Goods and Policies. The report ranks the UPC as the leading university in Catalonia and the second in Spain for creating deep tech spin-offs: 5.3% of active deep tech spin-offs in Spain have emerged from the UPC. The University currently holds stakes in 42 active spin-offs and, since 2017, has fostered or participated in 135 technology-based companies. Read the news story about the report.

The companies in the UPC delegation

Their proposals span fields such as health and biotechnology, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, agritech, and space and Earth observation technologies. Some of these companies, including Helix AI, Hypergraph AI, Ikusa Cybersecurity and Muvity, are also exhibiting this week at the CIT UPC stand at the Smart City Expo World Congress.

In addition, today at 11.20 am, Antoni Pérez-Poch, director of the UPC's Institute of Education Sciences (ICE), is moderating the round table The Space Bioeconomy: New Frontiers for Life Sciences in the Summit auditorium.

Tomorrow: face to face with international investors

One of the key events for the UPC delegation will take place tomorrow, Wednesday 4 November, from 12 noon to 2 pm, in The Hub. It will host the Deep Tech Investment Readiness AMA (Ask Me Anything) session, organised by the Barcelona Deep Tech Node, of which the UPC is a member. Start-ups and spin-offs from the Next Frontier Founders programme of the Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub will be able to ask specialist international investors what they need to be ready for an international funding round, from technical evidence and intellectual property to team and market.

Through this participation, the UPC strengthens its role as a key player in promoting scientific and technological entrepreneurship and reaffirms its commitment to an open, sustainable and internationally oriented innovation ecosystem.