Mobile World Capital Barcelona, AMPT and Fira de Barcelona present PUZZLE X, an initiative to promote new materials

• The project, developed in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focuses on showcasing the potential of frontier materials as a solution to modern society’s many challenges.
• PUZZLE X will be more than an annual event; it will provide a perfect environment for cultivating disruptive ideas and transforming them into tangible and useful tools and products.
• Barcelona and Spain have created a very mature startup ecosystem; they generate quality talent that is attractive to entrepreneurs.

16 November, 2021

arcelona, 16 November 2021 – Mobile World Capital Barcelona, together with the Advanced Material Future Preparedness Taskforce (AMPT) and Fira de Barcelona, today presented PUZZLE X, an initiative to create a platform for discussion and assessment of the use of Deep Tech to build a better and more sustainable future for the whole world. The presentation was held to coincide with the Smart City Expo World Congress and Tomorrow Mobility and featured the participation of international leaders and experts in innovation, Deep Tech, sustainability, industry, technology investment and private equity, among others.

The project, developed in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focuses on showcasing the potential of frontier materials as a solution to modern society’s many challenges. Zina Jarrahi Cinker, Director General of AMPT, John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd, Constantí Serrallonga, CEO of Fira de Barcelona, and Carlos Grau, CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, all took part in the opening ceremony.

PUZZLE X will be more than an annual event; it will provide a perfect environment for cultivating disruptive ideas and transforming them into tangible and useful tools and products. To achieve this, Mobile World Capital Barcelona has partnered with AMPT and Fira de Barcelona through The Collider, its innovation programme, to promote and incubate scientific and technological projects in Barcelona and turn them into globally scalable solutions. PUZZLE X Ventures is the first global hub of entrepreneurial activities designed to attract companies and talent in the Deep Tech sector and to position Barcelona as the epicentre of frontier materials and their intersection with the SDGs.

During the presentation, Carlos Grau, CEO of MWCapital, highlighted Barcelona’s role in this project, as well as its technological leadership: “We have the opportunity to be the world-leading laboratory and hub in this scientific revolution. With everyone’s help, we will not only position Barcelona as the annual meeting point for PUZZLE X, but, with the aid of The Collider, we will promote enhanced transfer of scientific developments to promote new companies and quality jobs, while contributing to a more sustainable future.”

The data support Barcelona and Spain

Barcelona and Spain have created a very mature startup ecosystem; they generate quality talent that is attractive to entrepreneurs. Spain has 9 of the European unicorns and 20 of the future unicorns. It is the sixth European territory in terms of investment, behind only the UK, Germany, France, the Nordic countries and Switzerland. In addition, Spain is ranked 12th worldwide for scientific papers in areas as cross-cutting as applied AI, cybersecurity, digital health, cleantech and agrotech.

Barcelona, in particular, is the third European capital in terms of talent generation, a city where entrepreneurs want to come and where large corporations set up their global innovation bases. It is also the world capital of mobile technologies, with MWC Barcelona and 4YFN, which in non-pandemic years attract more than 100,000 users. The city also has ambitious projects such as the Zona Franca consortium’s 3D incubator and the DFactory project, which will bring this European discussion to the city, making it a leading player in the transformation of the entire industry.