The startup innovation exhibition 4YFN, held alongside the world's largest mobile trade show, MWC, set Barcelona ablaze again this year. With promising Start - Up companies, investors, and major corporations from around the world flocking to the event, the entire city was seen as transformed into a hub for innovative business. 4YFN is serving as a key platform for Barcelona to cement itself as Europe's leading Start - Up city.
ChosunBiz met Director Richard Ferraro, who oversees 4YFN, on the 27th of last month (local time). He said, "4YFN is a laboratory for global innovators who turn future technologies into reality," adding that it is "a stage where Start - Up companies can rapidly secure customers, partners, and investors."
At 4YFN 2025, held in Barcelona from Mar. 3–6 this year, more than 1,000 Start - Up companies and over 900 investors participated. With AI and the creation of social value as key themes, more than 350 pitches and over 800 investment meetings took place, driving active networking. The grand prize went to the Colombian Fintech Start - Up Bankuish. By presenting a credit scoring model based on work histories for gig workers and freelancers, it was recognized as a case of "impactful innovation."
As an event where global Start - Up companies and investors gather in large numbers, 4YFN is seen as having an edge as an international platform compared with Korea's ComeUp and NextRise.
Barcelona has a Start - Up ecosystem that represents Europe's innovation. According to the European Start - Up research organization Startup Heatmap Europe, last year Barcelona ranked second among Start - Up hub cities after Berlin, Germany.
As of 2024, there are about 2,300 Start - Up companies in Catalonia, Spain, including Barcelona. That is a 9% increase from the previous year, and the number of Start - Up companies is growing annually. Business fields are diverse, including AI, ICT, life sciences, healthcare, mobility, and Fintech. Last year, Start - Up investment totaled about €1.6 billion (about 2.64 trillion won). That is about 50% of Spain's total Start - Up investment.
Notable Start - Up companies include delivery service company Glovo, Fintech corporations Bit2Me, and HR and business management platform corporations Factorial.
Director Ferraro pointed to a lack of industry-academia collaboration and weak collaboration structures with large corporations as the biggest challenges in Korea's Start - Up ecosystem. Although Korea has excellent technical talent and research outcomes, there are limits to consolidating them into entrepreneurship and market entry.
He said, "Korea has an abundance of technology and talent, but the structures that lead to actual commercialization are limited," adding, "There are many cases where innovative technology is shelved before it is even validated in the market."
He specifically cited the absence of open innovation between large corporations and Start - Up companies as a problem. Citing the example of Spanish telecom Telefonica, which invests in and nurtures Start - Up companies and then consolidates them into business contracts, he emphasized, "Korea also needs a model in which large corporations go beyond simple sponsorship to pursue joint businesses with Start - Up companies."
Telefonica, Spain's largest telecom company, has played the role of accelerator and has supported the growth of about 1,000 Start - Up companies since 2011.
Representative Start - Up companies include cybersecurity corporations CounterCraft and real estate technology corporations Spotahome.
He also noted that Korean Start - Up companies tend to remain in the domestic market, advising that they should target the global market from the early stages.
He said, "Barcelona Start - Up companies aim for the international market from the outset and collaborate with large corporations to enter the market quickly," adding, "Korea should move beyond a technology-centered ecosystem and build an integrated global network."