The Eurecat technology centre posted €62 million in earnings in 2023, a figure that represents growth of 11 percent over 2022 and a 126 percent increase compared to the €36 million it made in 2015, the year it was set up. Eurecat has expanded its customer base to more than 2,000 companies during this nine-year period and 71 percent of its business is with SMEs.
“Eurecat seeks to unlock significant growth in technological innovation in Catalan firms and the Catalan economy, paying special attention to SMEs to make them more competitive, by driving R&D and innovation and technological entrepreneurship against a background shaped by major challenges in areas such as technology, the environment and energy,” said Daniel Altimiras, Eurecat’s chair.
Since 2015, “Eurecat has been supporting companies, identifying challenges and opportunities and expediting innovation and getting to market based on a holistic and multi-technology approach which has made it a standout R&D and innovation centre for the financial, business and industrial community with a vision that also strives to achieve a positive impact on society and the planet.”
He pointed out that 2023 “was especially busy in generating and registering new patents, supporting tech-based start-ups, ongoing partnership agreements with other domestic and international institutions and driving forward unique initiatives such as the centre for industrial decarbonisation of Catalonia.”
Since it was set up nine years ago, Eurecat has allocated €42 million to investment, with €21 million earmarked for new facilities including laboratories and pilot plants engaged in technological innovation and transferring knowledge to businesses, and €13.5 million to partnerships with other research and development system organisations.
Likewise, Eurecat has carried out 1,990 R&D and innovation projects with SMEs and generated more than 427 new high value-added jobs.
The cornerstone of Eurecat’s operations is the team at the technology centre which closed 2023 with 761 people on staff, 25 percent of whom were PhDs. This is a 128% increase compared to the 334 professionals who made up Eurecat’s workforce in 2015, 16% of whom were PhDs.
€71 million in 2024
Eurecat has set an earnings target of €71 million for 2024 which entails 15 percent growth compared to the end of 2023. In terms of headcount, the forecast for 2024 is to grow to a total of 850 employees, a 12 percent increase compared to 2023.
“Eurecat’s unbroken growth since it started out confirms that the strategy mapped out at that time, to set up a large flagship technology centre in Catalonia with a multi-sector and multi-technology approach coupled with a widespread territorial presence, has been successful,” commented Xavier López, Eurecat’s Chief Operating and Corporate Officer.
“Eurecat’s positive impact is especially evident in our customers who view us as a key player in delivering value through applied research, innovation and knowledge transfer on an ongoing basis,” argued Miquel Rey, Eurecat’s Corporate Director of Business Development. “This can be seen in the 8.65 out of 10 rating we have achieved over the years in the implementation of highly distinctive and innovative projects.”
Eurecat has eleven sites in Catalonia, in Barcelona, Canet de Mar, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Girona, Lleida, Manresa, Mataró, Reus, Tarragona, Amposta and Vila-seca, and one in Chile. This year, it has expanded its territorial footprint with a site in Malaga and is also to open an office in Madrid. Eurecat is additionally taking part in over 200 large domestic and international R&D and innovation consortium projects with high strategic value and has 200 patents and 10 spin-offs.
Highly specialised projects in four major areas
Eurecat undertakes highly specialised industrial, digital, biotechnology and sustainability projects to bring cutting-edge solutions to society’s biggest challenges anchored in an industrial resilience approach with the rollout of green and digital manufacturing, the circular economy and climate change while also addressing opportunities in areas including digital health, the biomedical industry, biotech and foodtech.
As part of this ethos, Eurecat has put together highly specialised teams and set up state-of-the-art laboratories in fields such as water technology, medical devices, personalised nutrition, embedded electronics, artificial intelligence in industrial settings, lightweight materials and cognitive robotics.
A European leader
Eurecat has secured €64.5 million from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation funding programme. This figure makes Eurecat the foremost private Catalan organisation in attracting funding from this European Union programme of excellence in research and innovation from 2014-2020.
This has translated into 128 consortium projects, 33 of them led by Eurecat, in the digital, industrial, biotech, sustainability and climate resilience areas. Some of these project’s outcomes are already available to SMEs, large businesses and society through the technology infrastructures, pilot plants and living labs which Eurecat operates around the country.
