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BSC launches a 2.3 million euro program to accelerate AI startups in Spain
IA en un minuto newsroom · Editor: Jon Elgezabal
In 30 seconds
Up to 100 late-stage Spanish AI startups will be able to join the BSC AI Factory accelerator, funded with 2.3 million euros from the ministry and taking applications until November 9. For 14 weeks they will get mentors, investor contacts and, for those that pass the cuts, access to MareNostrum 5. They are spread across Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Malaga, and the final showcase comes in March 2027.
On Thursday, October 15, the artificial intelligence factory of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC AI Factory) opened the first call of its acceleration program for late-stage Spanish AI startups, as announced by Spain's Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service. The factory is a European initiative coordinated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS).
The ministry is putting in 2.3 million euros through its Secretariat of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, and BSC-CNS runs the program. There was an earlier pilot edition limited to startups from Barcelona; this time up to 100 will be chosen from across the country, working out of four hubs: Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Malaga. Applications are open until November 9, and each candidate will learn whether it got in from November 20. "The success of the Barcelona pilot pushed us to extend the program to all of Spain," Mariona Sanz, who heads innovation and business development at BSC, told La Vanguardia.
The program kicks off on December 2 with an in-person event in Barcelona. Over the following 14 weeks, participants will receive technical and business mentoring (value proposition, go-to-market, pricing and fundraising in Spain and Europe), contact with large companies and investors, and advice from BSC engineers and its two technology partners, Nvidia and AWS. There will be two selection cuts along the way, and the standouts will present their projects to companies and investors at a final event in Madrid in March 2027.
The program's website spells out the split: 25 places per hub; after the sixth week, 12 from each hub move on to the technology phase, which is the one that gives access to the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer to train models, and the top three from each hub reach the final event. It is fully paid for by the Secretariat of State, and startups do not have to give up any equity. Applicants need a product already in use with early commercial validation and a team with at least one person leading the business and another leading product or technology. To apply, they must send an executive summary, a one-minute video, an investor deck and the company's deed of incorporation.
More editions will follow over the next two years, up to a total of 400 Spanish startups. Companies from any sector can apply, although health, finance, legal, media, sustainability and climate will get special attention. In future editions, the opening and closing events will also be held in Malaga and Bilbao.
Why it matters · analysis and opinion
What is new here is less the money than the kind of help. Training a model of your own takes computing power that few young companies can afford, and this program puts it within reach of those that pass the cuts, together with business mentors and without asking for a stake in the company in return. The fact that the call starts in Barcelona and reaches Bilbao, Madrid and Malaga points to an attempt to spread the AI ecosystem beyond a single hub. For a startup with a product and first customers, the sensible move is to prepare the paperwork now, since it takes time, and not leave it to the deadline. Those without commercial validation yet will find it hard in this edition, but more are coming.
Official source: Spain's Ministry for Digital Transformation · Written with the help of AI: how we make the news
