Being self-employed or starting up a business wasn’t easy in Spain in 2016. That’s why it’s more important than ever to celebrate start-ups, small businesses and freelancers who, despite the odds, have made a success of the year.
In order to do so, here are the SMB of Barcelona awards. This contains a list of some of the top freelancers/start-ups in Barcelona who’ve caught my eye over the last year. A variety of sectors is represented. Although all have a strong online presence, the list is not restricted to e-commerce. None of the entries are sponspored.
Interested in applying for the SMB of Barcelona 2017 awards? Send an email to selfemployedinspain[at]gmail.com. You must be either a freelancer or a small business and have opened in the last five years.
The top freelancers/start-ups in Barcelona 2016
Graduates of Barcelona’s Síty startup incubation programme, 3dclick provides seriously cool 3d animations you can use to make your powerpoint presentations stand out . The first 3 months of subscription are free. 3dclick launched in 2016 and by all appearances are well on their way to a successful 2017.
This start-up managed to source 800,000€ in their last call for funding, making them the largest of the list. ClinicPoint is an online healthcare portal that was launched in 2012. More or less anyone can find reasonably-priced private healthcare here. With the boom of private healthcare during Spain’s economic crisis, ClinicPoint’s success shows us that financial downturn doesn’t necessarily have to be bad for business.
This Spanish-language alternative newspaper was originally founded by journalists from large newspapers looking for somewhere to publish the news they wasn’t space to cover elsewhere. It’s been showcasing carefully researched and produced news pieces on topics such as austerity, banking and house prices for four years now, and will hope it will continue for many more!
A relevant name for the start of the new year! Optymistic is Núria and Jaume, two illustration lovers who’ve set up a portal to sell illustrated smartphone and iPad covers, tote bags, motorbike helmets and other accessories. With their (Catalan-language) blog providing quirky comments on day-to-day life and a list of participating illustrators, this is definitely a product with a story.
The newest on our list, Smaze is our “one to watch” in 2017. Smaze is a subscriptions management service being developed in Barcelona that helps you manage and cancel subscriptions and keep track of monthly outgoings you might even have forgotten about. In the age of one-click digital signups, Smaze definitely fulfills a need!
Translation work is nothing new, and there are many freelance translators in Barcelona out there. What is new is the personal touch Ontranslation lends to multi-language translation projects, which they can organise from start to finish. As they say, “With a pleasant team, the work comes out better”. They’ll even invite you to breakfast to chat about their work! (Maybe they will invite me :)). Another business that survived the crisis, Ontranslation was founded in 2012 and has gone from strength to strength.
