BNEW 2026 awards the most innovative start-ups

The Barcelona New Economy Week, BNEW 2026, organized by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB), has recognized the eight best start-ups of this year's edition for their ability to provide innovative solutions to the main economic, technological, and social challenges. The awards distinguished the most outstanding projects from each of the eight verticals of the event: Gaming, Energy, Science, Health, AI, Agrofood, Talent and Aviation & Space.

The event was presided over by the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, who was accompanied by the executive president of the CZFB, Pere Navarro, and the general director of the CZFB, Blanca Sorigué, in a ceremony that brought together more than 250 presidents, CEOs, and prominent professionals from the economic and industrial sector.

The event, which seeks to anticipate the changes of an economy in full transformation and turn Barcelona into a benchmark of the new economy, is consolidated as a space "where knowledge is transformed into connections and ideas into real opportunities for growth," assured Navarro in his speech. In this way, the BNEW awards "highlight entrepreneurial talent and the ability of people to transform innovative ideas into solutions with real impact," added Blanca Sorigué.

The mayor of Barcelona highlighted that the success and consolidation of BNEW have turned a pioneering initiative into an indispensable one for championing the talent, intuition, and entrepreneurial capacity of people "even in the midst of the artificial intelligence era" and defended public-private collaboration as a driver "to attract and root business projects in Barcelona, promoting a new urban industry capable of generating employment, wealth, and opportunities for the city as a whole".

More than 100 startups submitted their applications to compete for these awards through the BNEW Startup Innovation Hub, a unique meeting point for sharing the latest technological advances in the new economy and connecting companies with potential partners and investors. From among all the applications, the jury selected a total of 40 finalists, evaluating aspects such as the impact these innovations have on the industry, the capability of the management teams, and the high-value technological solutions that provide sustainable competitive advantages. Likewise, their potential for sustainable growth, their ability to influence the economy and society, and their innovation component were valued.

Projects to boost the new economy

Alongside was recognized as the best start-up of BNEW Gaming for developing a digital emotional support tool aimed at children undergoing oncological treatment to transform their medical routines and accompany them in their healing process through small interactive stories.

The BNEW 2026 award for the best start-up in Energy went to TORCH, a company that develops and licenses a patented green AI device capable of operating autonomously using solar energy, without connection to the electrical grid or the internet. The system allows for voice interaction with an artificial intelligence in different languages, facilitating access to information and knowledge for people who encounter barriers in the use of technology and with applications in smart bus stops and autonomous solar traffic lights.

NoctuRNA Therapeutics received the BNEW 2026 award for the best start-up in Science. Founded in 2022 as a spin-off of the Pompeu Fabra University, it develops therapies based on circular RNA to address rare neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases, as well as infectious diseases that currently do not have effective treatments.

The BNEW Health award went to Altum Sequencing, which uses next-generation DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence to detect minimal tumor signals from a blood sample, facilitating earlier, more precise, personalized, and non-invasive oncological monitoring.

Timbal AI was distinguished as the best start-up of BNEW AI for developing a comprehensive technological ecosystem that allows companies to create, execute, govern, and use artificial intelligence applications adapted to their business.

The BNEW Agrofood award went to POTS, a start-up that promotes a consumption model based on the reuse of containers, which compared to the manufacturing of new glass containers, can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 86%.

UVNÉ received the BNEW Talent award for its proposal to support the professional development of Latin American immigrants in Spain, whom it guides and connects with the available educational offerings to develop their careers in the country.

The BNEW Aviation & Space award was granted to H2 Dron Energy, a deeptech start-up that develops hydrogen propulsion systems for professional drones and aims to extend the range of these aircraft in the fields of emergencies, infrastructure inspection, security, and logistics.