Get to know ACCIÓ

ACCIÓ is the public agency of the Generalitat de Catalunya that facilitates the growth of Catalan companies through its boosting of innovation, international expansion and business strategy. With a team of 500 professionals and 40 offices around the world, we support nearly 40,000 companies every year. 

We offer support for R&D projects, green and technological transformation projects, as well as in processes of internationalisation and opening of subsidiaries abroad. We are also responsible for attracting foreign investment to Catalonia, through the Catalonia Trade & Investment area, and to help companies generate a positive impact on the environment. 

To achieve all these objectives, we have an expert and multidisciplinary team, both at the Barcelona headquarters and at our eight delegations in the rest of Catalonia, which reinforces our vocation for service and proximity to companies, and makes the agency a benchmark in driving the competitiveness of the Catalan business network. 

ACCIÓ was formally established in 2010, after the merger of the Consortium for Commercial Promotion of Catalonia (COPCA) and the Centre for Innovation and Business Development (CIDEM), and together they account for 40 years of support for companies offered by the Generalitat de Catalunya. We collaborate with local and international business entities to explore synergies and ensure that Catalan companies have a wider range of instruments in order to grow and be more competitive.

ACCIÓ supports more than 38,400 companies and entities each year and accompanies them in more than 21,300 projects with the aim of strengthening the competitiveness of the Catalan economy. Through the different programmes and services, an investment of more than €2.4 billion has been mobilised by Catalan companies in 2024.

What are these programmes and services and what do they represent?

Through the network of ACCIÓ Trade and Investment Offices, more than 2,000 projects are managed to support Catalan companies in their entry into foreign markets. In addition to consolidating your international presence or facilitating implementation abroad, the offices allow you to find new partners or technology suppliers to carry out R&D projects, to develop new products or services or to export your own technology.

In the field of international business, a total of €455 million in exports has been mobilised through projects managed by ACCIÓ, which have allowed the creation of more than 1,370 jobs in Catalonia. In total, 960 companies have been advised on internationalisation matters and 46 new Catalan subsidiaries have been established abroad with the support of Multilocation grants. 

In 2024 the Technical Office on Internationalisation Barriers also played a significant role: this one-stop advice service has handled more than 2,000 queries from companies that encounter obstacles or doubts during their processes of expanding their business internationally. 

For their part, ACCIÓ’s Foreign Offices have managed more than 2,000 projects to support Catalan companies in doing business abroad. 

In this same area, and related to digitization, it is worth highlighting the consolidation of the International eTrade program, in which 380 companies have received advice or financial support to take advantage of digital channels to expand international sales.

In addition, in the field of technological transformation and disruption, ACCIÓ has mobilised €418 million of investment in private R&D. Support has also been provided for carrying out collaborative R&D projects and for the transfer of knowledge between companies, technology centres, universities and other innovation agents. Furthermore, access to innovation for SMEs has also been facilitated, while startups have been supported during their growth, consolidation and internationalisation process. 

With the aim of facing the great current challenges of digitalisation and sustainability, ACCIÓ has continued the programmes of Advanced digital innovation and Green innovation. 

These are precisely the two main challenges that guide the policies of the Next Generation EU Funds. Since the opening of the Next Generation EU Office, at the end of 2021, more than 2,500 Catalan companies have been advised in order to access their calls. 

Another of the mechanisms that ACCIÓ makes available to companies to improve their competitiveness are clusters. Currently, the Catalonia Clusters programme has 27 associated clusters, bringing together 3,000 companies with an aggregate turnover of €80 billion. 

Finally, regarding the attraction of foreign investment, in 2024, 106 projects were implemented that mobilised a record figure of €1.051 billion and contributed to the creation of nearly 5,000 new jobs.