Thinkin3D Mataró is born, the high-tech incubator to accompany startups, SMEs and micro-SMEs in their technological acceleration

The TecnoCampus was the scene on Monday, December 19 of the presentation of the ThinkIn 3D additive manufacturing accelerator, an event attended by a hundred people, many of them entrepreneurs interested in this technology. The general director of the TecnoCampus, Josep Lluís Checa, was in charge of opening the meeting. In his speech, Checa emphasized that ThinkIn3D "is an infrastructure that facilitates the support of companies for the adoption of 3D printing technology, especially in startups, SMEs and micro-SMEs".

Incubator is a 700 m2 space within the TecnoCampus that will be available from March and will have versatile and flexible equipment for different applicationss. Checa recalled that ThinkIn3D was conceived following a "T-shaped" model, because it will have a very clear vertical in applications in the field of health and people's well-being, but also a horizontal vision that aims to reach companies of the other sectors".

This incubator, born as an alliance between different entities, seeks to mobilize resources that have a real impact, both on people and in the territorial contextl. In this sense, the director of the technological park recalled that additive manufacturing, which we informally know as 3D printing, is a disruptive technology because "it allows us to approach different business models, with different conceptualization and design criteria and with much of route". In fact, Checa has recalled that a study developed in the United States between 2016 and 2020 places additive manufacturing in the ninth position in the ranking of the ten technologies with the highest number of patents. A network of high-tech incubators.

For his part, José Luis Bonet, president of the INCYDE Foundation, has been in charge of contextualizing ThinkIn3D as a key piece within a very rich ecosystem of high-tech incubators. And it is that there are currently 23 incubators in Spain, 13 of which are already in operation to promote innovation in micro-SMEs. "It is the largest network of high-tech incubators in Europe, and our goals are ambitious: by 2025 we will have incubated a total of 2.500 technology-based companies that will have created 45.000 direct jobs in Spanish territory" , points out Bonet.

The INCYDE Foundation is the result of the union of all the Spanish Chambers of Commerce and aims to encourage the creation and consolidation of companies. In fact, since the year 2000, INCYDE has invested more than 330 million euros in supporting entrepreneurs and companies throughout the territory betting on innovation and training as central tools. During his speech, Bonet referred to the 3Ts that become keys to success in moments of serious crisis like the current one: "people, companies, institutions and also countries that want to succeed must use work, talent and tenacity, and in the current context I would add the T of transformation”. A bet for all sectors

The presentation event also included a space for reflection and learning from the director of the Center for Innovation in Cities, Esteve Almirall. During his speech, Almirall emphasized the importance of companies being able to "ride the different waves of technological change, and for this reason it is necessary to pay attention to technical progress and also to the adoption processes of these disruptions by companies". According to the ESADE professor, "if the adoption of a disruption occurs, it means that the market test exists, because otherwise companies would not adopt it, and the fact that new technological possibilities appear in a field means that this area has a long way to go.”

Almirall, who has extensive experience in the business IT sector, recalled that "many times, innovation policies focus on creating and accelerating companies or pushing specific sectors, but there is another way to do it- which can benefit many more sectors: betting on general-use technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing, the cloud, etc.”. In this sense, Almirall has firmly stated that "betting on this type of general technology means betting on all sectors, and the ThinkIn3D is a tool to enable this to happen in the field of additive manufacturing".

Finally, David Bote, mayor of Mataró, was in charge of closing the event. Bote recalled that the "TecnoCampus brings talent and innovation, two bets that are part of the DNA of the city of Mataró, and it does so by supporting internationalization, promoting training to prepare for the future and putting at the service of companies tools to promote their competitiveness". A good example of this is the launch of ThinkIn3D, which in the words of the mayor of Mataró "is a transformative project that guarantees the future of our city due to its ability to help innovation within the economic fabric of territory".