The Poblenou Exporter Turning Barcelona's Tech Scene Into a Global Trade Machine

Marta Solà built her first client list from a co-working desk on Carrer de Pallars. Five years later, her firm, Nexport Global, has processed more than €14 million in cross-border commercial contracts for Catalan SMEs, placing Barcelona-made software, food technology and design services into markets from Bogotá to Kuala Lumpur. She is 34 years old and has never taken venture capital.

The timing of her expansion matters. Global trade routes are being redrawn with unusual speed. Washington's travel restrictions and the broader atmosphere of US protectionism have pushed Latin American governments and businesses to diversify their partnerships aggressively — a shift that benefits Barcelona precisely because Catalan exporters have language, cultural familiarity and, increasingly, direct aviation links that competitors in Frankfurt or Milan cannot match. Mexico City alone added six direct weekly flights from El Prat this spring, and the commercial traffic is following the passenger routes.

Building the Pipeline from 22@

Nexport Global operates out of the 22@ innovation district, the former industrial neighbourhood in Sant Martí that the city administration has spent two decades converting into a technology hub. The company's office sits three blocks from the Rambla del Poblenou, in a converted textile warehouse that now houses roughly a dozen startups. Solà chose the location deliberately: her clients are the other firms in the building and on the surrounding streets, companies too small to maintain their own international sales teams but with products genuinely competitive in emerging markets.

Her model is straightforward. Nexport charges a monthly retainer — typically between €2,800 and €4,500 depending on the number of target markets — and takes a 6 percent commission on closed contracts. She employs seven people full-time and works with a network of 23 in-country agents, mostly former Spanish expats or local trade professionals she has recruited over the past four years. The Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, whose offices are on Passeig de Gràcia, has referred dozens of companies to her through its internationalisation programme, Xpande Digital, which co-funds market research for firms with fewer than 50 employees.

The numbers behind her growth reflect a broader Catalan export trend. According to ACCIÓ, the Catalan government's business competitiveness agency, exports from Catalonia reached €83.4 billion in 2025, a record, with technology services growing faster than any other category. SMEs account for roughly 60 percent of that total but remain chronically underrepresented in Southeast Asian markets, where larger Spanish multinationals dominate the relationships. Solà's pitch to potential clients is simple: the gap is real and it is closable within 18 months with the right local contacts.

What Comes Next — and What Other Businesses Should Watch

Solà is now preparing a second service line aimed specifically at the agri-food sector, targeting Catalan olive oil producers and craft beverage companies that want entry points into Singapore and the Philippines. She plans to launch it formally at the Alimentaria trade fair, scheduled to return to Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue in March 2027. The agriculture angle is deliberate: food exports carry lower regulatory friction in most Southeast Asian markets than software, and Barcelona's reputation for gastronomy functions as a form of free marketing.

For other Barcelona entrepreneurs watching her progress, the practical lesson is less about her specific sector and more about the infrastructure she has used. ACCIÓ's office on Carrer de Provença offers free initial consultations for companies considering their first export step. The Barcelona Chamber's Xpande programme covers up to 50 percent of market study costs up to a ceiling of €2,000. These resources exist and are underused, particularly by firms in the creative and technology sectors that assume international expansion requires either a large budget or a foreign investor.

Solà has neither. She has a desk in Poblenou, a phone, and a very long list of contacts in cities that are actively looking for what Barcelona makes.