In Monterrey, Mexico on Thursday, November 15 Mariona Ferrer, director of the Landing Program (UPC-La Salle-22@Barcelona), presented the international business Co-acceleration Program sponsored jointly by the cities of Barcelona and Monterrey to stimulate the internationalization of companies in the participating areas.

The presentation took place during the Business Bridge organized by the Barcelona City Council and Chamber of Commerce, which traveled to Mexico with a delegation of Catalan institutions and businesses headed by the mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu.

Participants in the international business Co-acceleration Program are: the University of Monterrey, the Mexican National Chamber of the Electronics, Telecommunication and Information Technology Industries (CANIETI) and the Landing Program, sponsored by the UPC’s Innovate Program, the La Salle Innovation Park and 22@Barcelona.

This program, whose aim is to connect innovation systems in Catalonia and Nuevo León, will integrate incubation programs (universities), growth and sustainability programs (chambers of commerce) and international acceleration programs both in Barcelona (Landing) and in Monterrey in the same model. The Landing Program aims to offer technology companies in both countries an acceleration phase as part of the innovation platforms sponsored by the Landing Program in 22@Barcelona and the CANIETI in Monterrey.

The Co-Acceleration Program will ensure that companies with innovative projects from both regions are prepared to take their activities global and that their growth is agile and constant.

This project is aimed toward technology SMEs that have grown out of or are linked to the incubation and growth programs in their respective regions and want to accelerate their international growth using technology platforms.

Precedents
This international Co-acceleration Program is the result of an agreement signed last year by the Landing Program and the Mexican state of Nuevo León to stimulate the internationalization of local companies in the 22@Barcelona district and vice-versa.

This agreement promoted connections between the innovation systems in Nuevo León and Catalonia and facilitated business cooperation between these two regions.

Landing Program
The Landing Program is an initiative sponsored jointly by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia’s Innovate Program, the La Salle Innovation Park and 22@Barcelona, whose aim is to attract international talent and investments to Catalonia, specifically to the 22@Barcelona district.