Almost half of Catalan firms will raise turnover thanks to innovation

Some 44.9% of Catalan companies say that this year they will increase their turnover thanks to investments made in innovation and R&D in 2017. This is one of the findings of a report on innovation carried out by the Catalan government-funded agency Acció. The study also found that thanks to investment in innovation last year, almost one in four Catalan firms (21.5%) will this year create new jobs.

Acció’s CEO, Joan Romero, pointed out that 55.3% of Catalan companies with more than nine employees say they invested in innovation last year, a slight rise on the 54.6% that said they did so in 2016. Another conclusion in the report that Romero highlighted was that 67.9% of companies that spent money on innovation in 2017 intend to invest even more on innovation and research this year.

The CEO also pointed out the connection between innovation and internationalization, with 53.7% of companies that invested in innovation doing so through cooperation agreements with foreign firms. The report also shows that the companies that invest the most in innovation are either under five or over 50. For Romero, this is logical as new companies have to adapt their new products or services to the market, while older companies need to adapt to changes in today’s market.