The Edge

Independent firms. Shared process. Co-investment.

Barça Innovation Hub (BIHUB) and 1899 are separate businesses operating under a formal Strategic Alliance Agreement. They source and diligence together, judge independently, then invest alongside one another, with a right of first look in both directions.

What they bring

Barça Innovation Hub

An FC Barcelona affiliate

  • Elite performance environment
  • Technical, medical and sporting expertise
  • Brand and facilities
  • A global network of 435M+ social media followers
  • Services for equity, not cash

Where we work together

One deal process, two lenses

  1. Shared deal flowComplementary, non-overlapping networks. BIHUB feeds a vetted European pipeline; we source across North America and globally.
  2. Diligence side by sideTheir technical read, our investment read.
  3. Two-lens underwritingEvery investment is reviewed through both.

What the alliance adds

1899 Innovation Fund

The capital, operators and global network that turn validated companies into scaled ones

  • Growth capital from Seed to Series A, with reserves to follow on
  • Operators who have scaled start-ups, including unicorns, working alongside founders
  • Introductions to customers, partners and follow-on investors across North America and Europe
  • Board-level guidance from decades in the C-suite
  • Help with hiring, go-to-market and the next round

Co-investment, side by side, into the same companies.

Source together · Judge independently

The advantage

Three advantages for the companies we back

Access opens doors. Acceleration gets companies to market faster. Two-lens underwriting means every company is reviewed by experts on both sides.

Access

The name earns a longer first conversation, and that matters most where it is hardest to get in.

Founders choose partners carefully. We bring something no other investor at the table can: the alliance, the environments and the network behind it.

What founders getA partner whose name opens doors with clubs, leagues, brands and customers.

Acceleration

Acceleration comes from the Barcelona ecosystem, through our alliance with Barça Innovation Hub.

Some of our companies can test and validate products with the club's teams and sports-science staff, build on more than a century of performance know-how, and reach the club's partners and a fan base of 435M+ across the globe. Each company agrees its own terms with the club.

What founders getProof points, credibility and a route to customers in markets that would otherwise take years to reach.

Underwriting

A standing bench of experts on both sides, not a consultant hired for a weekend.

BIHUB's technical teams across health, performance, sports technology and fan engagement, combined with our partners' operating and investing experience.

What founders getRigorous technical and commercial feedback, before and after we invest.

The structural edge

An accelerator hiding in plain sight

Since 1899, FC Barcelona has built one of the deepest bodies of sporting knowledge in the world: performance data, medical science, elite testing environments and a global audience no start-up could buy.

How a deal moves through the alliance

Shared deal flow
Two non-overlapping pipelines, including 8 years of start-ups sourced and tested by BIHUB.
Two-lens underwriting
Their technical read and our investment read. A company has to clear both.
Acceleration
Validation in elite environments and reach to 435M+ followers help portfolio companies reach customers sooner.

Illustrative flow, not portfolio data.