Summer is making it hard to stay in the office. Be honest. How many times in the last week have you dreamt of working from a balcony where cold cocktails and the beach are only a few minutes away? We can promise you're not the only one. But, you don't have to fly all the way to Costa Rica or Bali in order to get this summer feeling. Just a two-hour flight away from betahaus | Berlin you can find a coworking space with huge terraces, rooftop view, and a strong coworking community.
Here's a glimpse into betahaus l Barcelona.
Thinking of Barcelona, the first thing that comes to mind are sunny beaches, eclectic architecture, amazing nightlife, and a unique artistic vibe. However, you might be surprised to know how much the city has to offer for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and digital nomads. Even though Catalans might not be known for their long hours in the office, over the last few years, Barcelona has developed a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Barcelona is home to more than 1,000 tech startups and has an Ecosystem Value of $6.4 billion dollars. It ranks as the fifth best cities for coworking in Europe behind London, Paris, Berlin, and Amsterdam. Yet, none of the above offer weather creeping above 30-degrees, nor seashores to watch the sunset from after work. Therefore, Barcelona seems to be the best city for anyone looking for a summer coworking experience who doesn't want to spend a fortune on overseas flights.
betahaus l Barcelona is located in the alternative and artsy Gràcia neighborhood, right in the center of the city. Famous for its narrow streets, numerous independent art galleries and creative pursuits, Gràcia is certainly the most Berlin-like quarter of Barcelona. Even inside our Barcelona coworking space, the team has managed to bring a unique DIY atmosphere. You can find numerous handmade signs and furniture around the house, leafy plants hanging from the ceiling and wooden deck chairs on the rooftop.
If not spread around the four terraces, members gather in the café over lunch. Instead of a kicker, betahaus l Barcelona has a ping pong table and even an open library, where coworkers can exchange their favorite reads.
betahaus l Barcelona is spread across 2000 q.m. and divided into 6 floors. The coworking space has 4 terraces, a rooftop, community kitchen, a café, multiple meeting rooms, comfy Skype booths, printers, and even a small backyard.
Our membership plans cost between 169,– for Club and 279,– for a Pro Membership. However, the team does offer special deals. Don't be surprised if you're invited to a personal interview after applying for membership! This is how our team in Barcelona finds the best fits and maintains a friendly, familial atmosphere in the space.
Currently, betahaus l Barcelona has around 190 members including freelancers and international startups.
Photo: Coworking AreaThe 10 Years in beta party was also the official opening of betahaus | Neukölln. Spring was the perfect time for our new project to start growing. The Club Lounge started filling, amazing new teams joined the community such as LAUDO, Obst Digital, Wonderwerk, Trybe and The Zeitsprung Project. Our Gil became the Lord of the house, giving hugs to everybody, fixing all kinds of problems in the ‘haus and keeping it run smoothly with the rest of the Front Desk team. This was also the month when we launched our beloved weekly yoga classes guided by our dear Cynthia from Arrive Yoga.
" People matter! Community was always what we were all about. ‘’
In June we launched #PeopleInbeta - our monthly blog post series in which our Content Manager - Vihra interviewed teams and freelancers from the betahaus community to present the variety of creatives we have in ‘haus, to understand their missions and get some useful advice for our audience. We talked on topics such as sustainability (with PlanA) , decentralized digital identity (with JOLOCOM), curated music experiences (with Bespoke Sounds), freelance photography (with Sara Herrlander), full-stack development (with Obst Digital), design (with LAUDO) and much more.
In the summer, we launched a couple of new events in Neukölln like Freelancers, Unite!, The Backyard Sessions and My friend’s BBQ.
Freelancers, Unite! developed as our productive coworking session with freelancers from in and outside the ‘haus. Once a month, we picked an important freelance topic (such as taxes, time-management, etc) and invited experts to give us insights on the topic. We saw so many new faces and had the chance to come back closer to where we started from - the freelance, grassroots culture.
Another event, which started in July (and turned out to be our favourite events) were The Backyard Sessions. Organised by our queen of Neukölln - Robbin – the Backyard Sessions are our creative evenings with live music jams, movie screenings and cocktails.
This last event was hilarious because for quite some time, nobody knew exactly who organised it or invited them. The friend was throwing a BBQ for the community in the garden and this led to all our members joining and staying after for a beer or two with us.
‘’My favourite moment this year was the second friends bbq which was actually cancelled because of the rain forecast. But despite the bad weather, people show up and it turned into a super nice intimate evening with Elizaveta and Paul giving a garden concert.’’ - Robbin (Community Manager, betahaus)
''In July, it was great how the casual after-work BBQ turned into an impromptu acoustic blues jam session with Elizavetta Barsegova and Paul, who have the voice of an angel. Actually, all of the My Friend's BBQ's and Backyard Sessions were AWESOME.’’ - Paige (Head of Marketing, betahaus)
This year we released a new event format in Kreuzberg called ‘’The betaSalon’’. It's an open panel discussion which aims to give stage to important topics and give free speech on them. The fist one we did on the EU elections, last month we talked about changemakers, but our favourite one for this season stays ‘’Mother + Founder’’ where we partnered with FemGems podcast and recorded a live podcast episode for them having Madeleine Gummer von Mohl (betahaus co-founder), Kristine Zeller (co-creater of ooshi period underwear) and Luisa Hoffman on the stage.
Every September, our co-founders take part in the Techfestival. in Copenhagen, spending a few days disconnecting from the daily life and focusing on creating a better, more human-centered tech future. This year the think tank which included our co-founders Madeleine and Max came up with the TechPledge. The Tech Pledge was made to emphasize the need for a new direction in tech. Similar to the Hippocratic oath for doctors, the Tech Pledge is a promise to make tech a force for good and ensure responsible and sustainable tech leadership. It’s a commitment to driving a new direction in technology.
One of the most exciting projects for betahausX this year (which is also continuing in 2020) is their new startup challenge called The Werder Lab - a global startup competition that aims to reimagine the way clubs like Werder work with athletes, fans and partners.
This year couldn’t end without us having our favourite events - the end-of-the-year holiday party and the BETAPITCH Global Finals. On the 6th of December we saw the 9 finalists of the regional BETAPITCH competitions pitching in front of our jury. Congrats to Troy from Hamburg for winning the big prize.
We finished the year at our Holiday Party celebrating anything and everything at betahaus | Neukölln together with our members, friends of friends and our favourite artists from Passiflora LIVE, Tapete and Kotoe.
Thank you for being with us in 2019. It's been a crazy big year for us and it wouldn't been possible without your support, trust and the hard work of our amazing team. Have an amazing holiday time and we'll see you again in 2020.
With love,
betahaus