The Barcelona Supercomputing Center's AI Factory Accelerator Programme is now fully operational after a pilot, giving startups access to sovereign compute, technical support, and training, according to NVIDIA. The program is built around MareNostron 5, the center's public supercomputing infrastructure powered by NVIDIA accelerated computing. An upcoming extension of MareNostron 5 will deliver additional supercomputing access through the BSC AI Factory and other AI factories across Europe.
Three startups were named AI Champions at the pilot's demo day. Qatium, whose water-network platform is used by more than 250 utilities in 16 countries, is applying proprietary AI models trained on MareNostron 5 to improve operational decisions. OneCareAI, a BSC spin-off, developed a tool using NVIDIA NIM microservices to spot hidden atrial fibrillation in normal-looking ECGs. Avatia built a voice-first, multi-agent system for pharmaceutical companies, tapping NVIDIA NIM microservices and Nemotron open models to support sales representatives and doctors.
Many participating startups are also members of NVIDIA Inception, and some BSC AI Factory services are now available through the Inception portal. Inception adds training via NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute courses, business mentoring, and venture capital connections. The broader cohort includes startups working on precision agriculture, medical imaging, speech services, enterprise security, sales intelligence, and sustainable packaging.