11Onze, the first fintech community in the Catalan Countries, made its first public appearance at the Palo Market Fest and became the first service company to participate in this well-known festival of crafts, design and gastronomy. In this chronicle, we explain how this special weekend went.

• Toni Mata

11Onze stand is the last one before leaving the Concept Gallery in Palo Alto. Next to it, you find Reliqium, a start-up that allows you to save memories in a pendant. Opposite is a goldsmith and, a little further on, a designer who sells Mad Max-worthy sunglasses with metal spikes like those of a punk’s jacket. Outside, a DJ plays bosanova while some young people sip cocktails with flavoured tonics. Music arrives muffled within the Gallery and blends in with the sound of conversations.

In the midst of this festive and bohemian atmosphere, the flood of people stroll up to the 11Onze stand. There, Joan and Mireia, on Saturday, and Pol and Sara on Sunday, are waiting for them with a tablet to show 11Onze to all those who do not know us. A man in a coloured shirt points to the 11Onze sign and says something to his wife. He picks a card and takes it. 

The marketing team is clear about why 11Onze has come to the Palo Market Fest: “We are here to make new friends”, explains CMO Gemma Vallet. And that’s what the company has been doing all weekend. Introducing itself to people who may not know us yet, establishing ties with the Z generation that fills the festival, and discovering the stories of entrepreneurs who are starting up their companies.

This last point was key: how do you start a company? When do you realise that you are passionate about your idea? What do you do to make it succed? At the 11Onze stand we talked about it with entrepreneurs who had come to Palo Market. To learn about their experiences and share them in videos at La Plaça soon. To spread the word to these entrepreneurs who are trying to raise an idea. That’s what  Love Stories project is all about, a series of conversations where we are going to discover how these people think, people who are capable of having an idea and carrying it out, even if at some point it may seem crazy.

People who already knew 11Onze passed by the 11Onze stand and asked for details about the status of the application test. We have seen promoters such as Carlos Juanico as well as many 11Onze employees (Xevi, Sandra, Miriam, Pilar… and many others) all of them excited about the company’s final launch line.

And people who didn’t know 11Onze and who discovered us at the festival, what did they say? That it was time for it. That we need a fintech. That agility is needed. And they all wondered when it will be available. And to everyone who was in a hurry to operate with us, we told them what Ramon told us on Saturday afternoon. Ramon is a user of La Plaça, he is retired and lives in Barcelona. When he heard that 11Onze was doing its first face-to-face event, he came to see what was going on. To greet us. To explain to us that he is waiting for 11Onze to open to put his savings in. But that we should not be in a hurry: “oaks grow more slowly than pines, but they are stronger”. When he said that I told him that we had to take a photo. “But don’t post it on internet,” he said. We took it, and he asked me to pass it on via WhatsApp. After he had the photo he saved my number and said: “I already have a contact. I’ve done enough”. He thanked us and left.

Yet, music was going on and people were enjoying the festival. Mireia and Joan were still talking to clients, more people with colourful clothes strolled along the Concept Gallery. And I was still thinking about Ramon, who probably was already back home and who will call me when he sees that accounts can be opened.

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