LORTEK OPENS ITS FIRST HEADQUARTERS IN BILBAO AT THE AUZO FACTORY IN IRAZABAL-MATIKO, FOLLOWING AN AGREEMENT WITH BILBAO CITY COUNCIL.

The Bilbao City Council, through Bilbao Ekintza, and LORTEK have formalised their collaboration with the official opening of MONDRAGON’s first technology centre in Bilbao, located within the municipal facilities of Auzo Factory in Irazabal-Matiko. The inauguration of LORTEK’s new Bilbao office strengthens the city’s business and economic fabric and reinforces its role as a leading technological-digital hub, as well as an attractive destination to promote specialised talent.

• The technology centre IKERLAN, also a member of MONDRAGON, has taken this opportunity to announce the expansion of its space within Auzo Factory due to the growth of its activity in Bilbao, aiming to foster local and European collaboration through research projects, workshops, and networking, and to promote digital entrepreneurship.

• The inauguration ceremony was attended by the Mayor, Juan Mari Aburto, LORTEK’s CEO, Pedro Álvarez, MONDRAGON’s President, Pello Rodríguez, and IKERLAN’s CEO, Ion Etxeberria.

Bilbao, 23 January 2026. – The Bilbao City Council, through its municipal company Bilbao Ekintza, and MONDRAGON’s technology centre, LORTEK, celebrate today the official opening of LORTEK’s first office in Bilbao, following the collaboration agreement for the provision of a space within the municipal facilities of Auzo Factory in Irazabal-Matiko.

The presentation took place today at an institutional ceremony attended by LORTEK’s CEO, Pedro Álvarez, and IKERLAN’s top executive, Ion Etxeberria, alongside MONDRAGON’s President, Pello Rodríguez, and the city’s Mayor, Juan Mari Aburto.

The official opening of this new space strengthens LORTEK’s presence in the city and consolidates Bilbao as a strategic location for companies in the technological-digital sector, with LORTEK serving as a provider of technological and digital solutions for companies across various sectors, a benchmark in research and technology transfer, and a key player in attracting and retaining highly specialised talent.

LORTEK, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA) and a company specialising in digitalisation and the development of advanced and intelligent manufacturing solutions, joins IKERLAN, as well as seven other companies located in Auzo Factory. Together, these companies will host a total of 65 people.

Since 1 October 2025, a multidisciplinary team has been working in the Auzo Factory facilities at 6 Matiko Street, a municipal business space that includes a coworking area designed to support companies like LORTEK, as well as project promoters, start-ups, and professionals in developing their business activities. Furthermore, Auzo Factory primarily focuses on the development of new innovative projects with growth potential in strategic sectors such as creative industries, advanced services, the digital economy, and tourism.

The inauguration of the office allows LORTEK to strengthen its proximity and collaboration with R&D entities, institutions, technology centres, clusters, and universities, as well as expand technology transfer to companies in Bilbao and Bizkaia and participate more actively in events, forums, and conferences held in the city.

MORE SPACE FOR IKERLAN

Since opening in Bilbao in 2023, IKERLAN has promoted the development and attraction of technological talent in collaboration with the different agents operating in the city, further strengthening its collaboration and technology transfer to companies in Bilbao and Bizkaia through closer proximity.

In this trajectory, it has carried out numerous activities with local agents and platforms, including project monitoring meetings, technology workshops, STEM awareness sessions, and business networking to address common challenges, as well as fostering digital entrepreneurship as a driver of new technology-based companies (NEBTs).

The development of new IKERLAN projects in Bilbao requires an expansion of its current space in Auzo Factory Irazabal-Matiko, occupying, since October, a new area shared with LORTEK, thereby ensuring the continuity and growth of its activities.

The new LORTEK facilities and the expansion of IKERLAN increase MONDRAGON’s presence in Bilbao, which MONDRAGON will continue to strengthen through Bilbao Bizkaia Digital Faktory in Zorrotzaurre. This new technological hub, promoted by the corporation with the initial participation of Mondragon Unibertsitatea and IKERLAN, will integrate knowledge, technology, talent, and business—the four fundamental pillars on which MONDRAGON builds its future strategy—consolidating public-private collaboration and its commitment to the digital transformation of the cooperative sector. The project, which involves an investment of over €20 million, further reinforces Bilbao as a gateway for international talent.