4YFN 2023 sees record turnout, surpassing all expectations
The 2023 edition of 4YFN, one of the most important international events for startups, has reaffirmed Barcelona’s position as a benchmark for digital and technological entrepreneurship. The participation figures for this year, including those professionals exhibiting and visiting the fair, surpassed all expectations. That’s why there is already talk of expanding the 4YFN pavilion for 2024, focusing mainly on digital health and sustainability, sectors that are increasingly important and present at this event.
Over the four days of 4YFN, the startup corner coordinated by Biocat with ACCIÓ and the Agency for Health Quality and Assessment of Catalonia (AQuAS), hosted business and institutional meetings, plus constant activity from the 20 startups selected to take part in the BioRegion of Catalonia pavilion.
The week kicked off with a visit from Barcelona mayoral candidate Mr. Xavier Trias. Biocat CEO Robert Fabregat spoke with him about the sector’s health, strategic initiatives and the innovation and internationalization programs Biocat is leading.
There was a constant flow of delegations and visitors to the stand, interested in learning about the BioRegion. Highlights include the twenty participants from the Catalan Health and Social Care Consortium visiting the fair with Sanofi, other Spanish bioregions like Bioga (the technological business cluster for the life sciences in Galicia) and international delegations including ones from Guajanato (Mexico), Alberta (Canada), Argentina and Bulgaria (which hosted the “Invest in Bulgaria” event led by its cluster -biocluster.bg- with the Minister of Innovation and other government officials).
Startup corner coordinated by Biocat, with ACCIÓ and the Agència de Qualitat i Avaluació Sanitàries de Catalunya (AQuAS)
There were also business meetings (with pharmaceutical companies like Bbraun, Bayer and Alexion Pharmaceuticals) and more institutional ones, like the visit from Catalan Minister for Business and Labor Roger Torrent with Catalan Secretary for Business and Competitiveness Albert Castellanos, or the one from Acting President of the Catalan Parliament Alba Vergés, who got to meet the entrepreneurs displaying their solutions the first days of the event. The Honorable President of the Government of Catalonia also hosted a reception at the Palau de la Generalitat with numerous Catalan startups.
Roger Torrent Minister of Business and Labor and Albert Castellanos, Secretary of Business and Competitiveness of the Generalitat during their visit to 4YFN
20 BioRegion startups at 4YFN
The 20 startups taking part in the BioRegion space these days had the chance to pitch their innovative projects to investors and the general public in the open pitch sessions hosted at the ACCIÓ Startup Catalonia and Tech Barcelona booths.
The conference program featured many professionals from the BioRegion of Catalonia, who also attracted a lot of media attention. From the BioRegion corner, two stand out: Nixi for Children and Surgifit. Nixi for Children, a project working to empower pediatric patients and help them overcome their fear of hospitals, won the Digital Health Battle, pitching to expert health investors. The top five digital health startups chosen to take part in the pitch contest, in addition to Nixi for Children, also included another startup from the BioRegion: Doctomatic. Additionally, Surgifit and its personalized prehabilitation program with digital pre-op support was one of the four finalists in the #Mobileworldlive #Pitch2Pitch session.
Nixi for Children, winners of the Digital Health Battle