Funding breakfast, lead-up to BIOSPAIN Barcelona
<p>The <em>Spanish Bioindustry Association</em> (AseBio) in collaboration with Biocat, held a Biobreakfast on Tuesday, April 25, on ‘<em><strong>Key funding to build a biotechnology milestone</strong></em>’. The event also featured a sneak peek at the venture capital figures from the 2022 AseBio Report, which will be presented on June 20.</p>
At the event, AseBio CEO Ion Arocena presented the private investment figures for the Spanish biotechnology sector in 2022, which “after two years of unprecedented growth due to the pandemic, has now achieved sustainable growth, surpassing the years prior to the outbreak of the healthcare emergency with a total of €142 million.”
As for international investment, it has remained at almost 100 million euros. Biocat's CEO, Robert Fabregat pointed out '"the upward trend of international venture capital in the rounds is the result of the strength and scientific-technological competitiveness of startups and scaleups, the talent of their teams and the ability to attract specialised investors in the country to promote co-investments in large operations, including Ysios Capital, Alta Life Sciences, Invivo Capital and Asabys, among others". Raúl Martín, partner at Ysios Capital, confirmed during the round table discussion with leading players in the sector: "for every euro we have invested, companies have raised 4 euros from international companies".
For his part, Pablo V. Escribá, CEO of Laminar Pharma and participant in the event, added: “Spain doesn’t have a tradition of investment in this sector and doesn’t have the structured interlocutors of other countries, but the evolution is really positive. One clear example of this is the success of BIOSPAIN, one of the leading congresses in Europe.”
Additionally, founder and CEO of ArthexBiotechBeatriz Llamusí, rounding out the panel, noted the importance of BIOSPAIN for biotechnology firms: “It allowed us to get to know the ecosystem. It was very encouraging to see so many TTOs, which is where the projects come from. This is very good news.”
BioSpain comes back to Barcelona after 20 years
The next edition of BIOSPAIN, held in Barcelona from September 26 to 28, will be a clear reflection of the sector’s evolution. “This year there will be some 2,000 professionals in the sector from over 800 organizations in 30 different countries,” added Ion Arocena.
Biocat CEO Robert Fabregat closed the event with his firm conviction that “We’ve made this edition a clear turning point for BIOSPAIN. The first in-person edition after the pandemic and in the city of Barcelona, which is home to the strongest ecosystem in Spain. We have to take advantage of the Catalan capital’s draw to grow BIOSPAIN, to get even more foreign investors interested and get them to look this way. We hope it will be the most successful edition yet!”
Before this Biobreakfast drew to a close, Ion Arocena took advantage to confirm that this year’s event will once again include the ‘BIOSPAIN Journalism Award’ for best specialized coverage by a national media outlet during BIOSPAIN.
Ion Arocena, CEO of AseBio and Robert Fabregat, CEO of Biocat, during the financing breakfast.