They innovate in health, they have potential growth and they need an injection of capital of 200,000 Euros to 2 million Euros to go ahead with their business plans. These are the main common points of the nine Catalan companies which have presented their projects to hundreds of investors at the Barcelona Healthcare Investment Forum and the Private Investors Forum and Family Offices of IESE -a historical event with already 43 editions-. It has taken place at the main office of the Barcelona Medical Association (COMB).
The Barcelona Healthcare Forum, which has been organized for second year, is promoted by entities of reference in the entrepreneurial ecosystem like Barcelona Activa together with COMB and IESE. They all share the objective of promoting the development of entrepreneurial initiatives in this sector of future.
These nine entrepreneurial projects, selected among 40 candidates, are from the area of biotechnology, medical devices, and TICs related with the health sector:
- Arquebio: it offers a technological platform that improves the processes of molecules production based on chemical synthesis through the microbial fermentation. It has developed recombinants proteins for artificial viruses that can be used in gene therapy and controlled drug liberation.
- Bioglane: it works in the sector of white biotechnology and offers a new nutraceutic ingredient, a natural aminosugar, which contributes to reduce the glycemic index.
- Certificación de Lesiones: it offers biomechanical measurements through physical parameters altered with pain. In this way they can generate objective tests which can spot injuries and allows certifying them in front of third parties, for example, as a test in social courts.
- Dr. Healthcare: it has a business model based on retail healthcare and it develops biofunctional ingredients which improve respiratory disorders, migraine, facial aesthetics and odonthology.
- Dry Blood Spoots: it wants to substitute the process of blood sample taken in liquid environment for one collected on filter paper. This way, expenses would be reduced and a major efficiency would be achieved contributing to preventive diagnosis of illnesses which affect mainly developing countries.
- Gesex Atención Domiciliaria: it focuses on home delivery of socio-sanitary products and services for dependent people.
- Pangaea Biotech: it is specialized in personalized treatment of patients with cancer, while it investigates and develops tests of molecular diagnosis and anticancer drugs.
- SOM Biotech: it investigates, validates, patents and discharges new applications of already commercialized drugs. Thanks to a strategic alliance with Intelligent Pharma they use a platform -registered as Helios- which allows selecting chemical molecules with an identical biological identity but with different molecular structure.
- Tromobotargets: it develops therapeutic products to treat pathologies in the cardiovascular area like coagulants, anticoagulants, fibrinolytics and antifibrinolytics.
The Network of Private Investors and Family Offices of IESE is the more active communication platform among investors and entrepreneurial people in Spain. It is formed by more than 100 employers and managers with capacity of investment. Since its creation in 2003, a total of 28 projects have been funded with a total amount of 9 million Euros. Yesterday’s session was a good opportunity for the entrepreneurial people in Catalonia. For the time being, the results of the former edition of the Healthcare Forum are that 12 companies which presented their projects, six are in process of negotiation and two have already closed funding rounds.
After the presentations, the companies’ representatives could go deep in their contacts and synergies with investors in a networking session in the same facilities.
During the day, a workshop on initiation to investment in health and biotechnology also took place. The attendees where interested in learning about investing in new projects. Also, there was a round table moderated by the founder and director of the Network of Private Investors and Family Offices of IESE, Joan Roure, where sector experts exchanged thoughts about challenges in sanitary innovation for 2010. The participants where Manel Balcells, president of the Biocat Executive Committee; Jaume Aubia, COMB managing director; Joan Bigorra, director of Innovation at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona; Antonio Parente, CEO and cofounder of Lipotec Group and president of CataloniaBio and Rafael Camacho, CEO of Genoma España.