Barcelona, ranked fifth among European cities in digital health investment

Barcelona, June 28, 2021.- In a year that promised to be difficult because of the pandemic, Barcelona has climbed to fifth place in the ranking of the European cities with the most important rounds of funds in digital health, just behind London, Stockholm, Oxford and Berlin. The digital health startups of the BioRegion raised €34.5 million in 2020, seven times more than in 2016 (€5.1 million). On average, each operation that closed raised €2.7 million, twice the amount in 2019 (€1.4 million).  

And the upswing seems to be continuing, as in June 2021, digital health companies raised €22 million, more than three times the amount in the same period last year (€6.7 million) and higher than the total value of investments raised in 2019 (€21 million). The driving force for this growth is primarily venture capital, and international participation is key.  

In recent years, digital health has grown rapidly in the BioRegion, and 2020 has only confirmed this trend. While the BioRegion had around 20 digital health companies in 2010, ten years later it has more than 200; that is, the number of companies has increased 10x. This explosive growth reveals the youth of the subsector, 87% of which is comprised of startups which invoice €119 million as a whole, as shown in the 2020 BioRegion Report. Thus, the typical company is new, founded less than 5 years ago, and small, with no more than 10 workers. 

The main technologies that these companies use are artificial intelligence (with practices like machine learning and deep learning), virtual reality, big data, augmented reality and 3D printing. Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are the technologies with the highest investments.

The BioRegion at 4YFN: More than 40 companies and institutions to unveil their new developments

4YFN is kicking off at this peak in the sector. It is one of the most important international gatherings targeted at startups, which positions Barcelona as a benchmark in digital entrepreneurship The event this year begins today and lasts until July 1. It is sharing space at Barcelona’s Gran Via trade fairgrounds with the Mobile World Congress (MWC).

More than 40 companies and organisations from the BioRegion of Catalonia are participating AcceXible, Adan Medical Innovation, Aimentia, BCN Health Venture Partners, Biel Glasses, Cluster Salut Mental, Fundació DTI-Donation & Transplantation Institute, Groenlandia Ventures, HumanITcare, IOMED, Kiara, Labesport Europe SL, LactApp Women Health, Loop Diagnostics, Methinks, Moebio, Nixi Design for Health, MJN Neuroserveis, Mowoot, ONALABS INNO-HUB SL, Science4Tech Solutions, Sens Solutions, Starlab Barcelona, Universal Project&Tools, WIVI VISION and Xartec Salut- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.

Many of them will take advantage of the occasion to unveil the medical innovations and solutions they have developed in the past year, despite the pandemic:

• A box with a variety of approved medical devices - pulsometer, auxometer, thermometer, blood pressure cuff, etc. - for patients designed by HumanITcare. In this way, professionals can monitor people's health via their platform, which was recently given the CE marking.
• The new artificial intelligence tool from the startup IOMED. A consultation interface called Compass, which provides access to data from clinical records automatically in a single click, always guaranteeing patients’ protection.
• LactApp Medical: the new version of the LactApp app, this one meant for healthcare professionals assisting mothers and nursing babies.
• The I am Ready project by the company Nixi for Children. Virtual reality entertainment to show children with cancer the place where they are going to receive their treatment so they can be more relaxed during the sessions, which will be showcased outside hospitals for the first time.

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 [Map] Barcelona, fifth European city in investment in digital health