This morning the closing ceremony of the accelerator was presided over by Joan Guàrdia, rector of the University of Barcelona, Jordi Valls, Fourth Deputy Mayor of Barcelona City Council, Lorenzo di Pietro, managing director of Barcelona Activa, Robert Fabregat, managing director of Biocat, and Maria Terrades, director of the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB). The initiative bids farewell after three years of activity (2022-2024), having accompanied eleven health sector organisations in their growth. The companies have increased their human resources by 99%, the recruitment of international talent by 66% and the female leadership of their management teams by 71%. In total, 69 patents have been registered throughout the programme, 3 of which are pending.

The BCN Health Booster accelerator comes to a close after three years in operation with a total of 107.5 million euros in funding raised by the accelerated companies through both private (52% of the total) and public (48%) investments. This amounts to a 116% growth compared to the 49.8 million euros of funding they declared three years ago when they joined this business development programme.

During 2024, the last year of the acceleration programme, the amount of private investment raised reached 9.5 million euros, while public funding exceeded 8 million euros. By the end of the programme, the companies had been granted a total of 66 patents, with 3 more pending, a figure that represents an increase of 306% over the 17 registered when they started in 2022.

Global talent with outstanding female leadership

There has also been remarkable growth in terms of staff. All accelerated companies ended the programme with a 99% increase in staff, having grown from an initial 88 workers to 175 by the end of 2024, a remarkable exponential growth that has translated, in some cases, into an increased need for laboratory space.

This increase has also been accompanied by outstanding female leadership on the management teams. The presence of women in senior positions increased by 71%, with a total of 24 women on the companies’ founding or management teams, compared to 14 at the start of the programme. Similarly, the accelerated companies have managed to attract global talent to their teams, with a 66% increase in the presence of international professionals, specifically from Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Poland and the United States.

Of the eleven projects selected, six are in the discovery phase for therapeutic products, three are developing diagnostic systems for various diseases, one manufactures biomaterials for the health sector, and one is in enzyme design. Over the three years of the programme, the main indications have not changed, with a special focus on the field of oncology, in which more than half (55%) of the participating companies are active. The remainder work to create solutions for the detection of infectious diseases, the development of drug delivery systems for chronic diseases and the discovery of new therapeutic molecules for fibrotic diseases.

The rector of the University of Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, stressed that projects such as the BCN Health Booster are what give meaning to the University of Barcelona’s transformative spirit: “The boost the accelerator gives to these companies with social impact in the field of health is proof that the new models of collaboration between institutions and innovative formulas for knowledge transfer have a promising future”. He added: “We have an obligation to work with a global perspective, in close connection with our scientific and business environment, and with the spirit of vanguard and public service that defines us as a public university”.

“BCN Health Booster is a success story. A win-win between science, business and social and economic progress. And an example of the power of planting an entrepreneurial seed, the one represented by the companies participating in the project, in fertile ground, which is the excellent ecosystem of science, research and training that we have in Barcelona, and watering it with the essential role of entrepreneurial public institutions, such as Barcelona City Council, which also innovate, finance, promote and accompany the innovative drive. All of this contributes to building a better society. It is no coincidence that Barcelona is a global benchmark city in the biomedical sector. This is the way of the future”, said Jordi Valls, Fourth Deputy Mayor of Barcelona City Council.

“The success of this accelerator shows us a way forward”, said Maria Terrades, director of the PCB, “It is essential to get lab space for emerging entities so that they can develop their research and work on innovations that transform the health sector. The talent and ideas are there, and we at the PCB of the University of Barcelona must work to provide the necessary infrastructure and create an environment that favours the growth and success of these companies. We intend to work along these lines in the immediate future”.

According to Robert Fabregat, director of Biocat, “health accelerators are a key tool for transforming scientific knowledge into real solutions that improve people’s lives and solve global challenges. Programmes such as the BCN Health Booster allow health projects and start-ups with great potential to grow faster, access investment and establish strategic connections. Therefore, Biocat will continue to promote initiatives that help make these innovations a reality and reinforce Catalonia’s position as one of the most competitive health innovation hubs in Europe”.

Key laboratory spaces to consolidate projects

For Marina Rigau, CEO and co-founder of the spin-off MiMARK Diagnostics, which is working on a test to detect endometrial cancer, “having these laboratory spaces has been fundamental, and we probably would not be where we are today without this support.” Judit Anido, CEO of Nuage Therapeutics, described the PCB as “a unique space in Europe”, without which “it would have been impossible to develop our technology and grow so efficiently”. For his part, Rafel Bru, CTO of the start-up deepull Diagnostics, has valued “the confidence of both the PCB and Barcelona City Council in start-ups”.