Early stage funding – round table (Health Cities Days)

As part of the Health Cities Days—the first study visit of the Health Cities project, under the Interreg Europe programme—on 27 October we held a session at the Esade campus to address this key challenge, an activity organised within the framework of the Sant Cugat is BIVA*.

Oriol Alcoba Malaspina, Executive Director of ESADE Creapolis, opened the event by highlighting the need to overcome the well-known financial “valley of death”, particularly in biotech, medical devices and digital health, where innovation frequently encounters insufficient investment. He underlined the importance of coordination between public administrations, investors and entrepreneurs, as well as fostering a culture of trust and patience.

The session featured contributions from Fernando Zallo Olaeta, Director of ESADE BAN; Arnau Segura Florensa, Investment Manager at BStartup Banco Sabadell; Daniel Clivillé, Director of CREA INVERSION; and Jordi Ortiz, Manager at ACCIÓ all of them member entities of Sant Cugat is BIVA* , who discussed:

• Flexible financial instruments: public–private hybrid models, participatory loans and programmes such as BStartup Health.
• Specialised investment culture: business angels and funds with in-depth knowledge of the health sector.
• Best practices and ecosystem development: Biocat Investor Day, CataloniaBio Hub and European investor networks.

The session concluded that strengthening a collaborative investment culture, designing instruments tailored to the risk profile of each subsector and enhancing public–private coordination are essential to reinforcing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in health.