CaixaResearch Artificial Placenta Wins Círculo Ecuestre Young Relevant Award

The pioneering initiative to develop artificial placentas for premature babies, CaixaResearch Artificial Placenta, has won the Círculo Ecuestre Joven Relevante 2024 Award. The project, led by Elisenda Bonet, aims to develop a technology that allows to keep the fetus outside the mother's womb in an environment as similar as possible to it, in order to increase its survival and minimize the risk of sequelae.

The project was chosen from among three finalists during the gala held at the Círculo Ecuestre, through the vote of the hundred members attending the event. The winner was distinguished for its social purpose and for its objective of reducing morbidity associated with extreme prematurity. In addition, in a more advanced phase, the project aims to be able to perform interventions on the fetus in the case of malformations or serious diseases.

Heura Foods and Ocean Ecostructures have been the other two finalists, after a process in which more than fifty projects have participated. Among these, the Organizing Committee and the Candidacy Committee chose six to move to the next phase and, after this first selection, a jury made up of personalities from the business sector and Catalan civil society chose the finalists. The three presented their respective projects at the event at the Círculo Ecuestre, which was attended by its president, Enrique Lacalle.

Heura Foods, founded with the purpose of promoting the global protein transition towards a positive impact food system, presented its project through which it leads the alternative protein sector in Spain. The startup, which closed a 40 million financing round in February, is also registering constant growth in key European markets. For its part, Ocean Ecostructures was selected as a finalist for its technology specialized in biodiversity regeneration to compensate for the negative impact of infrastructures such as ports or offshore wind farms.

After presenting their respective projects, CaixaResearch Artificial Placenta won the eighth edition of this award, which aims to project the talent of young entrepreneurs. With this purpose, the award seeks to recognize and distinguish a person or team under 40 years of age who promotes a project with social impact. Through this initiative, which arose from the work of the youngest members of the Círculo Ecuestre, the winner has been awarded 3,000 euros for the project, a two-year membership card for the club, enrollment in the IESE Enfocados program, and the possibility of delving into entrepreneurship through UIC Barcelona.