New investment record in the life sciences and health sector in Catalonia. Despite the pandemic, in 2020, health startups in the Catalan bioregion managed to raise 226 million euros, the highest figure in their entire history. If we consider that in 2018 the investment volume amounted to 112 million, the amount has doubled in just two years.
The main source of investment has been the venture capital sector, with a contribution of 140 million. 41 operations have been recorded, 58% more than in 2019, according to a report presented by Biocat and CataloniaBio & HealthTech.
The highest investments have been concentrated in biotechnology and medical technology companies, although the fastest growing subsector is that of digital health companies, where investment has multiplied by 2.6 times since 2018.
62% of the venture capital raised has the participation of international investors; specifically, 73 foreign investors were recorded in 2020, five times more than in 2015. They are mainly European and American.
Seven Catalan biotech companies have closed investment rounds of more than ten million euros in 2020. The main operations were carried out by Ona Therapeutics (30 million), Minoryx Therapeutics (25 million) and Oryzon (20 million).
It is estimated that the life sciences and health sector generates 7.3% of Catalonia's GDP and employs 230,000 people. "These figures reinforce the conviction of the ecosystem's scaling potential to the level of other European countries. There is no reason not to be ambitious and think that we can reach similar investment figures and aspire to attract Series A," highlighted Jordi Naval, general director of Biocat.
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