Bayer opened its first innovation hub in Spain on Tuesday at its headquarters in Sant Joan Despí, after the ones it already has in the United Kingdom and France. LifeHub Barcelona will focus on digital health and agricultural transformation and initially has three projects underway, which are expected to bear their first fruits in 2023.
The CEO of Bayer for Spain and Portugal, Bernardo Kanahuati, explained that the hub will be an environment to collaborate with start-ups "to accelerate and specify our action in the field of health and food".
This center, which will occupy more than 600 square meters, is designed to promote "open innovation" and connect Bayer with "the local innovation system, but not only with emerging companies, but also with universities and research centers," he clarified. Anabel León, digital manager of the Bayer pharmaceutical area in Spain.
León explained that the project itself started last summer, after an alliance signed with The Collider, the innovation program of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona foundation, and with BCN Health Hub.
However, from now on it already has a physical space that will allow Bayer employees to "co-create" together with external personnel on some projects. The hub draws on personnel mainly from Sant Joan Despí, but also from other parts of Spain, who will work on projects. Thus, from the outset there will be no Bayer personnel assigned as such to the LifeHub, although "the idea is that in the future there will be."
Likewise, there are currently no emerging companies installed in this Bayer space, although it is not ruled out that in the future some space may be temporarily transferred to an external actor if they work on a joint project.
