Last year Catalonia captured 220 million euros of investment in the medical-pharmaceutical industry that created 870 direct jobs, according to data presented yesterday by Biocat, the organization promoted by the Generalitat, Barcelona City Council and employers to promote the biomedical sector . Last year investment increased by 70% and employment by 96% compared to 2021, a year marked by the pandemic, acknowledged the general director of Biocat, Robert Fabregat. In the last five years, the industry has attracted 689 million direct investment and has generated more than 2,900 jobs, bringing the number of jobs in the biomedical industry in Catalonia to 59,600.
Biocat presented the Bioregion Report yesterday, in an act chaired by the President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès. The report highlights that healthcare startups in Catalonia received funding of 445 million euros last year, 87% more than the previous year, led by Impress, a dental technology company that led the first mega round in the sector, with 122 millions of euros. Without this exceptional operation, the increase would be 36%. Venture capital has provided 77% of the sector's financing, with 343 million euros. In 2022, 35 investments were closed, one less than in 2021, but with a higher average volume. The annual creation of new startups has also fallen: after years of being around 55, in 2021 there were 37, and the year past just 14, a drop that Fabregat attributed to the effects of the pandemic.
On the other hand, the number of spinoffs, companies from basic research centers, has risen, as well as the number of venture capital firms specialized in life sciences established in Barcelona, which has multiplied by four in the last ten years. The report confirms that these funds, among which Ysios Capital, Alta Life Sciences, Asabys Partners, Invivo Capital, Inveready, Caixa Capital Risc, CG Health Ventures or Nina Capital stand out, act as a drag for foreign investors, and have managed to 95% of the operations have had the participation of foreign investors.
Last year, 117 foreign funds invested in Catalonia, a figure that has doubled in the last 3 years, mostly coming from Europe, the United States and Asia. The most active have been the French Kurma and Idinvest, Gilde Healthcare (Netherlands), Fund (Belgium), Welington Partners (Germany) as well as corporate investment from companies such as Philips, Roche, Siemens or Boehringer, among others. In even 11 rounds, all the capital raised has been contributed by international groups.
By subsector, medical technologies led investment capture with 193 million euros, mainly due to the Impress operation. Biotechnology, for its part, has multiplied by three the funds raised, up to 185 million euros, mainly due to the rounds of Minoryx Therapeutics (51 million) and SpliceBio (50 million), the largest in the history of the BioRegion. At the other extreme, digital health companies have captured 39 million, 40% less than the previous year, due to the difficult situation that the technology sector has experienced in the international arena.
