In March 2021, Biocat and CataloniaBio & HealthTech presented the latest update of the “Investment in Startups” chapter of the 2020 BioRegion of Catalonia Report - “Challenges ahead”, presented in September 2020.

 With the updated figures, the total investment secured by startups in the BioRegion was €226 million, more than ever in the BioRegion and twice the €112 million raised in 2018. Venture capital was the main source of investment, up 58% from the previous year with €140 million in 41 operations.

 The subsector that saw the most growth was digital health, where investment was 2.6 times higher than in 2018. There were three big operations that year: Ona Therapeutics (€30 million), Minoryx Therapeutics (€25 million) and Oryzon (€20 million).

Increase in international investors

Of all the venture capital secured, 62.2% included international investors. The number of international investors increased five-fold, from 14 in 2015 to 73 in 2020, taking part in 4 out of 10 operations. Most of these investors were from Europe (42) and the United States (22).

Jordi Naval and Judit Anido during the press conference for the update of the 2020 BioRegion Report "Investment in startups" chapter.