BHV Partners has collaborated with Xartec Salut to guide and mentor the 12 most promising projects from researchers in the network and help them establish the business and investment strategy for the future spin-offs they will set up.

All the projects are in healthtech and were selected in the Xartec Salut Venture Builder call for projects, which was open to the 47 research groups at seventeen Catalan universities, hospitals and technology centres that make up the network.

The aim of the call is to accelerate the creation of new companies in the healthtech sector, enhancing their long-term survival and maximising their impact on the market. It is co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with support from the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR).

The one-to-one advisory sessions took place in 2021 and 2022 with external mentors and senior professionals from BHV. Dr Marta Príncep, CEO of BHV, highlights the importance of this programme as it “helps transform academic knowledge and technology into much-needed solutions for healthcare systems and for Catalonia to continue advancing in innovation”.

Berta Borràs, head of Promotion and Management at Xartec Salut, comments that “the collaboration with BHV and the other agents who have participated in the program, as specialists in intellectual property, regulatory, legal and market access, has given the researchers key initial guidelines that will help them take their technology to market with fewer risks”.

BHV is the first venture builder to specialise in health in Southern Europe and, in addition to this activity, also provides consultancy services for technology and innovation transfer organisations, start-ups and the biomedical industry. BHV currently has an international network of 60 partners and senior experts, allowing the group to provide quality mentoring and guidance throughout the life-cycle of a start-up.