The second edition of Connection Day, a working day that has already become a benchmark for the ecosystem, was attended by more than 560 participants, including 155 companies and institutions and 56 exhibiting companies, as well as 268 B2B meetings. "The main objective of this annual meeting is to create a space that facilitates the exchange of knowledge, gives visibility to both the opportunities and needs of companies and organisations and, in short, is a space where participants can explore synergies and establish points of collaboration," says Javier Selva, CEO of CataloniaBio & HealthTech.
The new location of the event has allowed the programme of activities to be extended from a morning to the whole day, as well as increasing the number of participants. The day offers conferences, debates and round tables with the participation of agents of the ecosystem. First of all, the Connection Day will host the Innovation and Transfer Agora of the CERCA institution, with an internationally renowned speaker: Johan Weigelt, CEO of the Karolinska Institute, will present the innovation model of the research centre. In addition, he offered a space for individual meetings.
The Health Investment Forum, organised jointly with ACCIÓ, was also held there, with the participation of a number of pre-selected start-ups: 7 Talos, D-Sight, Dycare, Heecap, Mowoot, Pharmacelera, stereoDive, Succipro, Tensormedical, Ysotope. They were able to present their business projects, each in its own particular phase, in order to promote their start-up and find new investors and opportunities.
The main event of the day, at the Auditorium, was the presentation of the Investment Study in the Health Sector 2023, elaborated by CataloniaBio & HealthTech, together with EY. The President of CataloniaBio & HealthTech, and CEO of GoodGut, Mariona Serra, presented the main data, together with Borja Sangrador, partner of Health and Life Sciences of EY. The presentation of the study was followed by a round table to discuss, still focused on investments, how to incorporate value in health investments. The panel, moderated by Nuria Pastor, Vice President of CataloniaBio & HealthTech and CEO of HumanITcare, was attended by Helena Torras (Venture Partner - Hans(wo)men Group), Gabriel Capellá (General Director, IDIBELL), Sandra García Armesto (Director, AQuAS), Stefanos Theoharis (CEO, OneChain Immunotherapeutics), Borja Sangrador (Partner, EY Healthcare and Life Sciences).
The person in charge of inaugurating the main event at the Auditorium, however, was the representative of the City Council of L'Hospitalet. As hosts of the event, at La Farga, the first deputy mayor, Francesc Belver, shared with the audience the project of the Biocluster of Innovation and Health of the city, an alliance to lead research and innovation in health in southern Europe. Precisely along these lines, it was after highlighted as part of the study the sector's concern about the limitation of physical space.
Throughout the day there was non-stop activity in the B2B meeting space, in addition to the dozens of improvised meetings held in the companies' spaces that were exhibited there. The day ended with a space for talent, with the Job Market Place, organised by Barcelona Activa in collaboration with CataloniaBio & HealthTech, to facilitate the recruitment of talent and networking between professionals and companies, in which 90 candidates participated, 10 representatives of companies with offers.
Comments