The emerging health companies in Catalonia attracted an investment of 445 million euros last year, 87% more than the previous year, led by Impress, a dental technology company that was the protagonist of the first mega round in the sector, with 122 million euro. Without this exceptional operation, the increase would be 36%.
According to the data presented today by Biocat, the organization promoted by the Generalitat, the Barcelona City Council and employers’ associations to promote the biomedical sector in Catalonia, in 2022 35 investments were closed, one less than in the previous year but with a higher average volume . Venture capital has provided 77% of the sector’s financing, with 343 million euros.
In 2022, the internationalization of the sector has been consolidated: 95% of the operations have had the participation of foreign investors. Last year, 117 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 11 rounds, even, all the capital raised has been contributed by investors.
The general director of Biocat, Robert Fabregat, has highlighted that the financial engine of the sector has been the specialized venture capital funds established in Catalonia, such as Ysios Capital, Alta Life Sciences, Asabys Partners, Invivo Capital, Inveready, Caixaa Capital Risc, CG Health Ventures or Nina Capital, which act as drag for foreign investors.
According to the Bioregion Report, the second source of financing for the sector has been competitive aid, with 53 million, 12% of the total and the highest figure in all history, which almost doubles that of previous years. The issuance of shares on the stock market contributed another 4%, with the listing of Labiana Health and Vytrus Biotech; the issuance of participatory debt or venture debt 5% and microinvestment or crowdequity 1%.
In the presentation of the report -which was attended by the President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès- Fabregat assured that “2022 has been a historic year” since the sector has continued to grow despite the unstable international situation and “has consolidated the strategic position of Catalonia as one of the main health innovation hubs in Europe”.
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), 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.
In addition, Catalonia last year attracted 220 million euros of investment in the medical-pharmaceutical industry that created 870 direct jobs, according to Biocat data. Last year investment increased by 70% and employment by 96% compared to 2021, a year marked by the pandemic, Fabregat acknowledged.
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.
The executives of the sector have highlighted that 2023 could experience “a slowdown, as observed internationally” according to Jordi Xiol, partner at Ysios Capital. Montserrat Vendrell, a partner at Alta Partners, acknowledged that “the general feeling is that they are waiting for the valuations to correct a bit” and in the same sense Guillem Masferrer, a partner at Assabys, explained that “the family offices have paid less dividends and, therefore, they have less capacity to invest, a situation that also occurs in the institutional sphere”