The Collider has made the leap to all of Europe. This program of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona foundation, dedicated to transferring science to the market, has recently won the management of the venture builder of the European Innovation Council, a European entity for the promotion of innovation and the most cutting-edge technologies.
“We have taken a leap in scale that allows us to lead scientific projects from Barcelona that can generate value in the economy of all of Europe,” celebrates Jordi Arrufí, new head of the program.
In the last year, this venture builder has already managed to advise a hundred scientific projects. “Taking into account our experience, we estimate that between 10% and 20% of initiatives will end up becoming companies,” comments Ona Estapé, head of operations linked to technology transfer within MWCapital. In addition, it must be taken into account that some projects will not need to become a startup, a technological license issued by the university will be enough.
As for The Collider, the program celebrates its eighth edition this year and has already added more than 200 advised initiatives since its inception. Of this total, around twenty have become businesses that operate in the science or deep tech (disruptive) technologies sector. Among the success stories, those responsible highlight AllRead, one of the most consolidated startups, which works in port logistics; NanoChronia, specialists in sensors applied to gas detection, and Jolt Solutions, which works on an electrolysis plant to produce energy with hydrogen.
“The requirements to become part of our program include that the technology has emerged from a research center or a university, that it is protectable through a patent or other intellectual property system and that it is disruptive, that it provides profound innovation in the market”, comment those responsible.
The Collider is in charge of advising the researchers of each project and looking for an experienced entrepreneur to lead the business. The ultimate objective of the program is to reduce the gap between the scientific advances developed at the university and their presence in the market. Likewise, The Collider wants to contribute to reversing the lack of venture capital investment in these projects, which are often very high risk.
