The collaboration to innovate in health and agriculture with the new Bayer's LifeHub BCN - #BHHInitiatives

BHH member Bayer, as an innovation company committed to moving towards a more sustainable model and joint development with the local ecosystem, has opened the doors of LifeHub Barcelona. It aims to support the acceleration of innovative projects as tools for the transformation of health and agriculture, essential areas for Bayer's activity. It seeks to collaborate and be an active part of society to create world-leading and sustainable solutions in health and nutrition. To achieve this goal, LifeHub BCN is focused on two key areas: crop protection and digital agriculture for Horticulture and Digital Therapeutics. According to Bernardo Kanahuati, CEO of Bayer in Spain and Portugal, "we want to create a collaborative environment with key players in the fields of digital therapies and the transformation of agriculture, with the aim of helping to identify and develop viable proposals that can contribute to improve people's lives." LifeHub BCN will enable them to connect with ecosystems formed by research centers, start-ups, universities, innovation centers and customers; identify partners and provide solutions to their customers' needs; and incubate prototypes to test solutions in the market and be able to scale them. With more than 650 m², the new environment seeks on the one hand, to facilitate and foster collaboration among employees as a starting point to reinforce internal transformation and drive innovation. At the same time, it seeks to link the internal team with members of the local innovation ecosystem, so that they can develop, create and collaborate on projects. For this purpose, LifeHub BCN is equipped with co-creation areas, meeting spaces and individual work areas, being a lively and versatile space, which can be adapted to the needs of each moment, and will allow to promote and encourage the development of innovative initiatives. The geographic location of the new space is no coincidence: Barcelona plays a key role in achieving the company's objectives, as it is a large global technology space and ranks as number 5 among European startup hubs, standing out especially in Southern Europe with more than 1,700 startups operating in an innovative, attractive, and multicultural environment. In this context, the LifeHub BCN project operates as a network of improvement and connection for these startups with other Bayer innovation centers in the Mediterranean cluster such as Seville and Almeria. LifeHub BCN aims to become a relevant asset in the Catalan capital and a tool for revitalization and internal unification to structure and empower open innovation and digital transformation efforts at Bayer, enabling its employees to engage in initiatives that go beyond their core business. LifeHub BCN presents itself as a highly appropriate mean to generate incubation solutions through the exploration of new skills, technologies, and business models. It is also a space conducive to partnering with experts through strategic alliances that leverage cutting-edge technologies. Due to its extensive experience, Bayer positions itself as a facilitator and promoter of high-level solutions. Through LifeHub, the company wants to bring ideas to life, transferring technology and knowledge to the market, seeking tangible results that have a direct impact on society. Get to know more about this initiative here!