The agreement reinforces BStartup’s interest in the health sector, which started with the creation of the programme BStartup Health

From left to right: Luis Badrinas, CEO of Barcelona Health Hub and Community of Insurance; Yolanda Pérez, Director of BStartup in Bank Sabadell; Cristian Pascual, President of Barcelona Health Hub and Xavier Comerma Deputy Director General of Bank Sabadell.

Barcelona, 11th of July 2019. BStartup, Bank Sabadell’s programme of support to young, innovative and technological companies, has signed a collaboration agreement with Barcelona Health Hub, the first technology-focused association which unites actors in the digital health sector in order to promote innovation. The agreement between the two entities is looking to promote innovation in the field of health through the joint development of different research projects, collaborative projects with startups and activities of vocational and academic training.

Xavier Comerma, Deputy Director General of Bank Sabadell and Director of the Catalan Branch, valued the agreement: “We are very satisfied. This is a new step in our project to promote innovation in a key sector as health is. Our intention is to create the best synergies with the health sector in Barcelona, with the aim of providing benefit to both entrepreneurs and the knowledge economy”. Similarly, Yolanda Pérez, BStartup’s Director, stated about collaborative agreements like this one “they are key for our BStartup programme, which has as one of its main areas of focus health entrepreneurs. They are also key in the valorization of the projects of Spanish hospitals and research centres that are often world-class”. 

BStartup Health, a programme dedicated to health-related startups

BStartup, in June 2018, launched BStartup Health, a programme directed towards health-related projects in pre-seed and seed phases, where investment is fundamentally addressed to adding value to the technology developed and the business itself. Nearing the end of July, the second call to applications to BStartup Health will be started with the objective of selecting three new Health Startups who will receive 100,000 euros of investment each.

Bank Sabadell’s interest in the health sector is also reinforced by the recent creation of the Sabadell Asabys Health Innovation Fund which has the aim of investing in the areas of Biotech, Medtech, Digital Health and Innovative Services. On the other hand, Bank of Sabadell’s Group has positionned itself as a key investor in Ysios Biofund II Innvierte, with the additional asignation of resources to the further realization of direct co-investments with this same fund in Spain.

Furthermore, it must be mentionned that the Bank Sabadell Foundation, has, since 2006, granted the Prize to Biomedical Research. They have done so with the objective of recognising the excellence of young individuals, with a promising future in the field, who stand out in their specialty due to their ability to innovate.

Thus, the Bank Sabadell Group reinforces its position as an important actor in the health sector by supporting research through the Bank Sabadell Foundation and supporting the transfer of research to the market and economy through the investment of BStartup Health and the investment fund of Sabadell Asabys Ysios Capital.