Invest in a growing ecosystem
Barcelona and Catalonia offer great investment opportunities in life sciences and healthcare. Their leading position in basic and applied research (#4 in Europe and #7 worldwide in clinical trials), their dynamic entrepreneurial community (Barcelona is the 2nd most attractive city in Europe to found a startup), and their network of companies and specialized VC firms provide international investors with access to high-potential projects and expert partners to deploy their capital.
Catalan venture capital leveraging capacity
The network of specialized investors established in the BioRegion is key to scaling business projects and attracting international capital.
More companies, more national investment, more public funds
startups created in the BioRegion since 2016
of VC raised through co-investment between domestic and international firms (2025)
Catalan companies acquired or licensed in 2025
Startup funding progression
- Progression rate to Series A: Catalonia shows a 55% conversion rate to the growth stage, higher than the 35% European average over the same period.
- Continuity in advanced stages: the funnel maintains competitive rates: 22% of cohorts reach Series B (vs. 14% in Europe) and 8% reach Series C (vs. 5%).
- Structural scaling challenge: although the share of mega rounds (5%) is higher than the European average (1%), the absolute number of cases reaching the final stage of the cycle remains limited, highlighting the ecosystem’s challenge to scale up large operations.
- Seed-first dynamics: a number of companies are identified entering the radar directly at the Seed stage, indicating projects that are born with sufficient maturity to attract seed capital from the outset.