The University of Barcelona awards 112,000 euros to research projects with high transfer potential
The University of Barcelona (UB) has awarded, through the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation (FBG) and with the support of Banco Santander España and Santander StartUps, 112,000 euros to research projects with great potential for transfer, in the framework of the ninth edition of the call for proposals of the Fund for the Promotion of Innovation (F2I) 2024. These grants aim to promote UB technologies and bring them closer to market requirements.
The F2I has two modalities: on the one hand, there is the Proof of Concept (PoC) grant, for the valorisation of UB projects with a high potential for transfer; and on the other hand, the Mentor in Residence (MiR) grant, aimed at complementing the team with an external advisor expert in business aspects.
The Proof of Concept call, with a budget of 100,000 euros, aims to help projects to advance in the maturation of the selected technologies in order to bring them closer to market requirements and allow their transfer through a license to an existing company or with the creation of a new spin-off.
In this call, four projects have been selected to receive 25,000 euros each. The following projects have been selected:
– ‘Demonstrator of a perovskite-based LED matrix, fabricated using inkjet technology (MAT-LED)’, by Dr. Sergi Hernández Márquez, from the Faculty of Physics.
– ‘Groundbreaking nanotechnological strategy against glaucoma: highly efficient nanoparticles dispersed in thermosensitive gels’, by Dr. Elena Sánchez López, from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences.
– ‘Small RNA biomarkers validation for Huntington’s Disease’, by Dr. Eulalia Martí Puig and Ana Gámez Valero, from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
– ‘Pararhizobium-based plant biostimulant improving abiotic stress tolerance in crops’, by Dr. Rubén Alcázar Hernández, from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences.
The Proof of Concept grants are aimed at UB researchers who lead transfer projects in which the university owns or co-owns both the knowledge and previous technology and the results for which the grant is requested. In the 2024 Proof of Concept call, a total of 17 research projects generated at the University of Barcelona were presented.
Since 2016, the Innovation Boost Fund programme has supported the creation of six spin-offs – AIGecko Technologies, Bluephage, ColorSensing, Mind & Identity, Neurekalab and Oniria Therapeutics -, enabled the licensing of seven technologies and leveraged more than nine million euros.
Mentor in Residence
The MiR call, with a budget of 12,000 euros, offers to complement the entrepreneurial team with a specialised mentor who accompanies them through the different phases of the process and fundraising, with the aim of promoting the creation of UB spin-offs that are more solid from the moment they are set up.
It is aimed at UB research staff who lead transfer projects aimed at creating a company in which the university is the owner or co-owner of the knowledge from which the new company will be developed.
The projects selected for the MiR were the following:
– ‘Polarised vision camera’, by Dr. Oriol Arteaga Barriel, from the Faculty of Physics.
– ‘Pararhizobium-based plant biostimulant improving abiotic stress tolerance’, by Dr. Rubén Alcázar Henández, from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences.
– ‘Small RNA biomarkers validation for Huntington’s Disease’, by Dr. Eulalia Martí Puig, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
– ‘Commercialisation of a device for measuring and controlling light pollution’, by Dr. Xavier Luri Carrascoso, from the Faculty of Physics.
The grant is supported by Banco Santander and Cultura Innovadora y Científica UB SLU.