Science + Partners celebrates its tenth edition bringing together investors and researchers to bring UB projects to the market
The Bosch i Gimpera Foundation organized the tenth edition of Science + Partners, a day that brings together research staff from the University of Barcelona (“Science”) and specialists from the business world and investors (“Partners”) with the objective of promoting the projects of the researchers.
The conference allowed the researchers to obtain first-hand relevant information about the commercial potential of their projects and, in this way, accelerate their jump to the market. At the same time, it also represented a good business opportunity for the Partners who could learn about the projects that are being carried out by the university to evaluate possible investments.
One of the attractions of the activity is its dynamic format that requires each of the selected projects to be introduced in a short presentation, followed by a short discussion with the group of experts and investors. This exchange helped the researchers to better understand the demands of the market and the strengths and weaknesses of their project. The dialogue meant an important benefit for the participating investors who had privileged access to transfer projects around the UB.
At Science + Partners, four projects were presented: “Ultrafast, Portable and Affordable Infrared Camera”, by Dr. Marti Duocastella from the Faculty of Physics; “Fedder: Privacy-preserving collaborative AI for next-generation healthcare software”, by Dr. Carlos Martin, from Dr. Noussair Lazrak, and Dr. Cristian Izquierdo, from the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science; “It’s electrifying! A modern wastewater treatment solution to the discharge of organic micropollutants”, by Dra. Fernanda Murrieta, from Dr. Birame Boye, and Dr. Ignasi Sirés of the Faculty of Chemistry; and “ONAkids: Early diagnostics propelling language skills to prevent school failure”, by Dra. Samantha Lopez, from Dr. J. Valenzuela, and Dr. Carles Escera from the Faculty of Psychology and the Institute of Neurosciences of the UB.
The group of invited partners was formed by Cruz Mendigutía from BeAble Capital, Jorge Fernández from Bullnet Capital, Francisco Badia from Grow Ventures Partners, Rita Salavert from Mobile World Capital, Eloi Monreal from Ship2B Ventures, and Míriam Segura from S2 Xpeed.
Since 2016, the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation has organized these meetings in which forty promising projects have participated. The consolidation of the initiative over the course of these years represents an important step so that scientific research does not remain in the laboratory, it can reach the market and end up benefiting the end user and society as a whole.