This October, three Catalan start-ups were chosen to be the first to receive this new support instrument with €400,000 from the first call of the capital line of co-investment. For each private euro invested, ACCIÓ allocated one euro more, ensuring enhanced support and sustainability for these start-ups.

The ACCIÓ's deep tech co-investment line is tailored for start-ups with a robust scientific and technological background, typically emerging from university and STEM research fields. Understanding their unique financial needs in the initial stages due to high technological and market risks, this initiative blends non-repayable grants with ten-year loans to support their growth.

The three initiatives selected to access the funding are Vitala, The Blue Box and Ysotope, all dedicated to the field of health and life sciences.

Vitala is a start-up that offers the possibility to follow the movement of a drug within the metabolic pathways of cells. The Blue Box developed a device able to detect breast cancer in a non-invasive way with a 75% specificity. Ysotope concentrates on augmenting the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies using contrast agents to analyse tumour tissues.

With this new line of investments, and mechanisms already consolidated, the start-up landscape in Catalonia has a promising future with more than 291 deep-tech startups generating more than 1700 highly qualified jobs with an aggregate turnover of €124 million.

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