On April 21, the 3rd General Council of the Barcelona Innovation Valley Alliance (BIVA) was held in Sant Cugat del Vallès, at Banco Sabadell’s headquarters.

The session opened with a welcome address by Sonia Quibus, Chief People and Sustainability Officer of the institution, and featured a presentation by Roger Olivet, Director of New Technologies and Solutions.

During the meeting, Albert Salarich, Councillor for Business, Innovation and Internationalisation at Sant Cugat del Vallès City Council, presented the progress achieved since the launch of BIVA, as well as the main ongoing and upcoming actions.

These include initiatives such as the Business Recognition Awards, the European project Health Cities (Interreg Europe), BIVA Talent Day, and participation in leading events such as the Mobile World Congress (MWC), 4YFN, Talent Arena, and B·Health Week, promoted by Biocat.

Within the framework of the Council, the new Sant Cugat Urban Sandbox was also presented—an initiative aimed at enabling real-life testing environments for the development and validation of innovative projects.

In addition, the HP Large Format Sandbox case was shared, presented by Bruna Silver of HP, as an example of a corporate sandbox focused on testing and validating solutions prior to market launch.

Finally, the session served to promote the activation of new dedicated working groups, such as the Smart Commuting group, with the aim of continuing to generate real impact and strengthening collaboration among local stakeholders.

• Showcase Sant Cugat’s innovation ecosystem on the international stage.
• Present strategic initiatives such as the Urban Sandbox, a programme designed to enable real-world testing of cutting-edge solutions in urban environments.
• Be joined at our stand by a delegation of high-potential startups from Sant Cugat.
• Participate in the Talent Arena, the congress’ dedicated space for digital and tech talent.

• Atleia
• Wildebit
• Fitter Health
• Wisar
• Mathew
• Connecthink
• FlexiiC
• Point Pressure
• Placenet, The Internet of Places

4YFN will once again become a key meeting point to connect, exchange knowledge and build new strategic partnerships.

As part of the Health Cities Days , the Health Cities project’s study visit under Interreg Europe, on 29 October the partners visited Roche Diagnostics headquarters in Sant Cugat, member of Sant Cugat is BIVA*

Jacques Baudin, Head Go-To-Market & Customer Success EMEA–LATAM, Roche Diagnostics España Information Solutions, highlighted the value of clinical diagnostics and the ethical and regulated use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as key elements in transforming healthcare systems. AI can accelerate clinical decision-making and improve result accuracy — always within a robust regulatory framework and under human supervision — empowering healthcare professionals rather than replacing them.

Dr Josep Quer (Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR) – Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca) presented the translational research model aimed at bringing biomedical research outcomes into clinical practice. He illustrated it with the hepatitis C project, which uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) tools to raise the cure rate to 95%, thanks to collaboration between research, hospitals and industry. He emphasised that innovation only makes sense when it benefits patients and society.

An inspiring closing session that showed how collaboration between research and industry can pave the way towards a more personalised, digital and ethical health system.

As part of the Health Cities Days study visit of the Health Cities project under the Interreg Europe programme, on 29 October project partners visited HP Sant Cugat, where David Soriano Baguet, Healthcare and O&P Segment Manager for HP Additive Manufacturing Solutions, showcased real-world applications of 3D printing in personalised medicine and biomedical research.

Soriano explained how HP is transforming the healthcare sector — particularly in prosthetics and orthotics — thanks to HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) technology: lighter, more comfortable and fully customised devices, produced through automated, sustainable and scalable processes. In Sant Cugat, the global headquarters of HP 3D Printing, more than 2,600 people work on site, including over 800 engineers, and the centre welcomes around 7,000 visitors every year.

HP collaborates with startups and companies such as Invent Medical, FITED, EXTOL, iOrthotics, Naked Prosthetics and Quorum Prosthetics, scaling up production and improving patients’ quality of life. The visit concluded at the Application Centre, where participants were able to see and handle real examples of these innovations — a truly inspiring experience.

The roundtable, moderated by Marta Rojas Gregorio (B.Link) and featuring contributions from Miquel Martí (Tech Barcelona) and David Pijoan Almaraz (Biocat, BioRegion of Catalonia), explored how these models can help address key challenges faced by startups: validation, regulation and scalability.

Speakers highlighted that Catalonia benefits from a unique ecosystem that brings together hospitals, universities, technology centres and a strong public healthcare system. Even so, they stressed the need to improve coordination between public and private stakeholders in order to turn potential into real impact.

Concrete examples were showcased: the publication of the ten main needs of the Catalan healthcare system to guide research and technology transfer, and Tech Barcelona’s open innovation model, which connects startups, corporations and investors with clinical and regulatory support.

The session concluded with the idea that Catalonia has all the ingredients to consolidate itself as a European hub for health innovation, provided that the links between research, industry and public institutions are further strengthened.

As part of the Health Cities Days, the first study visit of the Health Cities project under the Interreg Europe programme, the event highlighted the opportunities offered by digital and technological talent as a driver of competitiveness and growth.

La sessió va comptar amb les intervencions de Marc Payola (Mobile World Capital Barcelona), Elisenda Vives (manager de Transformació Digital i Cultural a HP), Ana Ochoa (Global IT Barcelona Hub Manager a Nestlé) i Ferran Urgelés (Head of IT a Boehringer Ingelheim Espanya), que van compartir les seves reflexions sobre l’atracció i el desenvolupament de talent en entorns impulsats per la innovació. Tots ells representen empreses membres de l’aliança Sant Cugat is BIVA*.

As part of the Health Cities Days—the first study visit of the Health Cities project under the Interreg Europe programme—on 28 October the European partners visited the facilities of Boehringer Ingelheim, a member company of the Sant Cugat is BIVA* alliance, in Sant Cugat.

During the visit, Nicolas Dumoulin, Country Managing Director; Olga Salomó Monsó, Human Resources Director; and Iris Hochmair, Head of Talent Management, presented the company’s talent management strategy and the model implemented in Sant Cugat. Their approach aims to create an environment where people feel at home, combining respect, continuous training, work–life balance, and flexibility.

Boehringer Ingelheim Sant Cugat, with 1,730 employees, is one of the company’s main sites in Catalonia and a benchmark in talent management. Its model is grounded in respect, work–life balance, and professional development, with stable employment contracts (98% long-term) and gender parity (50/50).

As part of the Health Cities Days, the first study visit of the Health Cities project within the Interreg Europe programme, on 27 October the European partners visited the ALBA Synchrotron, where experts from different institutions shared how scientific research and technology transfer are driving competitiveness in the biomedical field.

The session featured contributions from Alejandro Sanchez(ALBA Synchrotron), Lucas Martín Pinardi (PRUAB), Felip Miralles, Director of Health Technologies at Eurecat – Centro Tecnológico, and Jordi Escribà (B.Link). All of them are members of Sant Cugat is Sant Cugat is BIVA*.

The session, “Science-Based Innovation: From Research Infrastructures to Market-Oriented Solutions” highlighted Catalonia’s strong potential to transform research into market-driven innovation, thanks to universities, hospitals, technology centres, and major infrastructures such as the ALBA Synchrotron.

Speakers agreed that challenges remain in public-private collaboration, particularly in aligning the interests of researchers with the needs of industry. They emphasised the importance of companies clearly identifying the challenges to be addressed, and of researchers having a better understanding of market demands to ensure the viability and continuity of projects.

The need to strengthen ALBA Synchrotron’s communication efforts was also underlined, in order to showcase its industrial value and attract more companies, with initiatives such as hackathons that connect research with real business needs.

An inspiring session that shows how scientific infrastructure can become a driver of innovation and urban health, turning research into market-oriented solutions.

As part of the Health Cities Days—the first study visit of the Health Cities project, under the Interreg Europe programme—on 27 October we held a session at the Esade campus to address this key challenge, an activity organised within the framework of the Sant Cugat is BIVA*.

Oriol Alcoba Malaspina, Executive Director of ESADE Creapolis, opened the event by highlighting the need to overcome the well-known financial “valley of death”, particularly in biotech, medical devices and digital health, where innovation frequently encounters insufficient investment. He underlined the importance of coordination between public administrations, investors and entrepreneurs, as well as fostering a culture of trust and patience.

The session featured contributions from Fernando Zallo Olaeta, Director of ESADE BAN; Arnau Segura Florensa, Investment Manager at BStartup Banco Sabadell; Daniel Clivillé, Director of CREA INVERSION; and Jordi Ortiz, Manager at ACCIÓ all of them member entities of Sant Cugat is BIVA* , who discussed:

• Flexible financial instruments: public–private hybrid models, participatory loans and programmes such as BStartup Health.
• Specialised investment culture: business angels and funds with in-depth knowledge of the health sector.
• Best practices and ecosystem development: Biocat Investor Day, CataloniaBio Hub and European investor networks.

The session concluded that strengthening a collaborative investment culture, designing instruments tailored to the risk profile of each subsector and enhancing public–private coordination are essential to reinforcing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in health.

From 27 to 29 October, Sant Cugat welcomed the European partners of the Health Cities project: delegations from Lunds Kommun (SE) and Medicon Village (SE), ROM Utrecht Region (NL), National Development Centre (HU) and Pannon Business Network (HU), Toulouse Métropole (FR), and Ivano Frankivsk (UA) — leading European ecosystems in health and life sciences coming from Sweden, Hungary, France, Ukraine and the Netherlands.

The visit, framed within the Interreg Europe programme, aimed to exchange experiences and showcase Sant Cugat’s local innovation ecosystem in health and life sciences – SantCugatisBIVA, highlighting local best practices and reference models around the project’s key areas: governance, talent management and business support services.

The study visit began with an institutional welcome at the Sant Cugat City Council, in collaboration with Biocat, Sant Cugat Empresarial and B.Link, who provided context on the positioning and relevance of both Catalonia and Sant Cugat within the health innovation sector.

The first roundtable, held at the ESADE Campus Sant Cugat, focused on early-stage funding, featuring contributions from Oriol Alcoba, Fernando Zallo (ESADE BAN, BStartup), Daniel Clivillé (Crea Inversión) and Jordi Ortiz (ACCIÓ).

At ALBA Synchrotron, the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Eurecat presented how science, research and applied innovation are driving progress in health technologies and industry transformation.

The second day was dedicated to talent and innovation, with visits to Boehringer Ingelheim and the BIVA Talent Day, co-organised by the City Council of Sant Cugat and Mobile World Capital Barcelona, which brought together over 30 companies. Later, at Tech Barcelona, a roundtable on acceleration and incubation models for start-up generation featured Miquel Martí, David Pijoan (Biocat) and was moderated by Marta Rojas (B.Link).

The final day showcased Sant Cugat’s industrial excellence, through visits to the corporate headquarters of HP, Roche, and Grifols, with the collaboration of the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR). David Soriano, Jacques Baudin and Josep Quer presented global advances in 3D printing, digital health, artificial intelligence and personalised medicine.

The Health Cities Days visit reinforces Sant Cugat and Catalonia’s position as European leaders in health and life sciences innovation, fostering international collaboration and knowledge exchange across Europe.