After two years of euphoria, 2023 registered a significant slowdown in the investment market that tied up most of the capital. However, investors predict an increase in the number and quality of operations for 2024, according to Study on investment in the Life Sciences and Healthcare industry in Catalonia 2023, prepared by CataloniaBio & HealtTech, based in the Barcelona Science Park, and EY, and presented today as part of the second edition of Connection Day in La Farga de L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

Venture capital, although it suffered a decrease in operations, has been the first source of financing, contributing more than half of the total investment, with 51.8%, of which almost 60% was international participation captured by local managers. Public aid, which doubled in 2023, ranked second among the instruments used for investment, with 60.8 million euros. The study also highlights the entry of 15 new national investors into the sector, attracted especially by the biotechnology and digital health sub-sectors. In parallel, there was also an all-time high in capital raised through debt transactions, with a sum of €28 million; a decrease in investment rounds, which at the same time were prolonged in time; and a large amount of non-publicly visible investment through internal rounds, extensions of existing projects or internal fund conversions. This implies that there was considerable portfolio investment last year that went unnoticed.

Restrictive international monetary policies, inflation, market volatility and other factors such as the war in Ukraine put investment funds on alert and they chose to hold back assets. Despite this, last year saw significant growth in international investment in the biotech sector, with a 46% increase, with a combined total of $79.748 billion invested in the US and Europe. In Europe, despite an increase of 37.7% to $11.194 billion, the pre-pandemic levels have not yet been recovered.

Figures on investment in startups in Catalonia reached 220 million euros, an amount that maintains an investment trend higher than the figures recorded before the pandemic, with a growth of over 96% since 2018. These data indicate a faster recovery of investments in the health sector in Catalonia than at European level. In this environment, capital increases predominated as an investment method, both globally and in Catalonia, where crowdequity experienced an increase of 13%, becoming a prominent financing channel.

According to the study, capital disbursement in Catalonia grew from €33.22 million in 2022 to €48.60 million last year, increasing local investment by 46.2% and quadrupling compared to the last four years. Most of these investments were concentrated, both globally and in Catalonia, in biotech companies (48% and 53% respectively), followed by medical technology companies (24% and 26% respectively) and digital health companies, which in Catalonia have increased their investments by 61.5% compared to 2022, reaching an investment of 63 million euros, a figure that practically equals its historical maximum in 2021, which was 64 million euros.

The analysis also shows that almost 18% of healthcare companies have invested in oncology, as has been the case since 2016. Following in importance, 12% of companies have invested in the central nervous system, 3.2% more than the previous year, an area where investment has increased by 96% between 2018 and 2023. The third position is occupied by companies in the respiratory system, with 9% of investments. Other areas that have also proved attractive are otolaryngology and vision. These data highlight the fact that Catalonia is aligned with global trends.

» More information: CataloniaBio & HealtTech website [+]