GENESIS Biomed, a consultancy firm located at the Barcelona Science Park and specialising in early-stage entrepreneurial R&D projects in the biomedical sector, expects to close out this year with record turnover of €1.6 million, up 28% from the €1.25 million in 2021, for a cumulative revenue of over €5.6 million since it was established. The dual function of the company, as consultants and investors, is what sets GENESIS Biomed apart and makes it a benchmark in the biomedicine and healthcare arena, helping drive the sector holistically.

Founded in May 2017 by Josep Lluís Falcó and Natalia de la Figuera, GENESIS Biomed is a national benchmark in advisory services for entrepreneurs in the biomedicine and healthcare arena, helping companies develop their business plan and guiding them through the process of raising funds and negotiating with investors, family offices and business angels, through its private fund-raising service.

“Our strategy has been and continues to be to focus on organic growth. We don’t need capital increases or debt to grow,” says co-founding partner and CEO Josep Lluís Falcó.

So far this year, Falcó, de la Figuera and their team of 15 professionals have helped close rounds of investments for start-up Mowoot (€1 million), which has developed and is already commercialising a patented medical device to treat chronic constipation; and Thytech (€650,000), a spin-off of the Gregorio Marañón Health Research Institute (IISGM), which has developed an allogeneic T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapy from thymus tissue for use in autoimmune diseases like acute respiratory distress syndrome (Covid-19), and organ transplants (GvHD).

With these last two operations, GENESIS Biomed has helped its clients close a total of 19 rounds of funding since the firm was established, helping launch 12 start-ups and spin-offs. The company is currently working on two fund-raising processes for €5 million and €1 million, respectively.

“Our focus will remain on very early-stage projects in biomedicine in order to help entrepreneurs get the value they need for their research to later attract a first round of corporate or venture-capital funding (Series A),” explains Natalia de la Figuera, co-founding partner and COO of GENESIS Biomed.

The firm strives to achieve maximum value for R&D projects, from generating key proof-of-concept to protecting results with patents, preparing business plans and applying for regional, national and international public funding.

At the same time, GENESIS Biomed also invests in very early-stage projects in order to value them and reach key milestones that get innovation closer to market and also generate exit opportunities with an attractive return on investment. In this regard, with the idea of bringing continuity to the GENESIS Ventures fund that is currently in the divestment phase, in 2022 the company set up its second vehicle, GENESIS Tech Transfer Boost, initially endowed with €1 million, for early-stage projects in the healthcare research arena.

“With the creation of this new vehicle, we aim to invest in very early-stage projects, even in the pre-startup stage (not covered by existing funds), which is when it is needed most,” note the company’s founders.

This investment model has been validated previously with the vehicle GENESIS Biomed set up in 2017, GENESIS Ventures, endowed with €2.5 million, which has invested in 13 biomedical projects by various start-ups and spin-offs. The valuation of its portfolio has increased more than threefold in three years. This vehicle has already seen its first divestment.

This dual function, as consultants and investors, is what makes GENESIS Biomed a benchmark in the biomedicine sector, helping drive it holistically.

“This is what sets us apart. We promote the innovation that investors and regulatory agencies want, while also helping and guiding entrepreneurial teams to valorise their respective projects,” the executives highlight.

As a member of organisations like EIT Health, ITEMAS, Asebio and CataloniaBio&HT, which give them access to European funds and allow them to collaborate with top-level international partners, GENESIS Biomed also plays an active role in driving roughly twenty European R&D projects with second-to-none institutions in the European arena. The company currently has five global databases to help knowledge generated at universities and hospitals become companies that develop innovative solutions to improve people’s health and quality of life.

Since it was established, GENESIS Biomed has worked on 253 innovation projects and helped raise over €67.5 million in 19 rounds of funding for clients. In June 2022, the company was given the Best Biomedical Consultant Award at the 11th National El Suplemento Awards.