Barcelona is attractive for the investment of digital health According to Pharma Market Magazine (in Spanish), Barcelona has climbed to fifth position in the ranking of European cities with the […]
According to Pharma Market Magazine (in Spanish), Barcelona has climbed to fifth position in the ranking of European cities with the most important investment rounds in regard to digital health. The Spanish city is just behind London, Stockholm, Oxford and Berlin.
The numbers verify this trend. For example, digital health companies have captured 22 million euros from January to June in 2021. This amount is more than triple the number in the same period of the last year (6.7 million euros). What’s more, it exceeds the total value of the investment raised in 2019 (21 million euros).
The companies relating to digital health are rapidly increasing. In fact, they have used several new technologies including Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Big Data, Augmented Reality and 3D Printing. The questions here is why do people choose Barcelona to establish their startups?
After the pandemic, many people in the world rethink the importance of healthcare. This is because we may not enjoy our life without our good health. However, the pandemic imposed some restrictions on us. Social distance is an example. Especially in 2020, healthcare workers tried to reduce social contacts with patients, and took care of them at the same time. When we face challenges and restrictions, what will happen in the next? It might be innovation.
As a result, lots of hospital tried to introduce telemedicine. Even before the pandemic, many of us understood how telemedicine would improve our healthcare system. Of course, face to face diagnosis is still important and valuable, but it does not always our solutions. Thus, the pandemic made us seek for another opportunity in our healthcare, in other words.
Another possibility is remote surgery. As we see the other article, a telecommunication company and a university are working for the project. In this sense, collaboration among different players in different sectors is also crucial for realizing innovation.
Innovation is getting more important for our better healthcare system and future. We cannot achieve it in a single day, but we need passion and energy. What’s more, money is also important.
When we do new challenges, money is a critical factor, too. This is because we cannot hire other people or purchase equipment without enough money in many cases. In other words, financing is the starting point for our venture. Therefore, the more opportunities to finance startups have, the better business environment is.
According to the survey, Barcelona is a good place to start new business, especially in healthcare sector. The Spanish city has good reputation for both healthcare system and capacity. In addition to this, there are talented workers. Of course, there are several reasons why they choose to work in Barcelona. However, from a perspective of startup companies, they can access good workers and money. This is why the city attract lots of investments in digital healthcare.
