Biocat, Fundació BioRegió de Catalunya
Biocat
Biocat is a strategic stakeholder and catalyst for building, promoting and projecting the Catalan life sciences and healthcare ecosystem, known as the BioRegion of Catalonia.
ID: 414525248490-97
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Dolors Montserrat (Member of the European Parliament)
16 Jul 2025 · EU Biotechnologies hubs on Health
Meeting with Nicolás González Casares (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)
15 Jul 2025 · Biotech
Response to EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy
17 Mar 2025
Existing startup and scaleup support programs are essential for fostering entrepreneurship and economic growth. However, integrating them into a broader co-creation strategy could significantly amplify their impact by fostering collaboration across the entire innovation ecosystem in Europe.A cross-border, ecosystem-driven approach ensures that innovation is not isolated but embedded within a resilient, collaborative framework. To make this possible, enabling organizations within regional ecosystems play a crucial role in facilitating cross-border co-creation activities. Supporting them in this functionas already demonstrated in the Interconnected Ecosystems approachcan help strengthen international collaboration and drive systemic innovation at scale. Aligning startup and scaleup support with co-creation and systemic innovation strengthens industries, fosters sustainable growth, and maximizes impactcreating a win-win model for business, academia, and society. Among the RIVs partners, local authorities committed to place-based innovation welcome the EUs efforts to strengthen the start-up and scale-up ecosystem. However, for the EU to fully unlock the potential of urban innovation hubs, it must rethink how cities engage in innovation procurement, investment, and technology adoption. We propose a "Cities-as-a-Sandbox" approach, where cities act not only as first buyers of innovative solutions developed with EU support (like EIC Programs) but also as co-investors, accelerating start-ups and scale-ups with real-world validation, public procurement, and long-term economic impact The coordinators of the 5 RIVS informally create a Regional Innovation Valleys Board to collectively provide feedback and positioning to the ECs Startup and Scaleup initiative, answering below the questions asked in the Call for Evidence Consultation. 1. We agree that the regulatory framework and administrative processes represent relevant burdens for innovative companies. We therefor acknowledge the relevance of this initiative and support the prioritization of a start/scale-up policy agenda involving decision making at Member State and Regional Levels., 2. The RIV Board highlights the lack of dedicated and streamlined mechanisms in place for small seed deals, with an uneven presence of instruments across Europe. Also relevant is the underutilisation of EU public procurement, entailing the risk of missing out on the Deep Tech Revolution. There is not enough demand of innovative goods, services and works in Europe to foster the uptake of innovation in the EU. Europe needs to increase its internal market for innovative products and services. When it refers to tenders, the size can discourage startups and SMEs participation, the processes are complex and the financial capacity required of SMEs is sometimes set at a disproportionate level. There is a need to build capacities on information and communication technologies in public procurement also for procurers to improve startups and scaleups access to the system. 3. Below, the RIV Board provide a list of actions (13 measures) that could be implemented at EU, National and Regional Levels. 1. Co-Creation Passport: Enabling Seamless Collaboration Across Europe 2. Dynamic and Sustainable Funding Approaches 3. Strengthening Regional and Cross-Border Collaboration 4. Market-Driven and Entrepreneurial Approach 5. Scaling European Start-ups and Supporting Ecosystem Entities 6. Advocacy and Further Engagement for RIVs as a critical EU tool and sandbox 7. Supporting a Cross-Project Community Platform for European Innovation 8. Strengthening Regional Innovation Valleys (RIVs) Through Political Engagement 9. Regions and Cities as the First Buyers of Innovation 10. Regions and Cities as Investors in Innovation 11. Regulatory Flexibility for Regions and Cities as Innovation Hubs 12. Strengthening Europe's Innovation Landscape 13. Accelerate certification in strategic sectors like Health
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