The third edition of the LifeTech Summit, organised by UCAM HiTech, the UCAM innovation and business acceleration hub belonging to the Fundación INCYDE High Technology Incubator Network, has closed its pitch competition, awarding two start-ups for their potential to attract investment and the social impact of their solutions. Each start-up from the Spanish scientific ecosystem received a prize worth €2,000: Trak y Gate2Brain. 

These awards were made possible thanks to the support of Telefónica and the sponsorship of Letslaw, Cinfa, INFO Región de Murcia, H&A, Caixabank, CMG MedDev and Grupo Orenes, organisations that are firmly committed to science-based entrepreneurship as a driver of innovation and economic development. The awards were presented by Samuel Rabadán, Director of DayOne for the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia at Caixabank, and María José Bernal, Head of Business Development at INFO.

Recognition of science that interests investors

The jury evaluated ten projects in the seed phase, many of them originating from universities, hospitals and research centres, reaffirming the growing appeal of deep tech start-ups and the biotech and medical device field. 

Trak, represented by Jaime Rodríguez, was named the start-up with the greatest investment potential, winning for its scalability and technological maturity. Trak offers a personalised digital rehabilitation solution using artificial intelligence. Their platform improves therapeutic adherence, reduces costs and allows personalised clinical monitoring from anywhere, making it a highly efficient tool for healthcare systems and insurance companies.

The award for the start-up with the greatest impact went to Gate2Brain, represented by Meritxell Teixidó, for its shuttle peptide technology that facilitates the transport of drugs to the brain, opening up new therapeutic avenues for diseases such as childhood brain tumours.

Healthcare in Murcia in search of disruptive technologies

During the LifeTech Summit, representatives from the Servicio Murciano de Salud (Murcia Health Service), the Virgen de la Arrixaca Hospital and Ribera Salud held meetings with ten scientific start-ups with high potential for clinical application: Teraomics, Ainovis, Gennetika, MATCH Biosystems, Heuristik, Trak, Ownmed Innovation, Limbium, Vasomaly and Corsonic. The proposals presented addressed key challenges facing the healthcare system, such as the early diagnosis of complex diseases, the automation of clinical processes, patient traceability, the improvement of physical rehabilitation, advanced vascular analysis, solutions for people with ostomies or amputations, and the use of artificial intelligence in radiology and cardiology. This interaction between start-ups and hospitals reflects the commitment of the Murcian healthcare ecosystem to identifying emerging technologies. The event has opened up opportunities for collaboration on projects with high potential to improve clinical care and positively impact patients' lives.

Transfer as a driver of growth

According to the Informe sobre emprendimiento en salud en España (Report on Entrepreneurship in Health in Spain), more than 80% of the most successful spin-offs in the sector are born in academic environments, but only those capable of clinically validating their solutions and connecting with investors from early stages manage to scale up.

The LifeTech Summit responds to this challenge by connecting science, capital and talent. In this edition, more than 100 technology-based start-ups—60% linked to the health sector and 80% in the seed phase—held meetings with more than 100 funds, corporations and entities in an environment that exceeded last year's figure of 1,000 meetings, consolidating its position as one of the most active forums for investment in applied science in the country. Among the developments presented were digital rehabilitation platforms with AI, real-time immunological diagnostics, clinical biometrics for hospital traceability and digital therapies for chronic diseases.

This networking environment is reinforced by initiatives such as the scientific entrepreneurship community, Coral (www.thecoral.net), which already brings together more than 1,000 scientists and entrepreneurs committed to bringing science to the market.

With this approach, the LifeTech Summit not only rewards projects, but also reaffirms its role as a catalyst between science and investment, contributing to the positioning of the Region of Murcia as a hub for innovation in health, biotechnology and medical technology.