The ICF invests in 20 Catalan startups during 2021

In total, €7.7 million have been invested in 20 venture capital companies. The investment was made through the venture capital fund ICF Venture Tech II and IFEM Innovació.

Barcelona, 4 March 2022 - The Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) continues to promote entrepreneurship in Catalonia by investing in transformative, innovative and digital projects. Through the entity's two investment instruments for the venture segment, ICF Venture Tech II and IFEM Innovation, the entity has invested a total of €7.7 million in 2021 in 20 start-ups. This volume, added to the €41.4 million invested by other investment entities, represents an overall investment capacity of €49.1 million.

The companies in which investments have been made share a number of defining characteristics. They are companies with a high innovative component that seek creative solutions to current needs and are committed to digital systems and platforms to boost their businesses.

In this sense, during 2021, most of the investments have been made in startups in the ICT sector, although investments have also been made in companies in the health and bio sector. In most cases, the investment has been made through the IFEM Innovació line in the form of a participative loan of 200,000 euros.

Specifically, IFEM Innovació has promoted the development of companies such as Trendier, Aquí tu Reforma, Segle Clinical, iVoox, Fittest Freakest, Kubbo, Nuclio Digital School, Oct8ne, Taclia, Kintai, Incapto Coffee, Nectios and VB Devices.

The ICF Venture Tech II fund, aimed at more mature startups, closed seven deals during the year in companies such as Top Doctors, Bigle Legal and Inbrain.

The ICF's Venture Capital director, Emili Gómez, stressed that "as a public entity, it is crucial to support startups, a growing segment of great value for the Catalan economy". "In Catalonia there are more than 1700 startups and Barcelona is the fourth startup hub in the European Union; from the ICF, we want to continue promoting this economic fabric together with other entities of the investment ecosystem," he said.