CEIN Start-up Day has provided a meeting place for the Navarra company to listen to the experiences of the protagonists of the main entrepreneurship support programmes.
Noáin, 21st December 2022. This afternoon, the second CEIN Start-up Day was held in Baluarte, an event which brought the company together with the main actors in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation to go over the main achievements of the year and note future trends in this field.
This celebration, with entrepreneurship as the focal point, has allowed them to share the most interesting projects developed at CEIN in 2022, which are the results of its Business Ideas Accelerator, Innovation Nurseries, Entrepreneur Boost Programme and its Health, Digitech, Green, International and Agrofood itineraries. The entrepreneurs, who are the true stars of the event, explained the challenges they have faced when defining their innovative business models and the lessons they have learned.
The event featured talks by the Minister of Economic and Business Development for the Government of Navarra, Mikel Irujo; the Minister of Universities, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Juan Cruz Cigudosa; the Director-General of Company Policy, International Projection and Work for the Government of Navarra, Izaskun Goñi; the Director-General of the S4 Industry, Energy and Strategic Projects, Uxue Itoiz; and the Managing Director of CEIN, María Sanz de Galdeano.
María Sanz de Galdeano, Managing Director of CEIN, opened the event and gave a summary of the Centre’s year in figures, wishing to emphasise that “at CEIN, we work to continue improving entrepreneurial activity in Navarra, which is already higher than in most other regions, and the ratio of consolidated startups, as we have the second highest level in Europe.” She also noted that to continue this, “we will be working on a new strategy which we will soon present, bearing in mind that the rules of the globalisation game have changed following the pandemic.” Sanz de Galdeano underscored that CEIN’s objectives are supported by Europe and the new Innovation Agency – “the newly approved RETECH network of digital entrepreneurship, in which Navarra will be strongly represented, is further proof of this.”
Following Sanz de Galdeano’s talk, the event began with a round table, discussing the different programmes CEIN provides from the participants’ perspectives. The attendees have had the opportunity to hear first-hand about the experiences of Miguel García, CEO of Sploro and a participant in the Digitech programme; Javier López, a member of the Green programme and CEO of Greentech, one of the companies in CEIN’s Innovation Nursery; Susana Sánchez, co-founder of MOA Foodtech and a member of the Agrofood programme; and Irene Ayerra, CEO of Hemotic and a participant in the Health programme.
Pilar Tellechea, head of the Company Creation Department at CEIN, has highlighted the importance of starting businesses. The head of the CEIN Innovation Nurseries, Eva Gómara, then discussed the relevance of business collaborations as part of the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Both talks were then backed up by Julio Sánchez of CINFA and Joseba Sagastigordia of Corporación Mondragón, who, as representatives of the Entrepreneur Boost programme, underscored the importance of public–private collaboration.
Irene Ayerra, CEO de Hemotic, was awarded “2022 Best Health Accelerator Project” by the minister for Universities, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Juan Cruz Cigudosa. Uxue Itoiz, the director-general of S4 Industry, Energy and Strategic Projects, presented awards to three Entrepreneur Boost projects: to Asier Goñi and Jon Otazu from Guten Tech, María Mena from Hyssogenix and Susana Sánchez, Bosco Emparanza and José María Elorza from MOA Foodtech. Finally, Izaskun Goñi, director-general of Company Policy, International Projection and Work, awarded Roberto Díez, CEO and co-founder of Telum Therapeutics, the 2022 Prize for the CEIN Innovation Nursery start-up with the highest job creation.
Following the presenting of awards for the 2022 best entrepreneurial projects, the Director-General of Company Policy, International Projection and Work, Izaskun Goñi, discussed the Government of Navarra’s entrepreneurship plan for 2023. María Sanz de Galdeano closed the event. This was followed by a drinks reception in which attendees shared their experiences and heard from those playing starring roles in entrepreneurship and innovation in Navarra.
Meeting with investors
This morning, as part of CEIN Start-up Day, a meeting was held on CEIN premises between investors and startups. Following the project presentations, individual meetings were held between the companies’ representatives and the possible investors interested in each business.
In total, there were 12 Health Accelerator projects, 9 Agro and Green Accelerator projects and 7 Digitech Accelerator projects.
About CEIN
The European Centre for Companies and Innovation in Navarra (CEIN) is a public company whose objective is to boost the economic development of Navarra by fostering an entrepreneurial mindset and supporting the creation and growth of new companies.
CEIN supports an average of 500 entrepreneurial projects each year, of which about 120 go on to become companies. 250 companies are currently in or have passed through their company nurseries, with a survival rate of over 80% during the three years. 61 people currently work at CEIN.
CEIN seeks out innovative projects in strategic sectors, which come from universities, research groups, technology centres, etc., and helps them to get off the ground.
It also boosts the development and scaling up of innovative startups with potential for growth. Moreover, it helps people lead entrepreneurial processes and start their own businesses, helping them create jobs and wealth and gain visibility.
Awards
Entrepreneur Boost companies have won the following awards:
- 1st prize: Guten Tech – Asier Goñi and Jon Otazu.
- 2nd prize: Hyssogenix – María Mena.
- 3rd prize: MOA Foodtech – Susana Sánchez, Bosco Emparanza and José María Elorza.
2022 Best Health Accelerator Project:
- Hemotic – Irene Ayerra.
Prize for the 2022 CEIN Innovation Nursery start-up with the highest job creation:
- Telum Therapeutics – Roberto Díez, the CEO and co-founder
