Key Takeaways
- • Catalonia's life sciences sector achieved a record €517 million in venture capital investment during 2025, with VC funding accounting for €327 million of the total, establishing the region as a competitive European biotech hub.
- • ONA Therapeutics, led by CEO Valerie Vanhooren, closed a Series B round of €74.2 million in May 2026, following its landmark €30 million Series A in 2020 led by Asabys Partners—demonstrating the maturation of deal sizes within the ecosystem.
- • SpliceBio set a regional record in 2025 with a €119 million fundraising round for genetic medicines, signaling investor confidence in specialized life sciences subsectors and breaking previous funding benchmarks.
- • The Catalan ecosystem has transformed from an "unprofessional" emerging network a decade ago with limited capital and foreign talent into a mature investment environment capable of competing with other major European life sciences regions.
- • International capital represents 75% of venture investment in Catalan life sciences startups and scaleups, indicating strong cross-border institutional confidence and reducing reliance on domestic funding sources.
Summary
Catalonia's life sciences sector has entered a new phase of maturity, marked by record-breaking venture capital deployment and increasingly competitive deal sizes. The region attracted €517 million in total life sciences investment during 2025, with venture capital serving as the primary engine at €327 million, according to the Bioregion report prepared by Biocat. This performance represents a significant departure from the ecosystem's state a decade ago, when the sector operated as an emerging, under-resourced network with limited professional infrastructure and minimal foreign investment participation.
The transformation is evident in landmark funding rounds across the sector. ONA Therapeutics, a Barcelona-based cancer and metastasis treatment developer, exemplifies this trajectory. The company secured a €30 million Series A in 2020 from Asabys Partners—then considered exceptionally large for Spain—and subsequently closed a Series B of €74.2 million in May 2026. These deals have shifted from exceptional outliers to baseline expectations. SpliceBio, focused on genetic medicines, further raised the benchmark by securing €119 million in 2025, establishing a new regional funding record.
CEO Valerie Vanhooren, who relocated ONA Therapeutics from Belgium to Barcelona, characterizes the shift from an environment where "there was very little" to one where "now we can compete." This sentiment is reinforced by industry stakeholders, including Cristina Horcajada, head of innovation at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Institute, who acknowledge ongoing gaps relative to other European regions but recognize the sector's accelerating momentum.
International capital has become structural to the ecosystem's growth, comprising 75% of venture investment in Catalan life sciences startups and scaleups. Asabys Partners' Sylvain Sachot attributes sustained investor interest to market fundamentals: "there are huge unmet medical needs, and the industry has a critical need to innovate to continue growing." This demand-side dynamic, combined with Catalonia's emerging supply of specialized biotech talent and research infrastructure, has created conditions for sustained capital deployment and competitive deal-making among regional and international investors.
The transformation is evident in landmark funding rounds across the sector. ONA Therapeutics, a Barcelona-based cancer and metastasis treatment developer, exemplifies this trajectory. The company secured a €30 million Series A in 2020 from Asabys Partners—then considered exceptionally large for Spain—and subsequently closed a Series B of €74.2 million in May 2026. These deals have shifted from exceptional outliers to baseline expectations. SpliceBio, focused on genetic medicines, further raised the benchmark by securing €119 million in 2025, establishing a new regional funding record.
CEO Valerie Vanhooren, who relocated ONA Therapeutics from Belgium to Barcelona, characterizes the shift from an environment where "there was very little" to one where "now we can compete." This sentiment is reinforced by industry stakeholders, including Cristina Horcajada, head of innovation at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Institute, who acknowledge ongoing gaps relative to other European regions but recognize the sector's accelerating momentum.
International capital has become structural to the ecosystem's growth, comprising 75% of venture investment in Catalan life sciences startups and scaleups. Asabys Partners' Sylvain Sachot attributes sustained investor interest to market fundamentals: "there are huge unmet medical needs, and the industry has a critical need to innovate to continue growing." This demand-side dynamic, combined with Catalonia's emerging supply of specialized biotech talent and research infrastructure, has created conditions for sustained capital deployment and competitive deal-making among regional and international investors.
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