The startup that wants to cure Parkinson's with an implant: the investment magnet for the UB science park

BarcelonaFifteen years ago, researchers Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov of the University of Manchester won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of graphene, the thinnest slice of carbon that can be made, just one atom thick. Its electrical and thermal properties have also made it a material with great medical potential. In fact, it is the material that Inbrain Neuroelectronics uses, the start-up Catalan company that has managed to attract the most money within the ecosystem of the University of Barcelona (UB) Science Park.

The company – founded in 2019 – is dedicated to, among other things, working to create "the least invasive and most intelligent neural interface." Essentially, a type of almost invisible implant that is inserted into the brain and is intended to decode brain signals and develop intelligent neurological therapies. This research has already yielded promising results for creating personalized therapies for patients with diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson's, or brain tumors. The potential of this research is what led this company to become the most successful company last year. start-up will raise up to 78.2 million euros from investors. Or, in other words, almost two-thirds of the funding that the UB science park has managed to raise, which during 2024 raised 124.7 million euros in public and private funding.

The investment made public this Tuesday is the second highest in the history of the Barcelona science park, which already has 86 spin-offs, start-ups and scale-ups and which promises to continue expanding, having reached full occupancy of its spaces. The majority of the funding that the UB Science Park received last year came from private investors (97.5 million), although public investment grew by 53% compared to the previous year. In fact, through competitive national and European aid, the hub Scientist received 27.2 million in public funding through 2024. The vast majority of both public and private investment went to research related to medical technologies

New buildings

"We are at a time when we have more demand than supply for our spaces, which is why we must continue to grow," said the center's director, María Terrades. For this reason, she noted that work is already underway on the Cub building, which will have four floors dedicated to laboratories and research offices. The construction will be built in the same park located at the top of Diagonal and is planned for completion in 2028.

Furthermore, administrative progress has already been made on the project. Two new buildings that should be able to accommodate from 2029 The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), the Fraunhofer Institute and several research groups linked to the health sciences at the UB, as well as the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, which will leave the UB's Historic Building in Plaza Universidad to move to the Diagonal Campus.

All of this will be synchronized with the project for the new Clinical Health Campus-University of Barcelona, whose construction will begin in 2030 and is expected to open by 2035. "They will be the largest projects undertaken in Barcelona since the Olympics," predicted Jordi García, Vice-Rector for Research at the UB.