The Biotech Venture Pathway Consortium, a project operating under the EIT HEI Initiative, has successfully concluded a pivotal staff exchange and project meeting in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The event, held on November 5th at the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, was strategically timed to coincide with the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s (ULPGC) Patents Week, allowing partners to connect directly with Spain’s leading forum for intellectual property and technology transfer.
The meeting confirmed the partners’ strong commitment and dedication to advancing the project, with attention now turning to the critical regional engagement planned for next month.
December Workshops to Address Systemic Barriers
While the project’s Phase 1 remains in motion, the consortium is immediately focusing on executing three intensive regional workshops in December. These crucial events will take place in:
- Calabria (Italy)
- The Azores (Portugal)
- The Canary Islands (Spain)
These workshops are designed not as isolated events but as catalysts for long-term ecosystem transformation. They centralise the project’s key objective under Task 1.2: addressing systemic barriers to innovation by connecting the Quadruple Helix of actors—academia, industry, government (S3 authorities), and civil society—within each region.
The project partners aim to use these gatherings to validate the findings and conceptual framework of the Biotech Venture Pathway and ensure alignment with regional Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3).
Celebrating Student Engagement
Partners from ULPGC, Universidade dos Açores (UAC), and Universitá della Calabria (UNICAL) also celebrated the strong engagement of students in the project’s Entrepreneurship Training on Biotech. The continued promotion of this training underscores the commitment to developing a pipeline of entrepreneurial talent crucial for converting regional knowledge into viable economic growth.
The successful meeting in Gran Canaria, which saw partners review progress across all work packages—including Technology Transfer (WP3) and Start-up Creation (WP4)—sets the stage for a period of intensive regional fieldwork designed to prepare Europe’s outermost regions for innovation-driven development.