Startup Olé 2024: Innovation, collaboration and opportunities

On 9 October, we had the privilege of attending one of the most important events in the entrepreneurial ecosystem: Startup Olé 2024, held in the city of Salamanca. This annual event connects startups and scaleups with companies, investors, accelerators, universities, public administrations and the media, fostering an environment ripe for innovation, collaboration and opportunity creation.

Marta Pedrosa, Innovation Analyst at Cinfa, took part in the roundtable “Shaping the Future Industry with Corporate Venture Capital”, where she shared the company’s vision for collaboration with startups through the CinfaNext open innovation platform. During the session, Marta highlighted how Cinfa supports innovative healthcare projects by creating tailored synergies with entrepreneurs and startups, encompassing everything from pilot development to clinical and regulatory analysis. She also outlined some of Cinfa’s key innovation priorities, including longevity – developing solutions to improve quality of life as people age; chronic disease management – empowering patients with chronic conditions through improved treatments; and self-diagnosis – introducing new diagnostic and monitoring tools to make health management easier. In addition, she emphasized that Cinfa has a cross-cutting focus on sustainability, aiming to innovate in an environmentally responsible manner with a strong social commitment and sound governance practices.

The roundtable also shared success stories, including the development of a rehabilitation service in pharmacies and an innovative recycling initiative to manage pharmaceutical packaging. Marta also offered some tips for startups, encouraging them to submit their projects to our website to see if a potential collaboration would be feasible.

Startup Olé 2024 attracted 50,000 attendees from 120 countries and nearly 2,000 startups, making it a vibrant space for networking and matchmaking. This event has become an important platform for connecting key players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. It was a pleasure for us at Cinfa to be a part of this edition. Not only did it help CinfaNext to expand its network of contacts, but it also opened up new opportunities for continued growth and innovation in the future.