The Innovation and Development Foundation (FIDBAN) held its 25th Investors’ Round on the premises of the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic, UNEATLANTICO), presenting three Cantabrian startups with projects of great impact and growth potential to a wide network of investors.
The protagonists of the conference were LAPROA Biotech, CANAIA and LaIA, three initiatives that seek private funding to scale their innovative solutions in key sectors such as marine biotechnology, business automation and mental health. The projects presented were mainly focused on sustainable and disruptive innovation.
The Investors’ Round began with a welcome message from the Director of FIDBAN. Diego Laínz reviewed the activity of FIDBAN during the last quarter of the year, and highlighted the different initiatives and acceleration programs such as Besaya Startups (BEST), Node HUB and EBITs, which have concluded in November with great success of participation and project quality. In addition, Lainz took the opportunity to announce the launch of the 1st UNEATLANTICO University Entrepreneurship Prize.
The startup LAPROA Biotech, captivated attendees with its sustainable aquaculture proposal. Creates miniature oceans using its patented DFBTM bioreactor, which keeps marine water stable without chemicals and with a mortality rate of less than 1%. Integrated into the DAGON digital ecosystem, it offers an advanced solution for aquaculture RAS (Aquaculture Recirculation System) with intelligent control, efficiency and sustainability.
The second project, CANAIA, presented a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform powered by Artificial Intelligence designed to automate customer service for small businesses. Manage calls, chats, reservations and orders with an AI assistant that is omnichannel, affordable and can be set up in minutes.
And finally, LaIA’s proposal addresses a crucial social challenge with its conversational AI solution for mental health. Through medical prescription and optional follow-up, LaIA interacts with patients diagnosed with mental health-related pathologies. Its objective is to help primary care centres reduce the burden of care and provide an orderly follow-up for these patients.
In the “Success Stories” section, Federico Moratinos, CEO of Euromexia for Europe and president of the NERTRA Artificial Intelligence Cluster in Mexico, was present. Federico was interviewed by Fermín Mier, director of content for Cadena SER in Cantabria.
On the other hand, EuroMexIA played a major role in the opening and the Cantabrian ecosystem EuroMexIA, which is a technological-industrial holding company based in the state of Durango (Mexico) that works on autonomous vehicles and aircraft to automate mobility and logistics. It acts as an intercontinental bridge for European companies in the sector, building technical spaces for their deployments and powerful strategic alliances.
EuroMexIA, has established its European pillar in Cantabria through the Green-Valley Tech Cantabria consortium, which brings together technology SMEs. This collaboration positions the region as the seat of the first major technological cooperation project for logistics automation supported by EuroMexIA and coordinated by CITICAN, which will culminate in the creation of a co-participated company in Cantabria. In addition to boosting entrepreneurship and technology , this model of international cooperation, designed with universities such as Uneatlántico in Spain and the UJED and Universidad España in Mexico , will have a positive impact on training, Since CITICAN will coordinate European projects by taking advantage of the FUNIBER network, giving students from Uneatlántico the opportunity to participate in innovative projects from their gestation.
The event reaffirmed FIDBAN’s commitment to fostering emerging projects. Since 2017, the Foundation, which is supported by a Board of Trustees composed of entities such as UNEATLANTICO, SODERCAN, FUNIBER and the municipalities of Santander and Torrelavega, has served as a platform for more than 100 startups in Cantabria and Latin America.
About FIDBAN
FIDBAN is a non-profit foundation whose main objective is to connect growing startups with private investors for the development of their projects, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship globally.