170 k€ to stimulate entrepreneurship

ICIQ announces the winners of the 1^st Product Incubator Call, a funding programme that aims to bring research innovations to the market.

Last December, ICIQ launched a call for project proposals to foster entrepreneurship at ICIQ and facilitate the creation of spin-off companies that would bring our newest technologies to the market. A panel of ICIQ representatives and independent experts evaluated the proposals and decided to fund the two following projects with €85000 each.

Dr. Cristina Sáenz de Pipaón

Dr. Cristina Sáenz de Pipaón will lead a project, supported by Prof. José Ramón Galán-Mascarós,  to design a membrane to separate carbon dioxide from mixtures of gases. Dr. Jesús Cobos and Dr. Vanesa Lillo also participate in this project. They will use a novel material based on metal organic frameworks (MOFs) previously synthesized by Vanesa and Dr. Neus Corella, that is capable of selectively retaining CO₂. This material can be mixed with different types of polymers to build composite membranes that would allow low-cost, simple, and autonomous gas separations, leading to the reduction of CO₂ emissions. This project has also been recently incorporated in the CleanTech Camp program launched by KIC InnoEnergy in collaboration with Gas Natural Fenosa and the councils of Barcelona and Lisboa in order to catalyse the capture of value and its transformation into a sustainable business. The new spin-off will also focus on the development of innovative instruments for the study of the electromagnetic properties of materials.

A project supported by Prof. Emilio Palomares, which aims to develop a diagnostic platform based on quantum dots, with a primary focus on cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is the most common fatal genetic disease; it is currently diagnosed using sweat tests that are often complicated to carry out and inconclusive. Quantum dots (very small semiconductor particles) could be used in the creation of new fluorescent probes for the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis and other diseases. The new spin-off will collaborate with researchers from Hospital Parc Taulí in Barcelona, leading experts in cystic fibrosis.

Besides funding, the two selected projects will receive training and assessment to develop a successful business model, as well as guidance to follow the best path to reach the market in the following years.

Funding for ICIQ Product Incubator Call is provided by “La Caixa” Foundation.