Another year on, and UPF will be present at 4YFN, the fair of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) for emerging technology companies being held at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona from 27 February to 2 March. The UPF stand, managed by the transfer office, the Innovation Unit - UPF Business Shuttle, on 27 and 28 February will be a space to present ten innovative projects that are being developed in different areas of the University community.

This event is a unique opportunity to give visibility to the University’s capacity for innovation and to promote the transfer of knowledge and the social impact of the results obtained through research and innovation. 4YFN is a major gateway to the international technology sector and will allow UPF’s R&D projects, spinoffs and startups to publicize their proposals and solutions and establish new contacts and synergies with the entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

The acting rector of UPF, Oriol Amat, and the future rector and current vice-rector for Knowledge Transfer, Eulàlia de Nadal, will be visiting the UPF stand, together with the director of 4YFN, Pere Duran, on Tuesday 28 February.

The UPF stand (located in Hall 8.1, position C22A) will bring together projects from a wide range of fields: biomedicine, music technology, biotechnology, law, communication, cultural industries, and sustainable mobility. 

Three R&D projects with high potential to become spinoffs

Senso-eAXON, develops a technology of intelligent injectable sensors for the continuous monitoring of biomedical parameters that allow improving the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with different medical conditions, including cardiovascular diseases. The project is led by Antoni Ivorra and Laura Becerra, from the Research Group in Biomedical Electronics (BERG) of the BCN MedTech Research Unit at UPF.

VirTest, develops artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented reality technologies to help physicians and companies perform simulations and test products. The project is led by Jordi Mill, a researcher at the BCN MedTech Research Unit.

SkyNote, an application that supports musical instrument learning based on real-time sound and movement analysis and artificial intelligence technology. The project is led by Rafael Ramírez, a researcher with the Music Technology (MTG) research group.

A spinoff with the aim of transferring research results to the market

BIOM, a UPF spinoff, is an innovative, technology-based company (ANCES certified since 2020) that focuses on developing new biotechnological solutions that allow the production of microorganisms, molecules and biomaterials of high value for next generation industry. Team: Inés Arteaga, Elaheh Kheirabadi and Javier Macía, from the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS).

Six startups resulting from the different entrepreneurship programmes organized by UPF

The Hist has developed an on-demand video streaming platform for the exclusive consumption of current affairs. What sets it apart is the fact that it presents a communication space where the content is made by journalists independently, free of any political influence. Team: Paloma Rodiles, David Almirall and Ariadna Velázquez.

Blockets has created an online ticketing application for the film industry and the performing arts.  It uses blockchain technology so that tickets cannot be forged or resold. Team: Víctor Ferrer and Víctor Aguado

Storydata is an initiative that presents a data communication project, which combines research, analysis and visualization with narrative in order to tell the story behind data. Team: Elisa Vivas, Carina Bellver, Ignasi López and Oriol Díez.

Pictolex aims to simplify legal texts, bringing legal language closer to people and improving communication between companies and their customers. Team: Carlota Albanell.

GoGreen has developed a tokenized move-to-help app that promotes sustainable mobility with a view to of reducing pollution and CO2 emissions. Team: Philippe Engels and Bruno Peral.

KEDO has created a mobile application as a social network that facilitates the making of plans between friends and people who share interests, offering information on the cultural agenda of the city. Team: Jan Soler, Javier Esteban and Tomás Osarte

UPF actively present on the 4YFN conference programme

Parallel to the stand, throughout the week different members of the UPF community will be taking part in various activities of the fair: 

Monday 27 February

• 3:45pm, ACCIÓ stand (8.1.B.25)
  Marc Güell, co-founder of Integra Therapeutics, a UPF spinoff, will participate in the round table “TECNIO Innovation Experience: Industry & TechTransfer boost innovation” organized by TECNIO. 

Tuesday 28 February

• 11:00am, EdTech Area, Hall 8.1
  Rafael Ramírez, a researcher with the Music Technology research group (MTG), will present the Skynote project at the session “EdTech Pitches: 4YFN EdTech Startups”.

Wednesday 1 March

• 10:00am, Agora Stage
  Avencia Sanchez-Mejias, co-founder and CEO of Integra Therapeutics, a UPF spinoff, will be participating in the round table “Keys to Grow and Scale your Deep Tech Startup”, organized by Barcelona DeepTech Node.
   
• 11:45am, Banco Sabadell Stage
  Avencia Sanchez-Mejias will be taking part in the session “Barcelona Local Heroes: Minoryx Therapeutics, Exoticca and Integra Therapeutics” organized by ACCIÓ. 
   
• 12:30pm, ACCIÓ stand (8.1.B.25)
  Manuel Portela, a researcher with the Web Science and Social Computing Research Group of the DTIC, will present the DaTALoG project, within the framework of Programa Primer, a pre-acceleration initiative of the Ministry of Business and Labour of the Catalan Government. DaTALoG aims to create a data trust to manage water, electricity and gas consumption data to fight energy poverty and climate emergency.
   
• 4:00pm, Mobile World Capital Space
  Albert Domingo, director of UPF Ventures and head of entrepreneurship at UPF, will present the EIT Urban Mobility programme, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology that aims to transform mobility in European cities.

Altogether, this extensive presence of UPF at the main global event in the technology sector reflects the University’s pioneering nature in the fields of entrepreneurship, research and innovation.