Digital Health in Catalonia

The digital health industry in Catalonia is a highly dynamic and young sector driven by growth in ICT. 331 companies—most of them are under ten years old—already operate in this field, generating over 4,800 jobs.

Download our report on Digital Health in Catalonia

Investment in Digital Health startups in Catalonia has multiplied fivefold.

According to the Digital Health in Catalonia report elaborated by Catalonia Trade & Investment and Biocat, the digital health sector in Catalonia currently consists of 331 companies. Digital Health refers to a set of tools and services that use ICT to improve the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and management of diseases or health conditions.

The Digital Health in Catalonia report reveals that the companies working in this field in Catalonia are mainly SMEs (91.8% of the total), employ 4,810 people, and have a combined turnover of 592.5 million euros.

This is an emerging sector, where 64.6% of the companies working are less than 10 years old, and the vast majority are startups entirely dedicated to this field. Furthermore, it’s noteworthy that 23.8% of the companies have a turnover of more than 1 million euros, and 3.7% more than 10 million euros.

The study by Catalonia Trade & Investment also reveals that 20.7% of Catalan companies specializing in e-health are exporters.

According to the study, Catalan e-health companies work primarily in technological consulting (18%), clinical tools (18%), digital therapies (12%), and support for medical decision-making (10%).

The document also concludes that the Digital Health sector in Catalonia is not only made up of companies but also includes other ecosystem players such as research and technology centers, universities, hospitals, institutions, public entities, associations, and acceleration programs.

Search our database to find Catalan companies working in the Digital Health sector.

“In Barcelona you find an entrepreneurial mindset around healthcare, with pharmaceutical companies, startups and great business schools”

Carlos Nueno, president of international operations for Teladoc Health

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331 companies
€592.5M in turnover
4,810 employees

Digital Health, a desirable sector for foreign investment

Digital health is a technology that finds a series of singularities in Catalonia, making it an attractive location for attracting foreign investment. In this sense, Catalonia is the fifth region in the world that has attracted the most foreign technological investment projects linked to the digital health sector in the last five years (2019-2023). Catalonia is a preferred destination within Spain: it is the first in projects (45% of the total), in jobs created (44%), and second in invested capital (25%).

The digital health sector brings together the largest number of startups in Catalonia, with 356 startups representing 16.9% of the total.

In 2023, therefore, startups in this field attracted 124.1 million euros. Furthermore, the digital health sector is the sector that has attracted the largest volume of investment in 2023, with 124.1 million euros (18% of the total).

This attractiveness is generated by the existence in Catalonia of a robust life sciences sector with nearly 1,400 companies, complemented by 17 technology centers and hospital research institutes, support agencies such as Biocat, the Barcelona Health Hub or the CataloniaBio & Healthtech Cluster, and 13 universities and training centers. In addition, Catalonia has outstanding initiatives in the field of digital health, such as the Sant Pau Clinical Validation Center for Digital Solutions or the Health/IA program.

Global trends in the Digital Health sector

Worldwide, forecasts say this sector will grow at a rate of 13.1% per year and will exceed 939,500 million dollars in 2032. Asia-Pacific stands out above the rest of the world’s regions in terms of the turnover of the digital health market (44%), followed by North America (28%) and Europe (19%).

The study points to key trends in the sector, such as artificial intelligence and the massive use of data, greater development of remote attention, the use of virtual and augmented reality, and issues related to privacy and cybersecurity. Finally, another emerging trend is the medical use of bioprinting and 3D and 4D printing.