Nixi for Children, voted best startup in Catalonia for 2021

• The startup, which has developed a virtual reality system to reduce children’s anxiety during medical treatments, has won the Catalan Pitch Competition organized by ACCIÓ- Catalonia Trade & Investment.

• A total of 24 finalist startups have pitched in front of the entrepreneurs and investors present at the event, who have voted live for the best projects considering their business model, technology and equipment.

• During the second edition of Tech Spirit Barcelona, ​​ ACCIÓ- Catalonia Trade & Investment has organized 500 meetings between startups and 60 of the most representative investors in Catalonia.

The Catalan startup Nixi for Children has been awarded as the Catalan Startup of the Year. The company won the first edition of the Catalan Pitch Competition organized by ACCIÓ- Catalonia Trade & Investment, which showcased the best entrepreneurial projects of Catalonia in the fields of health, ICT and deep tech. The award was presented as part of the second edition of Tech Spirit Barcelona -organized by the Tech Barcelona association- and recognizes the Catalan company for its business model, equipment and technology. Nixi for Children was the most voted company by the audience attending the Catalan Pitch Competition among 24 finalist startups, who pitched their projects in front of entrepreneurs and investors present at the event.

Nixi for Children has developed a virtual reality system to reduce children’s anxiety during medical treatments, such as a surgery or radiation therapy. Through virtual reality glasses, children can learn in advance what is the treatment they will have to follow before visiting the hospital. Since 2019, the company has been validating its technology with the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in a clinical trial and is currently preparing for its international expansion.

At the event, the Secretary of Business and Competitiveness, Albert Castellanos, said that the companies participating in the Catalan Pitch Competition “are a sample of the talent that exists in Catalonia, the richness of the startup ecosystem and its transversality”. For Castellanos, “the business initiatives presented today are the result of the effort and talent of entrepreneurs, as well as the public policies that have fueled this ecosystem. Public policies that have understood that they must have the collaboration of the private sector, as they are the most flexible, fast, efficient and with the greatest capacity to attract private investment. "

 The Secretary of Business and Competitiveness emphasized that the pandemic "has accelerated the pace at which we have to deal with a transformation based on digitalisation and sustainability and that it will require continuing to focus on the startup ecosystem". "We do not understand a policy of innovation and transformation of the production model without the role of the startups", he said.

The 24 companies that have participated in the first edition of the Catalan Pitch Competition are the following:

• Health and Life Sciences: Dermavision Solutions, Gate2Brain, IMAZ Technology Innovation, Nixi for Children, Singularity Biomed, Sycai Medical, The Blue Box Biomedical Solutions and Time is Brain.

• ICT: AIgecko Technologies, EarthPulse, Film Valley, Freightol, IZI Record, Linking Realities, Meetaitech and Stageinhome Technology Lab.

• Deep tech: AllRead Machine Learning Technologies, Bettair Cities, Colorsensing, Feeder, Inmersia Computers, Mapsi Photonics, Oimo Bioplastics and Qbeast Analytics.

Tech Spirit Barcelona

Within the framework of Tech Spirit Barcelona, ACCIÓ-Catalonia Trade & Investment has also organized 500 pre-scheduled meetings between 60 of the most representative investors in Catalonia and Catalan startups, with the aim of boosting their search for funding. In parallel, several round tables were held with the presence of companies such as Microsoft, Porsche Digital, Wallbox and Factorial.