On 16 April, the Barcelona Campus played host to the final of the fifth edition of the Startup Pioneer Programme (SPP), an initiative that fosters entrepreneurial spirit among students and promotes projects with a positive impact on society. In this edition, centred around the theme “Caring for society through human relationships”, five finalist teams pitched their projects to a jury comprised of academics and entrepreneurship experts. The event involved 45 students, and the proposals were judged based on their quality, originality, feasibility and social impact.
The institutional welcome was delivered by Dr Esther Jiménez, vice-rector for Students and Sustainability, who highlighted the value of cross-cutting competencies: “Transforming an idea into reality requires leadership, teamwork and communication. Knowledge alone is not enough; these soft skills must be developed to create projects with social impact.”
From the five finalist teams, the jury selected three winning projects. First prize went to Medyournal, a digital platform that allows lung cancer patients to be continuously monitored using data collected from wearables and clinical questionnaires, facilitating more proactive and efficient care. The second prize was awarded to Good Microbiome, a solution based on a non-invasive urine test that analyses gut health and uses artificial intelligence to provide personalised recommendations. Finally, the third prize was given to SleepGuard, a home medical device for the early detection of obstructive sleep apnoea.
The event also included a round-table discussion moderated by Óscar Porcel, managing partner and co-founder of Solutia, a health sector consultancy firm, which also featured entrepreneurs such as Edgar Sanjuán, CEO and founder of Emogg Analytic, and Ariadna Boloix, CEO and co-founder of Flavii Therapeutics, who shared their experience in startup development and fundraising.
During the session, Edgar Sanjuán underscored the value of personal skills in entrepreneurship: “To lead a project, what matters most is resilience and the ability to solve problems. Ultimately, it is less about the idea and more about the attitude and conviction behind it.” For her part, Ariadna Boloix stressed the importance of engaging with investors: “It is essential to build an emotional bond with investors, for them to trust the team. It is also important to have mentors who can guide you, as being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean knowing everything.”
The winning teams will receive awards aimed at supporting their development, such as access to South Summit Madrid 2026, mentoring sessions with leading entrepreneurs and the opportunity to participate as observers in an investment committee.
Spearheaded by the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, the Department of Mentoring and Personal Development and the Vice-Rectorate for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer (VRIT), the Startup Pioneer Programme has become one of the University’s foremost entrepreneurship initiatives. The programme fosters creativity, teamwork and networking, while helping to position UIC Barcelona as a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship with social impact.
