EU|BIC CEIN took seven Navarrese health startups to Cambridge and London, compressing years of relationship-building into three days
From Navarra to London, with a credible introduction
Navarra has a health sector that most regions would envy. Around 70 companies are active in pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Annual revenues of €793 million. A workforce of more than 31,000 people, over a thousand of them in research and development. Responsible for 17.1% of all patents registered in Navarra. A 26% increase in exports since 2013. By any regional measure, the ecosystem is functioning. The harder question is what happens when the companies it produces try to cross a border.
Post-Brexit, entering the UK market, one of Europe’s most active health investment markets, became more complicated. Since Brexit, the UK and EU have diverged significantly on regulation. NHS procurement processes are slow, risk-averse, and not designed for small companies.
CEIN, Navarra’s certified EU|BIC, designed the Health ScaleUp programme to close that gap directly. The mission was backed by the Departamento de Industria del Gobierno de Navarra (the Navarra regional government’s Department of Industry) and promoted by SODENA, Navarra’s regional development company.
In April 2025, it took seven of the region’s most promising health startups to the UK for three days. The mission began at St John’s Innovation Centre, an EU|BIC in Cambridge. St John’s gave the Navarrese companies an immediate institutional credential. The Cambridge day was built around three specialist sessions covering the UK health system, market access economics and the regulatory particularities of introducing medical technologies after Brexit, followed by pitch sessions with feedback from British ecosystem professionals, investors, and innovation organisations. The companies left with individualised assessments from people who understood exactly what it would take to sell in that market.
The second part of the mission was London and the LSX World Congress: more than 1,000 actors from biotech, medtech and digital health gathered in a single venue, including major pharmaceutical companies, specialist investment funds, and global health innovation leaders. The Navarrese startups were: Eversens, Ysium Medical, DARWIN Biomed, Nanogrow Biotech, InnoUp Farma, Intelligent System Vitale and Bellezón. They presented in startup showcases, took scheduled one-to-one partnering meetings with potential investors and strategic partners, and participated in panels on capital access, regulatory trends, and internationalisation strategy.
The Navarra Health Cluster documented the mission through two video reports distributed across its channels, and coverage appeared in regional and national outlets, including Diario de Navarra, Noticias de Navarra, and Navarra Capital. St John’s Innovation Centre published its own account of the collaboration. Seven companies that had built their products in Navarra were now visible in the room where international health investment decisions are made. They arrived with the credibility of a structured programme behind them, the knowledge of a specific market ahead of them, and introductions that would have taken years to build alone.
2026-Impact-Report
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