- Leitat closed 2024 by clearing the accumulated losses identified the previous year, which had forced the organization to implement a restructuring plan.
- The technology center closed 2024 attracting 36.7 million euros of competitive funds and private R&D services, a figure that is 21% higher than that of 2023 and the highest in its history.
- Leitat carried out R&D projects and technological trials for 622 companies in 2024, 355 of which were Catalan.
A little over a year after the changes in senior management that appointed Jordi Cabrafiga as the new managing director and the implementation of an organizational and economic restructuring plan — which included an Employment Regulation Plan and a review of accumulated infrastructure expenses, among other measures — Leitat is embarking on a new phase of sustainable growth.
The combined efforts and effective management of resources, along with the record-breaking fundraising in Leitat’s history, have allowed the organization to clear the slate at the close of 2024, despite the 27 million in accumulated losses identified at the end of last year, thus laying the foundations for sustainable growth. In addition, during the year, the non-profit organization achieved significant milestones that consolidated its position as a leading technological center at both the national and European levels.
“We are a leading resource for improving the competitiveness of the country’s companies through innovation and technological transfer. As a non-profit organization, Leitat’s goal is not to generate large profits, but neither can we accumulate losses. The success of 2024 has been achieving a clean slate, starting to take steps towards sustainable growth, and professionalizing the operation of the organization” says Jordi Cabrafiga, Leitat’s Managing Director.
Leitat closed 2024 with a multidisciplinary team of over 400 people, spread across more than 15,500 m² of facilities that make up the 9 locations of the technological center.
Record-breaking fundraising and development of technological projects
In 2024, Leitat raised a total of 36.7 million euros from companies and competitive public funds for R&D services. This figure, which is 21% higher than the previous year, is the highest in the history of the entity.
Throughout the year, the center carried out R&D projects and technological trials for 622 companies (increasing the figure from the previous year by 24%), 355 of which were Catalan.
Key player in the technological transformation in Europe and Spain
At the European level, the technology center has consolidated its leadership in the sector by reinforcing its commitment to innovation and sustainable development, a fact that has led it to host more than 25 meetings of international consortia.
In 2024, the center consolidated its position in the field of green energy sources such as hydrogen, with a success rate of 57% of projects approved in different calls, and 83% in the Circular Bio-based Europe call, being the Spanish entity with the most funded projects.
The entity also strengthened the positioning of new strategic lines in the photovoltaic area, becoming a new member of the European Solar PV Industry Alliance (ESIA) and the photovoltaic working group of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA)
At the national level, Leitat was the beneficiary of two national projects approved in the last call for Cervera Grants for Technological Centers, a program that supports high-impact market-oriented research that fosters public-private collaboration. As a result, the entity has been accredited as a center of excellence in the areas of ‘Energy Transition’ and ‘Technologies for Health’, adding these two to the one obtained previously in the area of ‘Smart Manufacturing’.
In addition, the entity achieved the top position for the highest-rated projects in the call for Aid for Innovation Ecosystems (CDTI), positioning itself as one of the most important players in the Additive Manufacturing innovation ecosystem.
Another achievement in 2024 was becoming the first technological center in the number of approved proposals and grants received by the State Research Agency, with 14 projects and a total budget that represents an injection of 6.8 million euros.
It was also the year in which Dirk Saseta Krieg, Director of Business and Operations at Leitat, was re-elected as Second Vice-President of WAITRO (World Association of Industrial and Technology Research Organizations). His re-election was the result of a tight vote held during the 27th General Assembly at the WAITRO 2024 Summit in Nanjing (China) in which Saseta Krieg won with 24 votes, against his main opponent, Theresia Ningsi Astuti, the regional representative of WAITRO for Asia and the Pacific from the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia (BRIN), which received 20 votes.
At the forefront of cutting-edge research
With its participation in projects that address priority issues, Leitat continues to promote cutting-edge solutions that respond to global challenges and contribute to the growth of the country’s competitiveness.
Currently, Leitat is involved in 95 European projects, of which it coordinates a quarter. One of these projects, with a social benefit, is PREDICTFTD, which works on the early detection of frontotemporal dementia, the second most common presenile dementia with 12,000 new cases every year throughout Europe and will potentially help to save $120,000 per patient per year in the European health system.
Also in the medical field, Leitat collaborates on the iDIABETES project, which aims to improve the quality of life of diabetic patients with the development of two new non-invasive devices that will be more comfortable, safer and painless than current systems.
In the social sphere, the center’s artificial intelligence department has collaborated in the development of TalX, the first WhatsApp that is inclusive for people with disabilities.
Regarding the area of sustainability, one of the successes in 2024 was the completion of the GAIA project, pioneering research in which biofuels were produced from CO₂ and wastewater, which exceeds the yields of previous technologies and significantly reduces production costs.
