The FPCM celebrated last Monday, June 17, the official presentation of its new general director, Marta del Castillo Vázquez, in this new stage of the Park. The event, chaired by the rector of the Autonomous University, Amaya Mendikoetxea, and the rector of the Complutense University, Joaquín Goyache, took place at the headquarters of the Park in Cantoblanco. The event was attended by representatives of the entire board of trustees of the institution, made up of the two universities in Madrid, the Community and the Madrid City Council, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (Ciemat).
The place to put ideas to work
In front of about a hundred attendees, Mendikoetxea, current president of the foundation, welcomed the new director and expressed his full confidence in Del Castillo for this new stage. Paraphrasing Ramón y Cajal, the rector described the Madrid Science Park as “the place to put ideas to work”, alluding to its support for entrepreneurship in science and technology. For his part, Goyache, vice-president of the FPCM, stressed the relevance of the Park’s board of trustees, made up of top-level entities “with which nothing can go wrong”.
Marta del Castillo presents the new stage
In his speech, Del Castillo presented the strategic axes that will guide his leadership. These axes include supporting the growth of incubated companies through expanded services and greater collaboration between them, as well as intensifying the relationship between startups and the Foundation’s trustees. The new director highlighted her commitment to renew the Park’s model. Its objective is that the incubator, in addition to contributing to the promotion of the business fabric of the Community of Madrid by accelerating innovative startups , makes it easier for the institutions of its board of trustees to obtain significant returns in line with the mission of these entities.
The new visible head of the Park arrives back in Madrid after more than fifteen years of experience in multifunctional management in Europe and mainly the USA. In the latter country, he has led technological projects in New York and Silicon Valley (California), considered the mecca of startups and incubators of scientific-technological innovation. There, Del Castillo has led global organizations with great impact on innovation and financial results of hundreds to billions of euros in annual revenue.
High-level institutional support
The event was attended by Emilio Viciana, Minister of Education, Science and Universities of the Government of the Community of Madrid, and Ana Ramírez, Deputy Minister of Universities, Research and Science, along with a dozen representatives of the entities of the Board of Trustees.
A look back and a look forward
Executives from companies that have been incubated in the Park or are still in it also participated in the presentation. Antonio Delgado, executive director of the listed agri-food group Natac, highlighted the role of the Park in giving visibility to startups in their first steps and generating the necessary confidence to attract their first major customers.
On the other hand, María Urbano, director of EvoEnzyme, a CSIC spin-off dedicated to the development of custom enzymes for multiple industrial uses, expressed her gratitude to the incubator for helping them in obtaining public funding and for the work of accompanying companies “with a whole team available for when you need help”.
Summer brunch to welcome
The presentation ceremony was followed by a summer brunch with the patrons and the community of the Park. With him, the official welcome of the new director closed and the summer period began, the perfect time to continue introducing the changes announced by Marta del Castillo.
For the memory, here is an album with the photos of the event.
