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Marta-Gaia Zanchi: ‘Barcelona is a community of entrepreneurs’

Marta-Gaia Zanchi: ‘Barcelona is a community of entrepreneurs’

Marta-Gaia Zanchi, Founder and Managing Partner of Nina Capital

Marta-Gaia Zanchi is an Italian and Northamerican who grew up in the north of Italy and then moved to the US (Silicon Valley, California). She has now been living in Barcelona, with her husband and two children, for about a year. Marta is the Founder and Managing Partner of Nina Capital, established in Barcelona since 2019, an Alternative Investment Fund Manager managing its inaugural European Fund. It is a health tech fund that invests in European startups and selected ones from the United States, with global values, that use deep-tech, computing, and IoT methods related to the development of technology in the health sector.

Why did you choose Barcelona?

I had no prior relation to Barcelona. In fact, I had never visited the city before deciding to move to it. I had a series of criteria in mind in order to select the best health technology hub in Europe that could become the ground zero for Nina Capital, and I created a ranking of cities based on these criteria. Barcelona came out at the top of the list.

What do you like most about the city?

I love the people. I have the best team and made some wonderful new friends. I feel at home. I love the city's architecture: I can be easily recognized as the one walking with my head looking up: I still cannot stop myself from admiring all the colourful and elegant façades and roofs of the buildings on every street along Diagonal.

What aspects of the city must be improved? How?

I'd love for everyone to switch to electronic signatures. I don't understand why wet ink signatures are still a must for many purposes. Everything would be so much more efficient.

Which are the city's strengths that will allow it to overcome the COVID-19 crisis?

My experience is that this is a community of entrepreneurial and caring people. Both qualities that will help the city reinvent itself and protect its collective health.

What do you think about the city’s summer activities/events/plans?

I am not aware of any. I will be working this summer. I am glad to see people are wearing masks in the streets and shops are well equipped. I hope this behaviour will continue.

What do you expect from Barcelona in the coming years?

That it will make me very happy to be living here and hope I'll be able to give back in return.

Which city do you feel as "your city"? What do you miss the most?

I don't think about cities this way. Barcelona does not belong to me; I belong to it. Wherever I have lived, there are people whom I miss being able to talk and work with. I've tried to keep them all close and know that they will come to visit me someday. Who wouldn't want to be here? Thank you for being so welcoming.

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