Santiago de Compostela , 17 December 2020.- The 4th edition of  the PuntoGal Spin-Off Awards  was held today in the  City of Culture of Galicia  with the presence of prominent institutional and university authorities and representatives of the winners in the three categories of the contest . The companies  Psico VR  (Emerging Idea) and  Orballo  (Seal of Quality) and  the VARPA Group  (Research Groups) were the winners of awards that had about 15 «high quality» nominations, according to the jury.  Data Monitoring  also received its award as a finalist in the Emerging Idea category.

The event was attended by the Mayor of Santiago,  Xosé Sánchez Bugallo , the Secretary General of Universities of the Xunta,  José Alberto Díez de Castro , and the Rector of the University of A Coruña (UDC),  Julio Abalde Alonso , the President of PuntoGal,  Manuel González , among other authorities . The awards are organized by the PuntoGal and GCiencia domains   and have the support of the General Secretariat of Universities and the company Gadis .

In his speech, the rector of the UDC pointed out the need to bet on strong universities in Galicia to encourage the transfer of knowledge and to support spin-off companies in their first steps in the market. For his part,  Díez de Castro  alluded to the importance of such events to demonstrate the commitment of universities to society through the transfer of knowledge. In this regard, he especially highlighted the creation of a new category in these awards to recognize the work of university research groups.

The  mayor of Santiago  pointed out that Galicia can not afford another loss of human capital as has happened in other times and said that to prevent it is necessary a firm commitment to innovation, knowledge and research.

For his part, the  President of PuntoGal , Manuel González, stressed that promoting the presence of women in the business and research fabric is fair. He also spoke about the work carried out by the PuntoGal Association, manager of the dominio.gal, as disseminators and collaborators of initiatives that promote the language, culture and new technologies in Galicia.

On the part of the winners there was a general coincidence in thanking the awarding of these awards and highlighting their importance as it involves supporting the work done in   Galician start-ups and university research groups. The winning companies and groups received an exclusive commemorative piece designed by the Galician artist  Gran Sátrapa,  as well as diplomas and subscriptions to the PuntoGal domain.

The awards have three categories:  Quality Seal, Emerging Idea and Research Groups . In the first, the winner was the company  Orballo , based in the region of As Mariñas in A Coruña, and dedicated to the production and marketing of ecological products of Galician origin. The jury highlighted its innovative commitment to the development of the Galician rural sector and the consolidation of a turnover and a national and international market.

In the Emerging Idea section, the winner was  Psico VR, a  company that works in the field of Virtual Reality and is currently developing various projects for prestigious companies and institutions. The jury highlighted the solutions provided by the company for needs such as health care and care for the elderly. In this category, the Lugo-based company Data Monitoring obtained a mention as a finalist  , which develops computer tools to apply in various productive sectors.

Finally, in the section on research groups, the winner was the  VARPA Group , attached to the University of A Coruña, which has been working for years on the development of computer programs for telemedicine. In this field the group has very prominent contracts, patents and publications.