STAB VIDA scales abroad after EIC trade fair support, but conversion and costs remain key challenges
- ›Participation in the EIC Overseas Trade Fairs programme helped STAB VIDA generate leads and sign distribution and laboratory agreements across multiple markets.
- ›STAB VIDA hired commercial and R&D staff and reported successful ISO 13485 audits that support plans to scale manufacturing.
- ›The company showcased its Doctor Vida Pocket diagnostic system, using a fluorescent LAMP assay in a portable device that is CE-IVD marked.
- ›STAB VIDA highlights trade fair benefits for lead generation, market intelligence and brand building but stresses the need for planning, follow up and regulatory readiness.
STAB VIDA expands global presence after EIC-supported trade fair participation
STAB VIDA, a Portuguese biotech small and medium enterprise founded in 2001, attributes a wave of international commercial progress to its participation in EIC-supported trade fairs. The company exhibited at major events including MEDICA 2022, FIME 2022 and Arab Health 2023 through the EIC Overseas Trade Fairs Programme 2.0. Company representatives report new leads, distribution agreements, clinical and laboratory partnerships, new hires and positive regulatory audits. The account illustrates how trade fairs can accelerate visibility and contact-making for deep tech health companies, while also underlining the operational work required after the show to convert interest into sustainable contracts.
What STAB VIDA gained from trade fair exposure
Helena Goncalves, STAB VIDA’s Project Manager, describes MEDICA 2022 as a milestone. The company says it generated qualified leads in countries such as Mexico and India and identified distributors to enter Brazil and the Maghreb region. Follow-up activity reportedly produced signed distributor agreements in Spain for veterinary and lactose intolerance tests, an agreement with a National Human Reference Laboratory in the Netherlands for legionella and lactose intolerance tests, and local partnerships in Mexico linked to a consortium of gynecologists interested in the company’s HPV tests.
| Trade fair | Date / Year | Region | Reported outcomes |
| MEDICA | November 2022 | Dusseldorf, Germany | Leads in Mexico and India; distributors identified for Brazil and Maghreb; signed distributor agreements in Spain; agreement with a National Human Reference Lab in the Netherlands; high public attention for Lactose Intolerance demonstration |
| FIME | 2022 | Miami, USA | Market contacts and opportunities that contributed to STAB VIDA's international expansion |
| Arab Health | 2023 | Dubai, UAE | Additional regional leads and exposure in MENA markets |
Product and technology in focus
How the EIC trade fairs programme helped
STAB VIDA credits the EIC Overseas Trade Fairs Programme 2.0 with providing an environment that amplified their visibility and helped turn conversations into commercial opportunities. The company lists concrete benefits including lead generation, networking with industry and academic partners, direct onsite sales, market intelligence, testing of a new lactose intolerance product with attendees and educational sessions provided by the EIC and event organisers. STAB VIDA also benefitted from contacts with the European American Chamber of Commerce Florida and the Alan B Levan NSU Broward Center of Innovation, which they say provided space and technology for prototyping and testing.
Practical advice from STAB VIDA for trade fair participants
Helena Goncalves provided a concrete checklist for companies preparing to exhibit at domestic or international trade fairs. Her recommendations stress careful alignment of trade fair participation with strategic goals, strong applications to be selected for EIC support, market research, compelling booth design and a follow-up plan to convert leads into customers. She also emphasised the importance of regulatory readiness and budget discipline.
STAB VIDA's strategic ambitions after the fairs
Following trade fair activity, STAB VIDA aims to scale sales, increase product variety and expand geographically. The company says it will consolidate partnerships made at MEDICA and other events, pursue joint ventures and research collaborations, and continue investing in R&D. The successful ISO 13485 audits are presented by the company as an enabling condition for moving toward larger scale manufacturing and wider commercial roll out.
A critical perspective for other innovators and policymakers
Trade fairs can be powerful instruments for market entry and exposure, especially when combined with structured programmes such as the EIC ITF. STAB VIDA’s account shows a plausible pathway from booth conversation to signed agreements and quality audits. At the same time there are common caveats that deserve attention. First, generating leads is only the beginning. Conversion requires sustained sales work, local regulatory navigation and commercial commitments that can take many months. Second, the cost of exhibiting and subsequent business development is often large and difficult to amortise for early stage SMEs. Third, publicised success stories can suffer selection bias because programmes naturally highlight their best outcomes. For policymakers, continued support in areas such as market access coaching, regulation and bridging to local clinical partners can increase the long term return on trade fair subsidies.
About the organisations mentioned
For companies considering trade fair participation the practical takeaway is straightforward. Exhibitions can open doors and accelerate conversations that otherwise take months to arrange. But those doors lead to commercial corridors that require resources, regulatory readiness and a disciplined approach to follow up. STAB VIDA’s experience shows that when a company combines product readiness with quality management and a disciplined commercial response then the visibility delivered by a trade fair can translate into measurable business progress.