These are the 6 projects that will be taking part in the 5th edition of CRAASH Barcelona
<p>The acceleration program promoted by Biocat and CIMIT kicked off this September with a first meeting bringing together the participants and mentors.</p>
CRAASH Barcelona, the acceleration program promoted by Biocat and CIMIT (Boston), kicked off its 5th edition with sessions on September 12 to 14 at Tech Barcelona’s Pier 01 and Pier 03, bringing together the participants and mentors.
The three-day event was broken into several sessions explaining the program and its methodology and having the Biocat and CIMIT teams answer any questions. Plus, as interviews with interest groups are an essential part of the program, there was time to prepare and conduct these interviews. There was also time to review the program and both the teams and the mentors had the chance to interact and begin their relationships.
During this kick-off event, the leaders of the six projects selected pitched their solutions to the mentors and their other colleagues in the program. These are:
1. AETHER TECH
Has designed the Emily platform, a solution based on Artificial Intelligence and Edge Computing technology to automatically regulate and personalize the flow of oxygen administered to patients with respiratory issues. This solution aims to help improve patients’ autonomy and quality of life, education on the disease and early medical intervention.
2. B-triage
Uses biomarkers to identify febrile patients at risk of death, regardless of the causes of the disease. This method is affordable, easy to use and gets results in just minutes with a drop of blood. The solution is aimed at clinics that are facing the decision to release or admit a patient with a fever from the hospital.
3. Heecap
A solution to prevent and treat diaphragm atrophy in patients on mechanical ventilation in intensive care units, which has come out of the Biocat d·HEALTH Barcelona program. Using personalized electrostimulation therapy, Heecap non-invasively maintains diaphragm strength from the beginning of mechanical ventilation at a very competitive price.
4. Manina Medtech
The technology developed by the startup, named SEEDCHRONY, is a test using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to calculate the best time to do an embryo transfer, therefore improving the chances of a positive outcome of in vitro fertilization procedures. The SEEDCHRONY measurements use uterine liquid and get results immediately, so the test and the transfer can be done on the same day.
5. pHill
More than 16% of the Spanish population has a disease related to acidity and detecting and diagnosing these diseases requires prolonged monitoring of esophageal pH levels. pHill is developing a pill that can test pH without a catheter, using a practical placement method that is more pleasant for both healthcare staff and patients.
6. RegeCure
Today, musculoskeletal trauma can only be treated with surgery or pharmacotherapy, methods that cause huge losses for public healthcare systems. The RegeCure technology aims to promote quick recovery from muscle damage caused by aging, exercise or muscular dystrophy using an easy-to-use platform of micro-needles that administer nucleic acids locally, acting as a catalyst for muscular regeneration. This way, RegeCure helps speed up patients’ muscle recovery and cuts costs for public healthcare systems.
Three phases to reach the market
The program is divided into three phases that will use the blended-learning method, focused on validating and taking the solutions to market within 3-5 years. Plus, new this year, each team will have a benchmark investor who will track the project’s progress and have one-to-one meetings.
In the first phase, which will be online and in person, the teams will validate their business model with guidance from a mentor throughout the program and hundreds of interviews with their stakeholders, using Eric Ries’ Lean startup methodology. Plus, they will do nine masterclasses on IP, regulatory issues, market access, business economics and more.
In the second phase, which will be held entirely online and last two months, the participants will do a deep dive into the Catalan, Spanish and Dutch healthcare ecosystems and get to meet their stakeholders. They will also work on their pitches to investors and network with European startups through a collaboration with German accelerator MedTech Bootcamp. This same accelerator will give CRAASH Barcelona teams training on risk management, reimbursement procedures for digital therapeutics in Germany, user experience (UX) and brand design. Plus, Dutch university TU Delft will host a four-day workshop where the teams will develop the patient journey for their projects.
Finally, in the third phase taking place in December, the teams will do a virtual immersion in Boston to discover one of the world’s strongest life sciences and healthcare ecosystems. The following year, any teams interested in traveling to Boston to meet with stakeholders and pitch their projects to US investors will be able to apply to do so.
This edition of CRAASH Barcelona is geared towards startups and projects that are developing medical devices, digital health and diagnostics with a technological readiness level (TRL) of 3-5, with teams made up of research personnel and entrepreneurs living in or with ties to the BioRegion of Catalonia.