CRAASH Barcelona celebrates 5th anniversary
<p>Biocat’s acceleration program celebrated its 5th anniversary in an event with over 60 people, mainly former participants, faculty and mentors. The event, held during <a href="https://bcnhealthinnovationweek.biocat.cat/" target="_blank">Barcelona Health Innovation Week</a>, looked back over all the previous editions and highlighted the program’s potential and value added.</p>
Over 60 people attended the 5th anniversary of CRAASH Barcelona, Biocat’s acceleration program. The former participants (companies and projects), faculty and mentors from all the editions of the program didn’t want to miss this gathering to look back on the history of the program.
Five participating companies explained how the program has helped them drive their solution. These included Alfons Carnicero, co-founder and CEO of Able Human Motion (2018 edition); João Curado, CEO of Flomics (2019 edition); Jose Ibeas, co-founder of Anais Medical (2020 edition); Pol Solà, co-founder of Vincer.AI (2021 edition); and Mónica Rodriguez, co-founder of Manina Medtech.
Alfons Carnicero explained how the program allowed him to evolve his prototype, turning it into one of the most revolutionary exoskeletons on the market. In fact, the entrepreneur shared that they will be presenting the “lightest robot on the market” at 4FYN 2023. For her part, Mónica Rodriguez highlighted one of the changes in the latest edition: “Having an investor accompany you throughout the program was really helpful.” Jose Ibeas, despite having been part of the pandemic edition, highlighted that even though it had to be adapted, “the program helped us push our innovations forward.”
John Collins, program mentor and COO of CIMIT, also wanted to join in the celebration and took the opportunity to congratulate all the projects that have been part of the program. Check out some pictures of the session in this photo gallery.
CRAASH Barcelona in numbers
The Biocat acceleration program, started in 2018, has achieved notable figures over these five years. In total, it has accelerated 41 projects, which have raised over €21 million in investment and generated 77 new jobs.
The number of new startups created is also notable, and of all the projects presented: 42% have been established as a company and have launched 7 products to market. Plus, the projects survival rate also stands out, at nearly 90%.
This event brought to a close the first Barcelona Health Innovation Week, a week dedicated to innovation, acceleration, technology and transformation in the healthcare sector that featured some 20 activities to raise awareness of the impact of the life sciences and healthcare ecosystem in Barcelona.