CRAASH Barcelona

In 2024, Biocat and CIMIT (Boston) held the seventh edition of CRAASH Barcelona, the acceleration program to help researchers and entrepreneurs launch their innovations to market. The program kicked off at Tech Barcelona (Pier 01), one of the city’s main innovation hubs. 

Aimed at startups and research teams with projects in medical devices, diagnostics or digital health, the program targets initiatives with a technology readiness level (TRL) between 3 and 5 and combines intensive training with expert mentoring in a 12 week hybrid format. 

The six teams selected for this edition, Airway Shield, Banting Labs, NeuRNAx Diagnostic, ONAkids, REGEMED and BrainFocus Labs, took part in training on attracting investment, patient engagement and pitch skills, among other topics. 

New this time, the teams had access to specialized consulting provided by the Health Innovation Technology Transfer Foundation (HiTT), as well as feedback from Innovation Units at leading centers like Hospital Clinic, Bellvitge University Hospital and Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital. 

The program drew to an end during Barcelona Health Innovation Week 2025 with a closing event that brought together the whole CRAASH community and the 2024 participants got to pitch their projects to experts from the ecosystem.

1. Airway  Shield

   First medical device designed to facilitate endotracheal intubation while keeping the mouth covered and protected. It improves safety for patients and healthcare professionals, increases procedural efficiency and reduces the risk of injury.

2. Banting Labs

   Multi-sensor for continuous blood glucose monitoring that does away with the lag in therapeutic decision-making. The goal is to keep patients within the healthy range more than 70% of the time and prevent complications like diabetic foot and blindness.

3. NeuRNAx Diagnostic

   Non-invasive diagnostic solution based on extracellular vesicles and genomic techniques to detect biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington’s disease, in the very early stages.

4. ONAkids

   Non-invasive predictive test to detect the risk of language delay from birth. It allows for early intervention to prevent negative impacts on children’s cognitive and emotional development.

5. REGEMED

   Device to generate personalized treatments using the patient’s own tissue in gel, cream or ointment form. It is an innovative solution for chronic wounds and burns, with direct application in clinical settings.

6. BrainFocus Labs

   Tool for automatic localization of seizure onset in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. It is more than 90% accurate, optimizing diagnosis and enabling better planning of surgical treatment.