CRAASH Barcelona participants discover the German ecosystem
From November 7 to 9, the six groups from the sixth edition of the program took part in a virtual immersion into the German ecosystem thanks to the Life Sciences Accelerator Baden-Württemberg (LSA BW)—the acceleration program of the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
The Biocat acceleration program CRAASH Barcelona enters its final stages with information sessions on the German life sciences and healthcare ecosystem. Through various online sessions from the Life Sciences Accelerator Baden-Württemberg (LSA BW)—the acceleration program of the German state of Baden-Württemberg—, the fellows were introduced to the innovative German ecosystem, the different stakeholders that comprise it and specific aspects on the regulation and validation of healthtech, among other things.
“There must be a good go-to-market strategy at every development phase of the product. Time and resources must be invested from the beginning”, stated Markus Wilhelms, CRAASH Barcelona mentor and CEO and co-founder of MOWOOT, a company that emerged from the d·HEALTH Barcelona program. During his session “Experience from a startup perspective Spanish vs German Market Access”, the entrepreneur also remarked that “it is essential to meet with as many relevant stakeholders as possible and to hear different points of view to develop a suitable strategy”.
Another relevant session was “Introduction to DiGAs”, by Strategic Innovation Director at Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Thorsten Mintel, who shared information on the initiative. Dr. Michael Weißer, CEO of AiM GmbH, gave an introduction to the German reimbursement model. Other sessions were aimed at introducing models and alternatives to funding startups. On this point, Dr. Thomas Prexl, CEO of Heidelberg Startup Partners e.V., and Sonja Wilkens, Teamlead Startup Consulting City of Mannheim, discussed funding opportunities, comparing venture capital and pre-seed funding.
On the other hand, there was a section for a pitch training session from rhetoric and persuasive discourse teacher, Colin Bennett, as well as a session on clinical trials with Antje Dombrowski, Director Clinical Operations at AMS Advanced Medical Services and with Dr. Gabriele Feldmann, International Clinical Project Lead at AMS Advanced Medical Services.
Virtual immersion session in the German ecosystemNext stop: Boston
Once the European immersion stage is complete, the teams will be introduced to the Boston ecosystem, one of the world’s best health innovation hubs. They will see how the rounds of funding work in the United States, discover the American healthcare structure, reimbursement, healthcare sector regulations and the best time to begin business on the continent.