i4KIDS joins CRAASH Barcelona Acceleration Programme to boost paediatric innovation

i4KIDS has joined the 8th edition of the CRAASH Barcelona programme, led by Biocat, as a new strategic partner. This collaboration reinforces the commitment to paediatric health innovation by ensuring the inclusion of at least one project in this field. The initiative complements i4KIDS’ recently launched acceleration programme, with both offering distinct yet complementary goals: while i4KIDS supports early-stage projects (TRL 2–4) through tailored valorisation, CRAASH Barcelona focuses on more advanced solutions (TRL 3–6) and their clinical and market validation.

i4KIDS has joined the CRAASH Barcelona Acceleration Programme, led by Biocat, as a new strategic collaborator to secure a place in the programme for an innovative fetal, paediatric or maternal project.

This three-month programme is aimed at initiatives in the fields of digital health, medical devices, and diagnostics, based in Catalonia. Its main objective is to accelerate the pathway of these solutions towards clinical validation and market entry, within a highly specialised environment with transatlantic connections.

Driving paediatric innovation

One of the main new features of this edition is the inclusion of i4KIDS, the paediatric innovation hub coordinated by Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital. Through this collaboration, it is ensured that at least one of the selected projects focuses on fetal, paediatric, or maternal health, a sector that continues to face significant unresolved clinical challenges.

Two complementary acceleration programmes

This partnership complements the recently launched i4KIDS Acceleration Programme, whose application period remains open until 18 May, thus expanding opportunities for early-stage projects within the paediatric, fetal, and maternal health ecosystem.

While both programmes share the mission of supporting innovative healthcare solutions, they differ in focus and in the technological readiness levels (TRL) they target:

The i4KIDS programme is exclusively open to projects led by research groups of the Hub members and targets early-stage initiatives (TRL 2 to 4). It offers training for the founding team and a tailor-made valorisation phase designed to meet the specific needs of each project, as identified during an initial validation phase. This programme enables teams to explore the clinical and market potential of their solution.
CRAASH Barcelona, on the other hand, targets more mature projects (TRL 3 to 6) and focuses on clinical and market validation of the solution’s value proposition, offering intensive mentoring, specialised training and access to international expert networks and innovation ecosystems.

Timeline and call for applications

The 8th edition of CRAASH Barcelona will kick off with in-person welcome sessions in Barcelona from 8 to 10 September, followed by a series of virtual training and mentoring sessions.

The call for applications is open from 22 April until 13 June 2025.

Further information and registration are available on the Biocat website: https://www.biocat.cat/es/programas/craash-barcelona

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