The startup Methinks AI tells about its experience as a participant in the 1st edition of the CRAASH Barcelona acceleration program held in 2018
Methinks AI is a startup headquartered in Barcelona whose mission is to provide universal access to stroke treatments. Their solution, medical imaging software based on artificial intelligence, can diagnose stroke quickly with a simple CAT scan (without using contrast, available at any hospital in the world) so patients begin treatment sooner, gaining precious time that can improve their prognosis.
Methinks AI was one of the ten European projects chosen to participate in the first edition of CRAASH Barcelona, the acceleration program that helps researchers and entrepreneurs launch healthtech innovations onto the market in conjunction with the CIMIT accelerator (Boston).
Cristian Martí, chairman of the Board, CSO & founder of Methinks AI tells us about his experience in the CRAASH Barcelona program:
Why did you decide to participate in CRAASH Barcelona?
We were aware that the majority of startups fail because they develop products that don’t fit the market. This is even more important in the healthcare sector, and the consequences are even more dramatic.
The idea of having experts provide you with a theoretical framework combined with an in-depth analysis of our case while also travelling to validate our value proposition was extremely intriguing.
How did CRAASH Barcelona help evolve your project?
It allowed us to get in touch with many centers that treat strokes around the world. It was also very important in gaining an understanding of the regulatory framework and how to deal with it.
What did you like the most about the program?
We liked the team spirit created with the other participants and the professors, and we’re still in touch with them and support each other whenever we can.
Tell us about your experience presenting your project in Boston.
In our case, there wasn’t a very good match between the type of investor in Boston and the state of our project. Still, learning about the ecosystem and some of the meetings we held were really interesting.
Would you recommend that other entrepreneurs participate in CRAASH Barcelona? Why?
If they are currently defining their project, without hesitation. If they think they’ve already defined it, even more!! :-)
The 4th call for applications for the program is now open This year, the program is exclusively targeted at projects with a TRL 3–6 (proof of concept / initial clinical trials) related to the fields of medical devices, diagnostics or digital health, or existing companies that are currently looking for a health application for their technology.
The candidates also have to be established in (or with ties to) the BioRegion and related to the fields of medical devices, diagnostics or digital health. The projects chosen will be guided by expert mentors from around Europe and from CIMIT (Boston), the most experienced health accelerator in the world with more than 1,000 projects in 20 years.
The projects will validate their technologies and how they fit in the market of some of the most important health ecosystems in the United States (Boston) and Europe (Barcelona and other European cities). If you want an impetus for your project or company, you have until June 15 to sign up for the 4th edition of the CRAASH BARCELONA program
