Twelve UPC companies prepare for investment with the new edition of Next Frontier Founders

Deep technology (deep tech) is characterised by being disruptive, making daily life easier, promoting sustainability and solving global challenges. Entering this market, however, requires a clear value proposition, adequate protection of innovation, and a solid understanding of regulatory frameworks and strategic funding needs. The Next Frontier Founders programme, driven by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) and sponsored by Fractus within the framework of the Fractus-UPC Deep Tech Hub, is launching its fourth edition. It aims to support twelve technology-based companies led by male and female entrepreneurs from the UPC community in refining their business proposals so they can advance towards the market, scalability, and investment.

From 2 October, the date of the welcome session and start of the programme, until March 2027, the founders are participating in practical training sessions covering different business development areas, such as finance, legislation, intellectual property, and communication, to immerse themselves in the deep tech ecosystem and understand the potential next steps for their projects from a business perspective.

UPC entrepreneurs will also receive mentoring and participate in three networking days, enabling direct contact with the sector. These include two Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions: one with international investors during the Barcelona Deep Tech Summit 2026, and another with managing directors of national companies and institutions. The third event is a Matchmaking session, allowing participants to hold brief interviews to build synergies with organizational representatives and potential investors.

Upon completing the sessions, entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to pitch their projects at the UPC Pitching Session on 4 March 2027 at Four Years From Now (4YFN), or to showcase their work at the UPC Startup Corner at the same event. 4YFN is a leading international benchmark event in tech entrepreneurship, held as part of MWC Barcelona.

The Vice-Rector for Transfer, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UPC, Jordi Berenguer, and the co-founder of Fractus, Rubén Bonet, attended the welcome session, praising the entrepreneurial spirit and the effort to turn lab-developed projects into services for society. Jordi Berenguer addressed the participants, stating: "It fills me with pride to see how engineers like you use the knowledge acquired at the University to improve the services available to citizens." For his part, Rubén Bonet recalled that "Fractus was one of the first start-ups to emerge from UPC. The University gave us an opportunity to build our business, and it worked out for us," emphasising how crucial it is to provide new entrepreneurs with that same opportunity.

Innovative solutions in health, process optimisation, and artificial intelligence

The 12 selected companies—eight start-ups and four spin-offs—are developing innovative devices and software that address both individual and business needs, while contributing to a healthier, more efficient, and sustainable society.

In healthcare, the spin-off WomenUp, in collaboration with Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, has developed a device that helps reverse female urinary incontinence symptoms through a mobile app and a sensor device that guide patients through pelvic floor exercises while capturing data. Haptika Technologies has designed a tool allowing prosthetic arm users to regain their sense of touch and rebuild confidence during daily tasks. They are currently developing a new leg sensory neurostimulation line for rehabilitation.

In the wellness domain, FAWE combines natural active ingredients with neuroscience to create cosmetic products acting as supplements, which not only improve skin appearance but also support dermatological health.

One of the sectors with the highest concentration of business concepts in this edition is industrial process optimisation and decision-making across various industries, ranging from building management to agricultural planning. XC Gradient offers software for industrial SMEs that structures manuals and industrial procedures, while Durbec Aero provides a platform to manage drone flights in restricted airspace legally and safely. Meanwhile, the spin-off The Grid presents a digital twin tool suite to optimise building management throughout its full lifecycle. For agriculture, Nextvibe Innovation is building an autonomous robotics platform for continuous monitoring of agricultural robots and converting environmental data into actionable insights; Kylia has developed crop management software that provides estimations to help farmers plan irrigation, fertilisation, and potential pest control.

Regarding artificial intelligence deployment, the spin-off GAISSA has designed a solution that monitors energy consumption and automatically optimises AI models to make them cheaper, faster, and more sustainable. KeyNode proposes a decentralized GPU infrastructure allowing inference and training execution while reducing dependence on major US providers.

Finally, Lupo Rooms is a platform that helps Erasmus students moving across European cities find rooms tailored to their needs by automating search, booking, and tenancy management. The spin-off Biometallum is developing a biotechnological process for electronic waste recycling, aiming to provide a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative to conventional valuable metal recovery methods.

A programme with proven impact

A total of 39 companies have participated across the first three editions of Next Frontier Founders, 11 of which have generated one or more patents in areas such as energy, medical devices, climate technology, robotics, agrifood tech, and automotive. This volume of patentable projects highlights the programme's capacity to attract initiatives with high innovation potential, technological protectability, and commercial viability.

Overall, participating companies have raised €36.5 million in public and private funding and contributed to creating over 130 jobs. These figures reinforce the programme's prestige as an acceleration platform for deep-tech ventures capable of scaling, protecting their innovations, and delivering economic and industrial impact.