IWEC Past Awardee, Ana Maiques, CEO of Neuroelectrics, shares her thoughts
“Reaching your vision takes more time than you initially thought, “recalls Maiques
by Barcelona Tech City, JANUARY 15, 2019
Ana Maiques is founder and CEO of Neuroelectrics, a company where she works together with her partner Giulio Ruffini. The origins of Neuroelectrics, which is developing new technologies in the field of brain stimulation and neuroscience, began in 2000 with Starlab and the Belgian company in which both were working and which was about to disappear. That was the key point in which the co-founders of Neuroelectrics made the decision to seize the moment and take control of the company, buying it from the Belgian government. “We were not born entrepreneurs but, at a given moment of our life, we took and chose the option of more risk”, explains Maiques. Neuroelectrics was born in 2011 as the way to bring to the market all the research that was taking place in Starlab,
Mother of four children, says that “conciliation is always a challenge, but it is also a matter of two” and although she has not perceived discrimination because she is a woman, she believes that “there is still a long way to go” to achieve equality.
As an ambassador for Barcelona Tech City, Maiques exports the Barcelona brand to the world and the amount of talent and the ability to create global companies that the city has at the moment. From his experience we have extracted some key points:
DO NOT LOSE YOUR VISION WHY YOU STARTED YOUR COMPANY
More than 15 years ago, when Maiques and Ruffini embarked on Neuroelectrics, the objective was clear: “how to go from research to having an impact”. From there Starstim was born, a cap capable of reading brain activity, diagnosing diseases, and injecting small electrical currents into the brain that can help cure diseases. “I think the most important learning is that you never lose sight of why you started a company. And the second: that reaching your vision takes more time than you initially thought, “recalls Maiques.