Daniel Oliva and Gabriel Maeztu shared their business experiences and highlighted the importance of identifying real problems and offering innovative solutions. During the session, the speakers addressed topics such as financing, the business model in the health sector, the figure of the founder and the relevance of the idea on which a new company or product is built. Both agreed that the key to success lies in constant learning and the ability to adapt to market changes.

From enduring the problem to finding the technological solution

For Gabriel Maeztu, personal experience was the spark that ignited his initiative. “My personal experience of a problem gave birth to my project,” he remembered as he explained how the difficulty of accessing medical data had inspired the creation of IOMED. This startup uses artificial intelligence to speed up the collection and analysis of clinical data and is already in use in 23 hospitals.

Daniel Oliva then stressed the importance of not falling in love with an idea, but of focusing on the problem to be solved. “I have done over 100 interviews and countless focus groups. It is crucial not to be enthralled by the initial idea,” said Oliva, whose 14-cm device, EMILY.AI®, is designed to improve oxygen therapy processes.

Both Maeztu and Oliva stressed the relevance of the founder as someone who must be willing to constantly reinvent themselves. “Every five months I feel like my work is reinvented,” Maeztu confessed, while Oliva emphasised the value of learning from others: “Coming from another field means I have had to study a lot. It is always faster to learn from another person.”

Ciclo Emprèn, the Entrepreneurship Series was organised jointly by Alumni&Careers and the Vice-rectorate for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer. The next session will feature the visit of Josep Talavera, CEO and co-founde