"Entrepreneurship is contagious”
Ignasi Heras
Ignasi Heras holds a degree in Business Administration and Management (ADE) from the UB and an MBA from EADA. He was deputy director of Biocontrol Technologies and head of Innovation, Marketing and Networking at the Barcelona Science Park. In 2012, he founded a consultancy firm and has been working at Transplant Biomedicals since 2014. He combines his professional career with education: he is a tutor and project consultant for the EADA master in management for the healthcare sector.
Transplant Biomedicals, a spin-off of IDIBAPS based in the Barcelona Advanced Industry Park, has developed a medical device to better transport and preserve organs for transplant. The product aims to replace the "picnic-style" coolers currently used.
Founded in 2014 by Ignasi Heras and Dr. Carmen Peralta, the company closed a €1.5-millions round of funding in November 2015, led by Basque fund Kereons Partners and Caixa Capital Risc.
Why did you want to be an entrepreneur?
It is something that I have been thinking since a child. I began leaning this way when I participated in an ACCIÓ and Fundació Bosch i Gimpera program that puts business professionals in spin-offs from the University of Barcelona. It was a turning point in my career and I experienced first-hand the first years of Biocontrol Technologies.
After that I worked at the Barcelona Science Park and had a lot of contact with start-ups and entrepreneurs. Living in this environment feeds your entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurship, like almost anything, is contagious.
What is the most important strategic decision you’ve made so far?
Surely one of the most relevant was to take the leap from a stable job to working on my own, totally unsure whether or not what I wanted to do would work. It's a big risk. But, really, entrepreneurship is a matter of throwing yourself into the adventure.
When I met Dr. Peralta, cofounder of the company, the decision was easier. She is an extraordinary woman with a very promising technology, we have learn how to complement each other and she is the best person with whom I could share this journey.
What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Many. But to name just one, "Be happy in everything you do." I always try to apply this. I don't always achieve it, because the life of an entrepreneur isn't as bohemian as it may seem, but it's a mantra that I repeat and hope to apply to any future challenges that may arise.
And now what? What milestones do you want to achieve in the short term?
In the last quarter of this year, we will finish the preclinical phase to validate our medical device and hope to start with the clinical trial, early next year, in two referral hospitals in Catalonia.
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