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"We set up the company to make sure we would have an impact"

27.01.2017

Javier Jiménez

Co-founder and CEO of New Born Solutions

Named an Innovator Under 35 of 2016 by the MIT Technology Review Spain, Javier Jiménez has taken a huge leap in his professional career thanks to New Born Solutions, which he co-founded and has been CEO of since 2015. He has a degree in telecommunications engineering from the UPC, an MBA from EAE and a PhD in biomedical engineering. He has worked professionally in computing, communication systems, the automotive sector and space communications but he is most passionate about biomedical imaging.

The New Born Solutions project, founded in November 2015, was created with the desire to revolutionize the field of medical devices for non-invasive monitoring and screening of infectious and neurodegenerative diseases. The start-up is developing technology to prevent infant meningitis, Neosonics, which has recently been recognized by the IMAGINE IF! acceleration program, through which it is receiving guidance and advisory services from experts around the world.

The medical device uses a non-invasive ultrasound system to count white blood cells in the cerebrospinal fluid below the infant’s fontanel, which allows them to detect whether the child may have meningitis, if a lumbar puncture needs to be done and whether medication should be triggered. Javier Jiménez is the company’s CEO.

Why did you want to be an entrepreneur?

I don’t think anyone wants to be an entrepreneur. You either are one or you aren’t. Whether you have the chance to do it is another thing. I identified a high-impact medical need and the technology that could offer up a solution. I set up a team and got funding to show that it is possible to detect infant meningitis non-invasively. Starting up a company seemed like the next logical step to make sure we had the impact we were looking for. And I was able to do it thanks to support from those around me, personally and professionally.

What is the most important strategic decision you’ve made so far?

The people who have been part of or are on the team. I mean everyone who has participated in the project, both before and after creating NBS. You can be denied funding or an experiment can have undesired results, but if the team is committed and has a clear goal, you can only move forward and that conveys confidence.

What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Take a step back. When you take a step back you get a clearer view of what is in front of you and can better analyze the situation and make better decisions.

And now what? What milestones do you want to achieve in the short term?

To accomplish our funding strategy to continue technical development and clinical validation for the technology to prevent infant meningitis. Having been named Innovator Under 35 of 2016 in Spain by the MIT Technology Review and coming in second in the global IMAGINE IF! competition for business presentations at Cambridge (United Kingdom) has given us more visibility, which has led to more contact with the investment world.