Neurotech CEO Ana Maiques Is About to Reveal What Scaling in Europe Really Takes

Jan de Vries · 2026-10-07

Picture this: you've spent over a decade turning cutting-edge neuroscience into a real company, and now you're standing on stage in Malta, explaining to 2,500 founders how you did it. That's exactly what Ana Maiques, co-founder and CEO of Neuroelectrics, will do at the EU-Startups Summit 2027 on May 13-14. Her keynote, *From European Innovation to Global Scale: Lessons from Neurotech*, promises something rare: a founder who's actually walked the long, messy road from lab research to clinical reality, and is willing to talk about it. ### Why Ana Maiques Matters Right Now Ana sits at that fascinating intersection of entrepreneurship, neuroscience, and innovation. Through Neuroelectrics, she's spent more than a decade chasing a genuinely ambitious goal: building technologies that help us better understand, monitor, and interact with the human brain. That's not a small thing. It's the kind of work that takes years of R&D before you see a single patient benefit. And yet, she's built an international company around it. ### The Neuroelectrics Story, in Short Ana co-founded Neuroelectrics in Barcelona in 2011 alongside Giulio Ruffini. The company develops non-invasive technologies for brain monitoring and stimulation, blending neuroscience, physics, machine learning, hardware, and personalized brain modeling. In 2021, they raised a €15 million ($17.5 million) Series A led by Morningside Ventures. That funding pushed forward their non-invasive brain stimulation platform and clinical programs in areas like epilepsy and depression. Their NeuroTwin initiative also received around €4.49 million (roughly $5.2 million) in EU funding to explore personalized brain models and non-invasive stimulation for neurological disorders. ### From Barcelona to Boston and Beyond International expansion hasn't been an afterthought. Neuroelectrics set up a presence in the Boston/Cambridge life-sciences ecosystem back in 2014, and today its technologies are used in more than 74 countries across Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. But Ana's entrepreneurial journey started even earlier. She was also a co-founder of Starlab, the Barcelona-based research and innovation company from which Neuroelectrics eventually spun off. ### More Than Just a CEO Ana's impact reaches well beyond her own company: - She served on the European Innovation Council Advisory Board - She became a Termeer Fellow through the Henri Termeer Foundation in 2018 - She co-founded EsTech, which brings together Spanish scale-ups and tech companies to strengthen the country's innovation ecosystem She's also a strong advocate for increasing the representation of women in STEM, especially by creating greater access to role models and opportunities in science and technology. ### What You'll Actually Take Away If you're building something complex, whether it's neurotech, climate tech, or anything that takes years to mature, Ana's talk is for you. She'll share insights on: - Building an international neurotechnology company from the ground up - Bringing complex science to market without losing your scientific integrity - Navigating the long journey from R&D to real-world clinical applications As Ana herself might put it: scaling European innovation globally isn't about shortcuts. It's about patience, persistence, and the right ecosystem. ### The EU-Startups Summit 2027 On May 13-14, 2027, the European startup ecosystem will gather once again in sunny Malta for the EU-Startups Summit. Around 2,500 founders, investors, startup enthusiasts, and ecosystem players are expected for two packed days of networking, inspiration, and learning. The event will showcase many of Europe's hottest startups and put attendees face-to-face with some of the most successful entrepreneurs and innovators of our time. Expect inspiring keynotes, fireside chats, workshops, a buzzing exhibition hall, and plenty of chances to make valuable connections. Ready to join? Secure your ticket to the EU-Startups Summit 2027 today.