With the Coffee Break series, we dive into the stories of EIC innovators and get a glimpse of the people behind EIC projects. Today’s guests are Beatriz Llamusí Troísi, Co-founder & CSO at Arthex Biotech, a biotech company investigating antisense RNA compounds to treat diseases with unmet medical needs, and Lisa Langer, CFO at ionysis, a green tech company developing next-generation membrane electrode assemblies for electrochemical converters. Both selected EIC companies/participants won the best pitch title of their respective pitching sessions during the online EIC Women Leadership Programme ePitching with female (co)founders & leaders event on 13 June 2023.
As EIC Women Leadership Programme (EIC WLP) participants, both Beatriz Llamusí Troísi (Arthex Biotech) and Lisa Langer (ionysis) were selected by a Jury of investors alongside 10 other female leaders to participate in the online EIC ePitching with female (co)founders & leaders' event. They were respectively awarded by the investors for the best pitch in the pitching sessions dedicated to healthcare (including Biotech, Medtech and E-Health) and new materials (including sustainable materials). Find out more about the story of these 2 game-changing innovators in this EIC Coffee Break edition.
Can you tell us how the idea for your innovation started? Was it something that was bouncing in the back of your head for a long time?
Beatriz Llamusí Troísi (Arthex Biotech): Our innovation was incubated during our research at the University of Valencia for several years. Everything started with a public project awarded to the other co-founder, Dr Rubén Artero, and the PhD work of Dr Estefania Cerro-Herreros, which was co-supervised by Rubén and me.
Lisa Langer (ionysis): My co-founders have worked for years in academia, developing innovative hydrogen fuel cells without “forever chemicals”. When they thought the time was ripe to create a company, they looked at similar deep-tech start-ups and realised that if they do it all by themselves, they have no time left for technology development. To complement their skills developed in academia with other skills needed to build a successful company, they looked for co-founders and that is where one other co-founder and I came in with our backgrounds in economics, business and organisational development. I was hooked almost immediately because of the product that can make a positive difference, the enormous market potential and most importantly the people who I’m now calling my co-founders.
How did your family respond to your ideas/innovation?
Beatriz Llamusí Troísi (Arthex Biotech): My family has always been very supportive in my career, especially my mother that always told me that I could do whatever I wanted to do. Now, I’m a mother of two children of 5, and 9 years old and changing from the safety of the university to the uncertainty of the Biotech world was a very difficult decision to take. I would not have been able to do it without the support and encouragement of my husband and my children that are the ones suffering from my extensive work schedule, stress, travels and concerns.
Lisa Langer (ionysis): It depends on whom you ask in my family. My mother was rather concerned as I had just taken on a new role in my old job and was pregnant with my second son. She was worried about how I, as a mother of two small kids, would be able to balance my family life with building a company. The rest of the family was supportive and maybe even a bit proud that I didn’t shy away from that step into entrepreneurship.
Who or what shaped you?
Beatriz Llamusí Troísi (Arthex Biotech): My mother’s strength and resilience, my supportive co-founder Ruben that shaped my scientific mind, my family and friends that help me to disconnect and keep the balance, and a lot of good advice taken from other researchers and entrepreneurs throughout my journey.
Lisa Langer (ionysis): I think it was the sum of the people around me who believed in me and who put trust in my abilities. Concerning ionysis, it has been my co-founders, who I admire for their skills and personalities. Knowing that we are in this together and that I can rely on them, they have allowed me to leave the doubts behind and let my curiosity and drive to build a company take over.
Can you tell us a little bit about a tough moment you had at the company and how you managed to push through this?
Beatriz Llamusí Troísi (Arthex Biotech): At the very beginning, we had a lot of trouble fixing the IP issues of our patent, and it took us more than 9 months to close the license agreement. I fixed it with patience, good advisors and investors’ support and advice.
Lisa Langer (ionysis): Not a tough moment but a tough month, which for me, was last December (2022). A lot was going on at ionysis, e.g., the final interview for our EIC grant. My two sons were constantly sick and could not go to kindergarten and I ended up getting sick myself. It’s in moments like these, when everything seems to fall apart, that the doubts resurface. Was everyone who said that founding a company and having children does not work, right? What helps me push through those tough days is knowing that I do it for a purpose. I believe ionysis can contribute to fighting climate change if we manage to bring our innovation to the market and that is a huge motivation.
What advice can you give to female entrepreneurs and innovators who are currently playing with the idea of starting a company or research project?
Beatriz Llamusí Troísi (Arthex Biotech): Never give up, good things take time.
Lisa Langer (ionysis): I would encourage them to stay true to their values and the idea of the company they want to build. Listen to advice, take it seriously but decide consciously what works for you and your company. Especially when fundraising, many people will tell you how things are done. In our case, it was for example about being 5 founders with on average 2 small children. “This will never work”, they said. But so far, it’s been working very well for us. While those giving advice can turn around and change their minds easily, you will have to live with the decisions you make for your company for a long time.
What are you currently reading or what book inspires you the most, be it personal or professional?
Beatriz Llamusí Troísi (Arthex Biotech): A book that I enjoyed reading is called Los Renglones Torcidos de Dios by Torcuato Luca de Tena.
Lisa Langer (ionysis): I’m currently reading a book called Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen. It’s a family saga that takes place during the 1970s in rural Indiana. I like how Franzen portrays the characters with all their flaws as deeply human. And no matter how close one character seems to another, e.g., the mother to her favourite son, the perception of the other is so different from the self-perception. This is also a good reminder to me as a founder, to always listen to potential clients, and ask for their needs and opinions rather than making assumptions and acting on these.
If you could talk business over lunch with either a large CEO or global leader, who would you choose and why?
Beatriz Llamusí Troísi (Arthex Biotech): Angela Hwang, Group president at Pfizer. I would like to get some advice about women’s leadership in a male environment.
Lisa Langer (ionysis): I would probably choose Angela Merkel. I would be keen to hear from her how she managed to succeed for such a long time in the mostly male-dominated power play and seemingly stayed true to herself over all those years.
Additional Information
About the EIC Women Leadership Programme
Women-led companies are on the rise. The participation of women in deep tech is not only a matter of fairness but an important case of using Europe’s full potential of excellence in science and businesses. The EIC proactively seized this great opportunity for growth: the EIC Accelerator threshold for women-led businesses invited for the second stage of evaluation has increased to 40%. As a result, the number of selected women (co) founded and led companies increased to a record share of 40,6% in 2023 January’s cut-off.
To further build upon this, the EIC is offering a dedicated mentoring programme, the EIC Women Leadership Programme (WLP), which aims to level the playing field in scalable businesses and mindsets by unlocking potential and breaking down barriers to success!
About the EIC Business Acceleration Services
This opportunity is brought to you by the EIC Business Acceleration Services. To explore other opportunities to connect with investors in Europe keep an eye on our events page and head to the EIC Community website to read previous Coffee Break articles.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.