"Talent has no gender, but opportunities often do." This message summarized an uncomfortable reality during the awards ceremony for the Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs of Catalonia by EAE Business School Barcelona with Barcelona Activa. Opportunities are not the same for everyone: women entrepreneurs continue to face more difficulties in accessing capital and investment networks, with less presence in decision-making spaces and fewer visible role models in strategic sectors. In fact, women only represent 20% of startup founders in Catalonia, Spain, and even in Europe, a proportion that has practically not changed in the last decade, and startups founded by women only receive 2% of private capital investment.
For this reason, recognitions such as the Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs of Catalonia are still necessary. Not only to make female talent visible, but also to generate role models that inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. The same applies to scientific role models, because inequalities also persist in research: in Spain, women represent 39.6% of research staff, barely one percentage point more than in 2014, according to the report Scientists in figures, prepared by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
For this reason, many of the awardees of the Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs come from the health sector, a field where research and entrepreneurship often go hand in hand. Examples of female leadership include Patricia Villagrasa (co-founder of Reveal Genomics), Carla Maté (founder of D-SIGHT), Laura Lizama and Sofía Ferreira (founders of Heecap) or Silvia Raga (founder of Dycare), who occupy some of the top positions in these recognitions. Leading the ranking are Marina Rigau and Eva Colás, who, together with Antonio Gil, founded MiMARK five years ago, a spin-off of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) that develops new diagnostic tools based on the analysis of gynecological fluids to detect diseases earlier and less invasively.
Currently, MiMARK is preparing the market launch of its first product: GyLDEC, a test to detect endometrial cancer based on the detection of proteins in uterine fluid, which has already been validated in 28 hospitals with the Spanish Society of Gynecological Oncology. With a team of 14 people, the company is now opening a financing round of eight million euros to advance this product, which could see the light within two years.
But the objective of the spin-off is even more ambitious: to explore all the possibilities of analyzing gynecological fluids also for other diseases, such as endometriosis. A field in which, they assure, there is still much ground to cover. Although women represent half of the population, many specific pathologies are still little studied and with less investment than other fields of medicine, such as gynecological diseases.
— Scientists or entrepreneurs? With which term do you feel more identified?
— Eva Colás: I would define myself as a scientist-entrepreneur, but above all a scientist. Personally, I defend that being an entrepreneur is not just creating a company; it is a way of thinking, a constant desire to improve and solve challenges not yet addressed.
— Marina Rigau: When asked about my profession, I usually say biologist. MiMARK was born, precisely, in a scientific environment and, from there, has evolved to become a company.
"Women tend to question whether we are capable of taking on responsibilities or leading projects. We must learn to be less prudent"
— How did you manage insecurity or internal doubts when turning the project into a company?
— E. C.: More than fear, we experienced it as a challenge. We realized that you don't need to know everything to start; the most important thing is to be aware of your limitations and surround yourself with people who help you move forward.
— M. R.: Eva is the alma mater of the project; we studied the doctorate in Biomedicine together, but I opted for a profile more oriented to research management, with an MBA, while Eva continued her career in academic research. When we founded MiMARK, some suggested looking for an external CEO with more experience, while my environment told me: "you have the training, you know the project and you can do it." In the end I thought: why not?
I believe this type of doubt is very common among women: we tend to question whether we are capable of taking on responsibilities or leading projects. Meanwhile, we often see projects led by men who don't question it as much. Questioning is healthy, even twice if necessary, but we must also learn to be less cautious. In fact, many times women are even better prepared or trained.
— Let's talk about the project. What differentiates MiMARK from other diagnostic tests for gynecological diseases?
— E. C.: The main difference is the sample we use: gynecological fluids, almost unexplored in clinical practice. It is, in short, a faster and less invasive test than the biopsy currently used.
We have started with the detection of endometrial cancer, but the goal is to go further. If we manage to demonstrate that gynecological fluids can be used to diagnose this disease, we open the door to other gynecological pathologies, such as endometriosis, which affects 10% of women of reproductive age, but remains a very understudied disease. Our goal is that, one day, these gynecological fluid tests will be as common as a cholesterol test.
— Earlier you spoke about the caution women often have when starting projects. Beyond this aspect, have you noticed other differences in female leadership?
— E. C.: A value we try to ensure defines our team is the fact of taking care of each other. This means asking for help when needed and fostering a culture of mutual support within MiMARK, and perhaps it is a value more associated with teams led by women. We prioritize humanity and well-being, even ahead of certain work obligations.
— Have you perceived any barriers, for example, in terms of funding?
— M. C.: Obtaining funding is complicated for any project, but especially in women's health research: it took us thirteen months to close our first round of funding. It is essential that investors, mostly men, understand the importance of investing in impact projects, also in the field of women's health.
"Endometriosis is a disease comparable to diabetes or migraine, but because it only affects women it receives much less investment"
— Are we advancing enough in women's health?
— M. R.: Historically, women have been underrepresented in clinical studies. Even today there are certain limitations: for example, it is logical that one would not want to put a pregnant woman at risk with an experimental drug. We are now starting a project on endometriosis and we see that it is a very complex pathology, with many hormonal and clinical variables —such as menstruation or hormonal treatments— that can affect biomarkers. This variability explains part of the historical underrepresentation, but the solution is not to exclude women from studies just because of their complexity, but to invest more resources to be able to take all these variables into account.
— E. C.: Progress is being made, but there is still a long way to go. Endometriosis is a disease comparable to diabetes or migraine, but because it only affects women, who represent half of the population, it receives much less investment and media attention.
— M. R.: Everything is related: 50 years ago, most academic leaders were men and they did not consider researching diseases like endometriosis. Today, with more women in leadership positions, greater awareness, and more knowledge, we are addressing these needs. There are also men committed to this cause, and the sum of all these factors is key.
"If most leadership positions are held by men, it is more likely that they will tend to recognize and promote other men. Quotas help create a more egalitarian base"— You have been recognized as Top 1 Women Entrepreneurs in Catalonia. Do you believe that awards and rankings are still necessary to make female role models visible?— M. R.: Visibility is key as long as women remain a minority, for example at the head ofstartups. Personally, I am also in favor of establishing quotas to advance towards parity. If the majority of leadership positions are occupied by men, it is more likely that they will tend to recognize and promote other men. Quotas help create a more egalitarian base. They are not a definitive solution and probably in the future they will no longer be necessary, but now they allow us to start from a fairer point. In addition, it has been shown that incorporating diverse perspectives, not only of gender, but also of origin or culture, brings more value to governments, companies or academic environments. Receiving an award also implies assuming a certain responsibility: returning that support, referencing each other and helping each other, just as other women did with us when we were starting. Creating this support network is key to building an ecosystem where women empower each other.— How do you imagine MiMARK in five years?
— M. R.: We would like to see our first product already working in the market and the second one very close to being released, confirming that liquid biopsies based on gynecological fluids make sense and work.
— E. C.: Beyond the company, we want the field to grow and for other groups and companies to work with gynecological fluids. There are diseases that we will not be able to address, and it is positive that there are more actors researching women's health: hopefully there will be more companies, more drugs on the market, and more investment in this area.
We have many ideas, but in a startup, resources and time are limited, and we have to prioritize. Even so, we see a lot of potential: from better understanding processes like menopause to earlier detection of pathologies like ovarian cancer. Now we are focused on introducing our first endometrial cancer test into the clinical setting, but we imagine a future where women can monitor their health even from home.
"Even today, women's health is often perceived as a niche, and that translates into less investment and fewer funds involved"
— And how do you see research in women's health within five years? Do you think it will still be perceived as a niche?
— E. C.: We must be optimistic. Five years ago, when we founded MiMARK, we were not where we are now either. We need more investment, larger projects, and success stories of companies reaching the market. Even today, women's health is often perceived as a niche, and that translates into less investment and fewer funds involved.
— M. R.: Internationally, there are already initiatives and investors focused on women's health. The challenge is for that momentum to also reach here, with more institutional and financial support for projects in this area.