Luís Filipe Carvalho Valente, CEO and Co-founder

Luís Filipe Carvalho Valente, iLoF – Intelligent Lab on Fiber

• Years when you began working at INESC TEC and when you left: 2018-2019
• Centre(s) at INESC TEC where you worked: Centre for Enterprise Systems Engineering (CESE) and Centre for Biomedical Engineering Research (C-BER)

What have you been doing professionally since you left INESC TEC?

I left INESC TEC after being invited to join a Portuguese technology start-up, Veniam; it’s a unique opportunity to see how one can lead, manage and develop a deep-tech start-up, which helped me address the following professional challenge: iLoF. iLoF is a spin-off of INESC TEC and a tech start-up working on the health field, namely in the development of affordable, quick and non-invasive stratifying tools for patients.

How did your experience at INESC TEC contributed to your new professional history?

My current challenge coincided with the market entry of a technology I got to know during my first times at INESC TEC. One of our co-founders was a colleague of mine at C-BER, and thanks to her support, we were able to establish a company, raise funds and assign the team that is currently supporting the project.

When you think about INESC TEC, what comes to your mind?

All the friends I have (at CESE and C-BER) and all the good moments spent elaborating new projects. INESC TEC is a unique “home” in the country, namely concerning innovation, technology production and, most importantly, intellectual property. I really hope I can keep socialising with INESC TEC finest researchers; who knows, maybe we can work together again.