Our History

Vincent has held different QA and RA management positions in start-up, scale-up and international medical devices companies such as Miracor Medical, Vancive Medical Technologies, Terumo Europe  and IBA for over 25 years. 

In this context he was responsible for obtaining and maintaining national and international regulatory approval for Class III and IIb active medical devices and for obtaining the needed QMS certifications.

Gijs Klarenbeek holds an MD from the University of Leuven and was trained as a general surgeon. Following his clinical and academic experience, Gijs held for over 15 years roles in Medical Affairs and Clinical development in pharmaceutical and medtech companies, with a strong focus on clinical strategy for (implantable) medical devices, including preclinical evalulation and pre-approval development, to post market clinical requirements across different therapeutic areas. 

Before joining Synergia Medical, Dan has held operational management positions in medical device companies such as DePuy Spine (a Johnson & Johnson company), Synthes, Biwi and iSTAR Medical. Prior to that, Dan worked for 6 years in the automotive and electronics industries. His operational responsibilities included global supply chain management, global manufacturing, product development, engineering, procurement and logistics. Dan also has experience in prototyping, testing and quality systems, as well as extensive, multi-site, operational experience in various environments such as start-up, ramp up, and corporations.

Dan is a Swiss national with an Engineering degree in electronics and physics from the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland, and is a certified Six Sigma Black belt.

With over 24 years of experience in finance, Dimitri specializes in guiding start-ups and scale-ups through strategic growth, funding, and grants. He has more than 15 years of expertise in establishing and overseeing company growth strategies, managing complex Research & Development programs, and leading recruitment and funding strategy implementations. His work spans both Europe and the United States, enabling organizations to thrive in dynamic and competitive markets.

Catherine brings 10 years of experience in the development of active implantable medical devices. With a bio-engineering degree and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Catherine has cultivated a profound understanding of the intersection between engineering and biomedical innovation.

At Synergia Medical, she led the end-to-end preclinical and clinical development of the NAO.VNS device, an innovative optoelectronic neurostimulation solution. Her leadership and technical acumen were instrumental in achieving the successful completion of the First-In-Human (FIH) study, a key milestone in advancing the device's clinical viability. Catherine's commitment to medical innovation continues to drive Synergia Medical's mission of transforming patient care through advanced medical technologies.

Matthieu Bocquet holds a Master in Business Engineering from Solvay Brussels School and is a CFA charterholder. After early years in audit and corporate finance at PwC and Degroof, he spent nine years in investment banking leading M&A and equity transactions across technology and medtech, then served as CFO and Business Development director of a medtech start-up. He founded Lumine Capital Advisors in 2017, advising families and entrepreneurs on private equity investments, and sits on the boards of several medical device companies in Europe and Australia.

Pierre DETRIXHE is Investment Manager at INVESTSUD Group. Prior to that, he worked as Technology Transfer Officer and Scientist in biotechnology. He holds a master in Bioengineering (ULiège) and a master in Management (UCL). 
At INVESTSUD Group, Pierre manages the “Financière spin-off luxembourgeoise” which is a specialized vehicle investing in seed and early-stage technological start-ups. The portfolio companies features some of the regional leading tech companies mainly in the Life Sciences and in the Medtech Industries.

Attila Borbath’s M.Sc. in Business Administration and Engineering from the UCLouvain followed by the CEMS Master’s in International Management naturally brought him to pave his professional way in a technological start-up in the finance sector for 10 years.

In parallel, he obtained his Airline Transport Pilot License. He was then convinced by the idea of joining an innovative technology start-up where he had the role of VP Sales & Marketing. In 2013 he moved to Synergia Medical that he co-founded. Well-travelled, multilingual and energetic, Attila has developed remarkable management, entrepreneurial, marketing and business development skills.

Denis Gestin has over 30 years of experience in the management of medical device companies.

He worked for more than 20 years at Abbott Laboratories (previously St. Jude Medical), where he occupied the positions of President of the International Division and then Senior Vice President of Global Commercial Integration. He has a wide experience in neurostimulation, as he was involved in St Jude’s acquisition of Advanced Neuromodulation System and Spinal Modulation.

Nicolas Roberti holds a Master in Management Science from the Louvain School of Management (UCLouvain). After early years in wealth management at UBS, he co-founded TCD Capital (formerly TheClubDeal) in 2015, a venture capital fund where he leads the life sciences vertical. Over the past decade he has structured more than twenty transactions and built specific expertise in medtech, digital health and biotech, with a focus on CNS and epilepsy. He serves as board member or observer across a portfolio of life science companies in Belgium and France.

Kristl Vonck holds an MD and a PhD from Ghent University, with international training at Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Stellenbosch. She is full professor of neurology at Ghent University Hospital and Head of the Department Head & Skin, working at the Reference Center for Refractory Epilepsy and the 4Brain research team. Her work focuses on epilepsy, vagus nerve stimulation and other neuromodulation techniques, with over 190 peer-reviewed publications and an H-index above 50. She is a fellow of the European Academy of Neurology and sits on several international epilepsy and neuromodulation boards.