Meet the nextGEN
Armend Håti - ClexBio
Who or what called you to lead?
I’m originally from Kosovo, but my family relocated to Norway when I was four years old. My mother had different types of illnesses when I was growing up and I believe my passion for medicine is deeply rooted in the desire to help her feel better. I recall frequently saying: “When I grow up I want to become a doctor to help people like my mum.”
However, throughout my high school years, I began gravitating toward physics and mathematics instead, and when it came to deciding what to study, I chose to follow this passion. Despite moments of doubt, I reasoned with myself that by deepening my technical knowledge, I could potentially devise innovations within the medical and life sciences space that could benefit far more people than I would ever be able to help as a doctor.
Entrepreneurship wasn’t a deliberate career choice for me. However, during my Ph.D. at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), we developed an invention that we patented, which is now at the core of ClexBio.
In 2018, after a short excursion to Switzerland and some time honing my industry skills in Norway, the NTNU offered me the patent rights to this technology. I was soon unpleasantly surprised by the cost implications of the international patenting process.
By reminding myself that I believed in the technology and had to fight for the opportunity it presented, I carried the costs privately for about two years. This included using up all my life savings and personal loans, followed by nine months without a salary.
When I couldn’t finance the technology privately any longer, I faced the decision to go in full-time or drop the endeavor. I chose to take a leap of faith and in 2020, co-founded ClexBio together with Manuel Schweikle and Andreas Lehmann.
Armend’s full profile is available for our members inside the community.