Founder Spotlight — Mehdi Boudjadja, Ph.D., Co-Founder of Metofico
In our Founder Spotlight this month, we’re highlighting Mehdi Boudjadja, Ph.D., Co-Founder of Metofico, which provides data analysis tools for scientists. Metofico, created from Mehdi’s needs as a neuroscientist and developed with his brother, Salah Boudjadja, a software engineer, and it’s already become a valuable platform for scientists.
How did you come up with the idea for Metofico? Has it changed along the way?
The idea for Metofico (Metodo Scientifico) originated from my own experiences as a neuroscientist. I was consistently confronted with large volumes of complex data that conventional tools like Excel simply couldn’t handle. This data spanned millions of data points and included multi-stream inputs from sensors, photometry, and videos. In response, I developed software to process my own data, which significantly improved my research efficiency and accuracy. As I shared my results, I realized that other researchers faced similar challenges and were interested in using the software for their own data processing and scientific insights. Thus, the idea for Metofico was born. Along the way, our vision evolved from a personal solution to a robust, scalable platform designed to meet the needs of the broader scientific community, incorporating user feedback and expanding our features to cover a wider array of data types and analytical capabilities.
How did you meet your co-founder(s)?
My co-founder is my brother, who is a software architect by training. Our collaboration started organically as we worked together on creating a new type of experiment and analysis for my own research. His technical expertise perfectly complemented my scientific background, and we found that we both enjoyed the process of developing innovative solutions. Recognizing the potential impact of our work, we decided to partner up and formally establish Metofico. Our shared vision and complementary skills have been instrumental in the company’s growth and success.
Where did you find your first 5 customers?
Our first five customers were scientific labs that either discovered my published work and sought to replicate similar experiments, or were part of my extended network of research collaborators. These initial customers were drawn to the unique capabilities of our software, which allowed them to process and analyze complex datasets in ways that were previously impossible. By leveraging our existing relationships and demonstrating the software’s effectiveness through my own research, we were able to build a solid foundation of early adopters who believed in the potential of Metofico.
What is the one piece of advice you ignored back then but wish you’d taken now?
One piece of advice that I wish we had taken more seriously is the importance of launching early and iterating based on user feedback. Our product had been functional since 2019, but we delayed the official launch because we felt it wasn’t perfect and lacked sufficient support. In hindsight, we realize that an earlier launch would have allowed us to gather valuable user feedback sooner, refine the product more effectively, and establish a market presence earlier. The advice to launch early and improve over time is something we now embrace, recognizing that real-world usage and feedback are crucial for product development and business growth.
Learn more about Metofico by visiting www.metofico.com.
Thanks again to Mehdi for sharing their story!
Sterling Road invests in idea stage and pre-seed B2B startups based in the US, Canada and UK.
