Boosting technological literacy and expanding familiarity with tools related to science and technology, from basic education to graduation: this is the main objective of Spike LabX, a startup formed by Luiz Bertucci, a graduate of the master's degree in Neuroengineering at the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), which was selected, first among 50 initiatives, to receive investment from the Startup Nordeste Program, from Sebrae-RN.
Founded in 2023 by Bertucci, electrical engineer and master in Neuroengineering, and for Leandro Mattos, specialist in entrepreneurship with other projects in scientific areas, Spike LabX aims to offer educational kits that bring together different types of technologies, such as robotics, programming, 3D printing, artificial intelligence and general neuroscience concepts.
The idea for the startup came when Bertucci and Mattos realized that many of the tools used at the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience (IIN-ELS), an ISD unit where neuroscience research and the master's degree in Neuroengineering are concentrated, were not found in basic education.
From then on, the creators saw an opportunity to expand the teaching of content present in the curriculum with practical demonstration. In addition to kits with hardware, Spike LabX also provides training to use these instruments. The startup's first kit, called BrainRec, features sensors for identifying cardiac and muscular activity, movement sensors and actuators.
“We have several new tools that are being introduced into our daily lives, which could have great potential in teaching, but which end up being inefficient due to the lack of instruction. So the idea is that, using this kit, we can also provide good training on these new technologies”, explains neuroengineer Luiz Bertucci.
With the approval of the final phase of Startup Nordeste, which consists of receiving investment from the Program to accelerate the company's development, the expectation is to expand the reach of educational kits and expand training within schools.
Northeast Startup Program
Startup Nordeste is a regional development strategy that has the main objective of promoting and developing startups, in the ideation stage, based in the Northeast region. Startup Nordeste RN aims to foster the Innovation Ecosystem in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, and train technology-based business entrepreneurs in the initial stage of business, considering five priority pillars: (1) Entrepreneurs; (2) Product/Service;(3) Market;(4) Innovation and(5) Viability of the solution.
About ISD
The Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) is a Social Organization linked to the Ministry of Education (MEC) and includes the Edmond and Lily Safra International Neuroscience Institute and the Anita Garibaldi Center for Health Education and Research, both in Macaíba. ISD's mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research and extension actions, in addition to contributing to a fairer and more humane transformation of Brazilian social reality.
