The Franco-Beninese, Bertin Nahum, whose Medtech company designs and markets the ROSA robot, arouses the admiration of more than one around the world. His personal journey deserves it even more.
Many Beninese, even Africans, are today proud to hear about Bertin Nahum. And even to claim his Beninese and African origins. That is ! As paradoxical as it may seem, Benin and so many other African countries often do nothing to facilitate the emergence of Bertin Nahum. Quite the contrary…And God knows if Africa can produce thousands and thousands of Bertin Nahum. The Benin of origin of his parents, the famous inventor of the Rosa robot only discovered it very late. To show it to his own children. Because even if his two parents are Beninese, he was born in Dakar, Senegal on November 14, 1969. Bertin Nahum was one year old when his parents moved to France. In Lyon, they open an exotic grocery store. The young Bertin must unfortunately face the sad disappearance of his parents. Collected by the DDASS at the age of 8, he will build his own personality and make his merry way on the school and academic level.
At the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Lyon, he obtained an engineering degree. Then, he did a Master of Science in robotics from the University of Coventry in the United Kingdom. His background opens the way to medical engineering. The idea of setting up his own business was born out of his own experiences. And Bertin Nahum has accumulated experience in the performance of his duties for various reputable companies in the field of surgical robotics. He himself declared, some time ago, to the French newspaper Le Monde: “I participated in the design of software capable of detecting cranial lesions from scanners. This made me want to dedicate my career to patients, through the creation of robots that can accompany surgeons in their operations”.
Winner of the National Competition for the Creation of Innovative Technology Companies from the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research, Bertin Nahum will create his own Medtech company in 2002 in Montpellier. Thanks to the patents for his knee prosthesis fitting robot, which he sold to Zimmer, an American orthopedic surgery company, he developed the Rosa project. This neurosurgery assistance robot has an articulated arm that allows it to position the surgeon's instrument in the precise axis, in order to reach a particular area of the brain. As many gestures once made only by humans as the removal of a tumor or the implantation of electrodes and which can now be performed with the precision and safety of the Rosa robot. Which is currently in demand in the largest hospitals in the world, especially in the United States. In 2013, for its Rosa invention, Medtech received the “European Company of the Year in the field of robotics in neurosurgery” award from the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan in 2013. And in November 2014, the “ Revelation” of the Mediterranean Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards.
Bertin Nahum was ranked the fourth most revolutionary high-tech entrepreneur in the world by a publication of the Canadian magazine Discovery Series, behind Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and James Cameron in September 2012. In September 2013, he was elevated to the rank of knight of the Legion d’Honneur by the French Minister in charge of small and medium-sized enterprises, Fleur Pellerin. Bertin Nahum was also made Honorary Doctor of Technology from the University of Coventry (United Kingdom), in November 2014, in recognition of his essential contribution to the medical profession and to the improvement of surgical procedures thanks to robotic technology.
Dr. Bertin Nahum also co-founded Quantum Surgical, a medical start-up, which develops medical solutions for various pathologies with a combination of software and robotic platform, in particular for the minimally invasive treatment of abdominal tumors. Quantum Surgical was co-founded by Bertin Nahum in 2017 and is headquartered in Montpellier.
In September 2021, the start-up obtained regulatory certification, CE marking, for its Epione, which successfully treated 21 patients. This opens up the marketing of the robot for patient treatment purposes. A French success story, so to speak, for this Franco-Beninese who has his feet on the ground.
Without denying anything of his Beninese and African origins but without either wearing it like a livery, Bertin Nahum feels at ease in his own skin. Nevertheless, he admits in all honesty that he would never have managed to develop what he has done without the conditions accessible in his adopted country. Like what, Africa does not have a problem of intelligences but rather of organization of intelligences.
By Serge-Félix N'Piénikoua
