About Us
The idea of a service company evolved in Dr. Leonard Khiroug’s mind as he gradually came to realize that, as a leader of an academic research group, he was already knee deep in the service business. This happened due to his personal interest and expertise in the two-photon microscopy and other optical imaging techniques, and due to the accumulation of corresponding knowledge and know-how in his lab. Combined with access to the state-of-the-art equipment, this made Leonard’s lab an attractive partner for numerous research groups interested in imaging of live cells and organisms, but simultaneously it started to distract the group’s focus on Neurobiological research. Since academia has limited legitimate mechanisms of providing services outside of scientific collaborations, starting a service company seemed like a good solution and a natural next step.
The name for the Company was suggested by a fellow scientist who cleverly combined the keyword "neuro" with the Finnish suffix "tar", which marks nouns as feminine. Neurotar, or "Lady Neuro", was born and christened. On October 8, 2009 she was entered into the Finnish Trade Register by three co-founders, two of whom were Khirug brothers.
Private investors helped us to jump start the operations. In October 2010, we moved into a new office and lab space at the Helsinki Science and Business Center, amidst the Viikki campus for life sciences of the University of Helsinki. Our state-of-the-art two-photon set-up was delivered by Olympus Europe shortly thereafter. By the end of 2010, Neurotar became fully functional and has expanded its staff to eight people. In December 2010, Neurotar received an R&D loan from the Finnish Agency for Innovation and Technology (TEKES). During 2010-2011 we were aided in our product development efforts by Sauloner Ltd (Jouni Sirviö) and NovaInceptia Ldt (Jouko Uusitalo). In 2011, our focus has shifted from product development to marketing and partnering activities, and to specific customer projects. Less than one year following activation Neurotar is already serving Clients!
Neurotar's growth plans include adding capacity at the current site in 2012 and expanding into Central Europe in 2013.
