Boosting women’s chances to conceive
11.02.2016
In the last decades, the average age of women having children significantly increased. However, the likelihood of getting pregnant within one year is strongly reduced with age. Half of all women between 35 and 39 years old do not succeed getting pregnant within one year. Although fertility apps and temperature-based devices tracking menstrual cycles are booming, such solutions can be cumbersome to use and unreliable to predict ovulation.
 2015 has been an amazing year for Ava, backed by the support of Venture Kick.
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To tackle this challenge, the 2015 Venture Kick winner Ava developed a connected bracelet that determines ovulation and supports women to conceive within a short period of time. Worn at night, the elegant sensor bracelet offers key cycle health information and precisely predicts fertile and ovulation days in advance. The patented technology has already passed the CE pre-test. A clinical study is ongoing at the University Hospital Zurich, with whom Ava built up a database of six billion data points referenced to hormonal measurements, the largest database of this kind in the world. Ava can also count on several other research partners such as CSEM and EMPA. While Ava will focus on the conceiving market for the time being, its technology will also be used to detect pathologies during pregnancy, and for non-hormonal contraception.
A new US office and a successful financing round
In September 2015, Ava won the final of Venture Kick: “The program perfectly matched our strategy to build up fast transactions while focusing on the issues. Venture Kick’ support crucial in closing our first investment round”, explains Pascal Koenig, Ava CEO.
Indeed: In November 2015, Ava announced that renowned institutional investors and international business angels had invested USD 2.6 million to support them in becoming a relevant player in women’s health.
In 2015, Ava also won its seat in the Swisscom StartUp Challenge mentoring program in Silicon Valley. The startup gained financial support from Swisscom during their trip. CEO Pascal Koenig also traveled to the U.S. with the Swiss national startup team to pitch his company to potential American investors and partners. As a result, Ava is currently building up an office in San Francisco mid-2016. In addition, Ava entered the 2015 TOP100 Swiss Startups ranking at rank No. 94 and was selected by TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco among the world’s most promising tech companies. Created in 2014, Ava now counts 15 employees.
A new US office and a successful financing round
In September 2015, Ava won the final of Venture Kick: “The program perfectly matched our strategy to build up fast transactions while focusing on the issues. Venture Kick’ support crucial in closing our first investment round”, explains Pascal Koenig, Ava CEO.
Indeed: In November 2015, Ava announced that renowned institutional investors and international business angels had invested USD 2.6 million to support them in becoming a relevant player in women’s health.
In 2015, Ava also won its seat in the Swisscom StartUp Challenge mentoring program in Silicon Valley. The startup gained financial support from Swisscom during their trip. CEO Pascal Koenig also traveled to the U.S. with the Swiss national startup team to pitch his company to potential American investors and partners. As a result, Ava is currently building up an office in San Francisco mid-2016. In addition, Ava entered the 2015 TOP100 Swiss Startups ranking at rank No. 94 and was selected by TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco among the world’s most promising tech companies. Created in 2014, Ava now counts 15 employees.