Meet Emovo Care co-founder Iselin Frøybu and find out how she develops accessible robotic devices for people with motor impairments

24.08.2021 07:30, Isabelle Mitchell

Iselin Frøybu co-founded Emovo Care, a Venture Leader Medtech that develops accessible robotic devices that provide greater independence to people with hand-motor impairments by helping them to perform active movements at home. Emovo’s first product, Emovo Assist, is a portable and lightweight hand orthosis for stroke patients that enables users to grasp and release objects. Learn more about Iselin’s expectations for the Venture Leaders Medtech experience, and find out how her startup found its name and which book, pantry staple, and productivity hack boost her entrepreneurial career.

To boost the innovative power of the Swiss medtech industry, medtech startups now have their own Venture Leaders roadshow to Boston, one of the world’s major life sciences hubs and the ideal springboard for ambitious startups on their way to global expansion. Our profile series features the 10 Venture Leaders Medtech 2021, and we will introduce you to the inaugural graduates of the program. To learn more about the startups, we asked each entrepreneur to complete a short profile and choose at least six questions from a questionnaire about their personal and professional life.

Name: Iselin Frøybu
Location: Lausanne
Nationality: Norwegian/French
Graduated from: EPFL in 2016, with an MSc in mechanical engineering
Your job title: Co-founder and COO of Emovo Care
Number of employees: 2 (as of 07/2021)
Money raised: CHF 750K (as of 07/2021)
First touchpoint with Venturelab: In 2019, for an Innosuisse Business Creation Engineering with Emovo Care. I also once pitched at the Startup Champion Seed Night in 2016 for Alogo Analysis.

“Emovo Care develops accessible robotic devices to bring movement home for people with motor impairments.”

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
After witnessing the barriers that persons with disabilities face in their everyday life, Luca Randazzo decided to dedicate his life to developing solutions to restore motor function. He wanted to focus on the hands because of their fundamental role for personal independence in daily living. To become a legitimate expert in the field, he decided to pursue a PhD at EPFL, where he developed the core technology behind Emovo’s first product. When Luca asked me to join his journey in 2018, I could not resist the opportunity to work with a great visionary leader on such a meaningful project.

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
Emovo Care will raise its first equity round of CHF 750K in the fall of 2021, and I believe there is no better way to kick off the fundraising than to participate in the Venture Leaders roadshow. I expect to receive constructive feedback to tackle any discrepancy in the investment deck, collect a number of quality leads, and increase the visibility of the startup. To best prepare for the event, I will actively search for and schedule meetings with at least 20 potential investors in the area and extend my stay for two weeks.
 
What is your favorite book? 
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a book I have read in different stages of my life and that I have found myself always interpreting in new ways. It’s about a shepherd from Spain, who leaves his routines and fears to go searching for his personal legend: a secret treasure by the pyramids of Egypt. After spending years on this physical and spiritual journey, he reaches the conclusion that the treasure is not in gold and jewelry but in the wisdom obtained from his journey and the love he found on the way. 

What is always in your fridge?
I can’t live without eggs in the morning. Most days, I boil them for seven minutes while I get ready, then eat them directly from the kitchen counter with salt and a teaspoon to optimize time. On the weekend, I scramble them in a particular way with butter and chives and serve them with Norwegian smoked salmon.

What are you most proud of?
I went to high school in Bangladesh, and there I got quite passionate about the endangered Bengal tigers. As part of an art course, I decided to make a huge collage (made of thousands of small nature pictures) depicting a tiger, glued on a background of newspaper articles of tiger killings. It took many months of hard work and discipline, and the result was quite good for an amateur artist like myself.  

How did you come up with the name of your startup?
Before incorporation in June 2020, we used the working name YAGO (Your Assistive Grasp Orthosis) for our product, which was limiting our vision and impossible to trademark. “Emovo” suddenly emerged in a small meeting between the founders, as a play on the words “emotion” and “movement.” The first letter, “E,” also stands for eHealth (e.g., representing the digitalization of healthcare), which is the direction we wish to take in the future with telerehabilitation. The addition of “Care” facilitates the notion of healthcare, and we also believe it indicates that “Emovo cares.”

What is your favorite productivity hack? 
My favorite productivity hack is “Inbox Zero,” i.e., keeping the inbox empty. “Inbox Zero” provides me with free “emergency room” at any time, where I have complete control over my to-do’s, delegated tasks, things I am waiting for, and resources without any of them getting drowned in noise. To reduce stress resulting from a lack of control and overview, I also try to write down all tasks in my calendar as they emerge.

How and where do you clear your mind?
In the warmer months, I clear my mind by biking to and from work. The break allows me to process thoughts differently, and I get a natural wake-up boost from the sudden physical activity and fresh air. I try to ski once a week in the winter: Randonnée [ski touring], cross country, or alpine—skiing always allows me to completely free my mind from work and worries.

What is the most challenging aspect of being a founder?
The most challenging part of being a founder is that you just have to figure out certain things on your own—without the necessary competence or experience. You also have to manage your time and priorities in the most effective way to deliver on transversal and often unrelated tasks and milestones. It can also be challenging to balance your personal life.

What is the most rewarding aspect of being a founder?
The most rewarding part of being a founder is how much you get to learn and experience in your professional life. You will always be faced with new challenges that force you to grow, and you constantly learn. It is also very rewarding to meet the beneficiaries of your work (e.g., patients), and you see that your work matters to them. This is always the key remedy for periods of low motivation.

Last but not least, could you show us your workspace? 
This is our new office in Le Garage, when we had to show the ISO 13485 auditor that we are a serious medtech business with production. Le Garage is a building next to EPFL that hosts very young EPFL spin-offs and provides the companies with the first office space. We moved here in April 2021, and the office contains the founders’ desks (Luca Randazzo’s and mine) and a simple assembly line to produce our product.




For more information and updates on Emovo Care and the Venture Leaders Medtech, follow the Venture Leaders Medtech 2021 team with #VleadersMedtech on social media or subscribe to our newsletter. 
 
Venture Leaders Medtech 2021 is organized by Venturelab and supported by EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich, Hansjörg Wyss, Kellerhals Carrard, Paul Scherrer Institut, Swissnex Boston, University Zurich, Canton of Vaud, and Canton of Zurich.