Meet TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award 2018 winner Ava
scroll south
The constant companion of women: Ava’s data tracker is due to become a driver of personalised medicine.
One group is preparing a clinical study in Zurich-Wiedikon, another is planning a marketing campaign in San Francisco, a third group is programming self-learning algorithms in Belgrade, and someone is furnishing the office that has just opened in Hong Kong. But regardless of where the 85 employees of Zurich tech startup Ava are at any one time, it’s all about a coin-sized tracker and big data.Ava’s multisensor sits on the wrist of female customers and records nine vital functions: from resting pulse rate to perfusion to heat loss. The customer’s data is sent via an app to a platform where software compares it with physiological models of the menstrual cycle, detects which phase of the cycle the woman is in, and sends its analysis back to her smart phone.
‘Currently, our most important target group is women who have not yet managed to have children,’ explains Pascal Koenig, CEO and one of the four founders of Ava. The Ava app cannot guarantee a pregnancy, but there are solid statistics showing that good timing doubles the chance of conception.
The tracker and app can be bought in Ava’s webshop and cost about CHF 250 each. No specific sales or growth figures were provided by Koenig, but we do know that the majority of customers live in the US, where Ava has invested a seven-digit sum in online marketing, blogs, PR articles and YouTube videos since launching in summer 2016.
.jpg)
Cycle apps are popular: market studies show that about 150 million women around the globe put their trust in these digital tools, generating the raw material for what’s known as data-driven women’s healthcare. And Ava plans to become the global market leader in this area.
‘We have the advantage that our sensors sit on the wrist, a normal place,’ explains Koenig. The second biggest plus is the variety of vital data that the Ava tracker collects. The data can be used not only to calculate the fertile days, but also to find out when a woman’s fertility is at its lowest.
This makes the Ava app an alternative to the pill or condom. ‘At the moment,’ says Koenig, ‘we are setting up a clinical study on the Pearl Index.’ This provides information about the statistical safety of contraceptive methods. Ava has appointed an experienced manager from pharma group Bayer as Chief Medical Officer to carry out the study.
But the tracker data can be used for more than just family planning: it can also be used for treating gynaecological complaints. For example, one in 10 women suffer complications during pregnancy. Toxaemia in pregnancy can lead to a two-week stay in hospital. ‘We are attempting to identify problems at an early stage and thereby optimise treatment,’ says Koenig.
And then there’s the menopause: the gynaecological profession still finds it difficult to assess and treat the complaints described by women. Given the large number of physiological data records it collects, the wristband could one day provide indicators for treatment, which is why Ava is now setting up a global medical network. One team is negotiating with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), while another is contacting health insurers, gynaecologists and women’s clinics in Europe, the US and Asia,
‘Together with our customers, we can provide the healthcare sector with data of a previously unknown quality,’ says Koenig, a former McKinsey advisor. And conversely a second sales channel, alongside the webshop, is opening up for Ava. ‘Through cooperation with female doctors and hospitals, we would like to set up in the B2B sector,’ explains Koenig.
However, Ava has – to date at least – ignored partnerships with major medtech companies, since, according to Koenig, ‘as a startup, we can be more agile by implementing disruptive innovations’.
A graduate from the University of St. Gallen, the 43-year-old speaks from experience. He has been active at the interface of IT and medtech for 15 years, has established two startups and knows the market for wearable healthcare products from the inside. ‘We are now benefiting from the fact that all four founders had relevant experience as entrepreneurs or medtech experts at the launch of Ava.’
Investors trust the founders: they have just injected USD 30 million of growth capital in a second funding round. The money will be used for further development of the business model and marketing. Koenig and his colleagues set up production of the tracker and established the platform in order that output could be ramped up quickly, and that is now paying off. The platform is cloud-based. The tracker is produced by a manufacturer in Valencia.
This means resources are free for customer service. Ava is currently building an additional support centre in Manila. As the Philippines are in a different time zone to both Zurich and San Francisco, customers worldwide are guaranteed round-the-clock service. ‘We are planning everything so that it can still function if it is 10 times bigger,’ explains Koenig. Welcome to the world of Ava.
Flashback: Almost five years ago, there was a memorable meeting in a Zurich restaurant. As well as Pascal Koenig, those present comprised entrepreneur Lea von Bidder and ETH engineers Philipp Tholen and Peter Stein. They chatted about pregnancy and children, and later discussed modern data-tracking technologies. Why had no one come up with the idea of recording the physiological parameters of the female cycle from a woman’s wrist?
The four are now directors of a company that has good prospects of becoming a leading light in the Swiss medtech industry. For the second year in succession, Ava has been voted most attractive startup in Switzerland.
Text: Jost Dubacher
