Valentin Chapero invests in Ava

Ava empowers couples who are trying to get pregnant by giving them precise insights about the menstrual cycle. Ava has developed a sensor bracelet for women to be worn at night. Based on 3 million data points measured every night, the Ava bracelet offers key cycle health information and precisely predicts fertile days and ovulation in advance. 80% of pregnancies happen within this two day fertile window. Ava thus helps couples maximize their chances to conceive and gives them certainty along their exciting journey. The company has won several innovation prices for its technology, and was selected by TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco among the world’s most promising tech companies.

Renowned investors
The seed round was announced by Swisscom one month ago. Now Ava has published additional information. An international group of scientists, gynecologists, entrepreneurs, and executives will join Ava as business angels. Among them are Yonca Even Guggenbühl (co-founder MediService) and Dr. Valentin Chapero (former CEO Sonova). Together with Swisscom and ZKB they invest USD2.6 million.

“The interest in our financing round was very high – we could have raised twice as much”, says Pascal Koenig, co-founder and CEO of Ava. “The money will be used to accelerate industrialization of the technology and to bring the product to market. The trust from investors is a great motivation for our team to realize our vision and make a difference in women’s health.”

Strengthened board
In context with the financing round, Ava will strengthen its board of directors. Dr. Ruedi Gygax, former Managing Director of Novartis Venture Fund, will bring in his expertise in scaling innovation companies in the healthcare space. Renate Schreiber, former CEO of Medela, will bring in her expertise and global network in women’s health. “Two things were crucial for me to get involved at Ava. First, the fact that the product can make a true difference in many people’s lives. Second, Ava’s team, which is composed of a group of smart, complementary, and highly committed people”, explains Renate Schreiber.

Promising outlook
Supported by the University Hospital of Zurich, Ava has built up a database of six billion data points referenced to hormonal measurements. This is the largest such database in the world. While the company will focus on the conceiving market at the beginning, the patented technology will also be used to detect pathologies during pregnancy, and for non-hormonal contraception. Ava is currently building up an office in San Francisco to prepare market entry which is planned mid-2016. Earlybird subscriptions are accepted on www.avawomen.com.