As one of the highlights of Slush, 100 exceptional start-ups are given the opportunity to pitch their company to investors and receive invaluable feedback and visibility. We were delighted that innovative and forward- thinking Health Tech company, Hormona, was announced as the winner of the Slush 100 Pitching Competition.
Hormona is a health tech company that aims to empower women to track and understand their hormones – something that over half of the human population is currently lacking. Hormona launched their product for the first time at Slush, and only a few hours later they won Slush 100.
We love the vision of COO and Co-founder Jasmine Tagesson, “OUR VISION IS FOR EVERY WOMAN TO UNDERSTAND HER OWN HEALTH AND WELLBEING.”
This is the official winner’s interview.
What was your goal when you wanted to participate in the Slush 100 competition?
“Your goal has to always be to win. Our main focus was to be seen by as many people as possible – definitely, mission accomplished!”
“This is our first time at Slush and my first time in Helsinki, and I enjoyed all except the weather! There’s a great ratio of start-ups and investors, and you get to connect with people, which has been nice.”
Your company addresses a massive need, and all of us women know this. Why has this issue in women’s health been ignored for so long?
“Part of it is because we still know so little about it. Hormones – they are mysterious, right? Also, because there’s been so little research on women’s health full stop.”
“I’m just happy we are making a change. Women’s health, in general, is seeing the attention that it needs. We still have a long way to go to get to parallel in medical research and health, and hopefully, we can be part of that change, and contribute to making things better for women all over.”
“Our vision is for every woman to feel empowered to understand her own health and wellbeing and feel she is in control. I want women to understand the whole cycle of their health through various life stages. I want women to be informed from a young age about the different options they have and what happens in their bodies. I hope that with our product we can help, not only individual women, but help further medical research into women’s health, and make it less of an unknown field.”
“If we could help medical research with the data we have, in obviously an anonymous way, would be fantastic. But if we could help just one woman to live a better and healthier life, that’s equally as good.”
What made your pitch special? What was the process from pre-qualification to coming down to Slush like?
“Other than that I was the only woman? It was a step-by-step process, we sent the original deck in, then we got through to the top 100. We had to do a video so we sent that in. We were told we are a part of the top 20. It was then just practicing the pitch and trying to foresee what kind of questions we might get.”
And then you heard you got to the top three – how did that feel?
“It was amazing. I was pretty shocked, just as shocked today when we were announced as winners. It was so great to be here with the rest of the team. We will remember this forever, and hopefully, we will look back on this memory five years down the line as ‘that’s what catapulted Hormona into the unicorn!”
You also participated in the Product Launch at the Startup Studio with your whole team. Was it beneficial for Hormona to launch a product at Slush while preparing for the Slush 100 Finals?
“Absolutely. I feel like I’ve had more stage time than anyone else during this entire event. So if you have been to Slush and haven’t heard of Hormona – you probably haven’t been!“
How will Slush help your company develop in the future?
“We’ve met some great people and made great connections, and we’ve met so many women that get and want the product. “We are raising investment at the moment and hopefully after this, we’ll be able to close it. We want to get the product out and get as many women on board as possible. We want women to be involved in the development of our product so we can ensure that we are bringing as much value as we possibly can.”
Any advice for companies participating in Slush 100 next year?
“Just to go for it, what’s the worst that can happen? Also to practice, and if you can, practice on something that looks like a stage, get adjusted to it and practice with a lot of people. Be yourself and have faith in what your company is doing is something that people want.”
Congratulations from all of us at Tyson & Blake.
www.hormona.io.
https://www.slush.org/hormona/?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Newsletter-internal&utm_campaign=Week-50&utm_content=