Tech4Eva meets Angels

Lan is the Deputy Managing Director of EPFL Innovation Park and an Expert of Innosuisse – the Swiss Innovation Agency.  She has 23 years of hands-on professional experience in industry as well as in the ecosystem of innovation & entrepreneurship.

Lan started her career at R&D department of Rolex, in charge of creating new computer aided design and optimisation tools in the product development process. She was later appointed as Head of Operational Planning at Pictet, working closely with a startup to design, develop and implement a management information system for group operation control. As the Managing Director of Geneva Creativity Center, she connected large corporations, SMEs, startups and researchers to initiate innovative joint R&D projects.

Currently at EPFL Innovation Park, she is leading entrepreneurship training and acceleration programs and is helping startups to establish business partnership with large corporations. Lan has a PhD degree from EPFL, an MBA from HEC Lausanne and postdoctoral applied research experience at Stanford University.

Since 2014 Adrienne has been active as an angel investor. She spent 6 years on the Board of Business Angels Switzerland of which two as national President. She is a member of the BAS jury, coaches start ups and is a Board Observer.

After obtaining an honor's degree in Business Studies from Buckingham University (G.B.) she pursued her career in marketing for mass consumer products and luxury products in the Swiss watch industry. Consequently she was founder and director of a start up "Transfer Solutions", a relocation service agency in Neuchâtel, which she sold in 2001.  She is qualified mediator.

In addition to having been active in local politics she has been president of the Neuchâtel Club of Soroptimist International of which she remains an active member.

Adrienne has an international background as she has lived in Basel, the USA and England. She has four children and divides her time between Neuchâtel and London.

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Ralph Mogicato has over 25 years of experience in the financial industry in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Singapore.

He is now an investor, board member or advisor for startup companies in the technology field with focus on B2B fintech and insuretech and guest lecturer at several universities of applied sciences as well as a lecturer at the University of Zurich.

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Anna Butterworth is a Femtech pioneer. She has been at the epicentre of the industry for over six years - before the term was even coined. Starting her career in PR she quickly found her calling in wider creative campaign strategy and moved through cause led organisations that support marginalised communities and promote their voices.

Landing at Elvie in 2015 she was the first communications hire and quickly grew the brand across 60+ territories leading the way in Femtech marketing strategy. Since branching out to create the world's first Femtech focused creative agency Ultra Violet, she has worked with global disruptors such as Thinx, Become, Doppel, Wuka, Mooncup, Womanizer, Soho House, The Eve Appeal and more.

Forging new paths and being the very first on the scene is in the fabric of Anna’s being. Not one to settle for the status quo, she consistently breaks barriers to test the waters for the latest innovation or venture. From securing the first live televised feature from a woman’s vagina (ITV This Morning), producing the very first inclusive sex chat show Private Parts (Venus Libido X WowTech) or curating the first above the line ad campaign on Oxford Street for period pants (Thinx launch in Selfidges), Anna is never afraid of pushing the industry forward, whatever it takes.

The latest venture brings future forecasting to the industry in a way that has never been done before.

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Pascal studied economics at the University of St. Gallen / Switzerland and Columbia Business School / New York. He started his career as a strategy consultant at McKinsey.

Over the last two decades he built several startups in the digital health space. The last one – Femtech company Ava – grew to a team of 100+ people working on three continents, generating eight digit USD revenue during Pascal’s tenure as CEO.

Pascal’s latest start-up Malaica is on a mission to make the pregnancy journey safe and joyful for millions in lower income countries. Co-founded in 2022 with a team of Kenyan health experts and entrepreneurs, the company is having strong impact and revenue traction.

She is an Industrial Engineer with a passion for driving innovation and category development in the healthcare sector. Leveraging her proficiency in English, German, French, and Spanish, she thrives in multicultural environments and aspires to improve consumer health outcomes.

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Dominnique Karetsos is CEO and Co-Founder of Healthy Pleasure Group and MINT Hub, the first and only global companies dedicated to the Sexual Health & Technology industry (SH&T) . She co-founded the Healthy Pleasure Group in 2019, the world’s first and only professional services company dedicated to supporting the launch and transformation of Sexual Health and Technology brands and businesses and in 2023, MINT Hub, an B2B innovation hub born out of the exponential success of the Healthy Pleasure Group and the only hub dedicated to delivering social change and honest innovation across the Intimate, Sexual Health and Well-being industry.

Dominnique leverages over 20 years’ experience spanning 40+ markets, leading and working for major brands (Intimina, L’Oréal Maybelline, MysteryVibe and O’Boticario) reshaping and reengineering brand strategy for profitability. Coupled with a career-long nurtured talent for pinpointing trends and predicting market change, she has become an established authority in the Sexual Health and Technology (SH&T) industry acting as an investor, advisor and global brand expert to guide start ups, market leaders and challenger brands in increasing market share, expanding commercial channels and maximising investment opportunities.  

Notably, Dominnique has a track record working with global brands and sexual health businesses to uncover their true sources of sustainable competitive advantage. A super power she attributes to both her diverse career and the disparate formal education where she gained degrees in International Marketing and Management, Advanced Supply Chain  Management and a Masters in Maritime and International trade.  

A visionary leader, she understood early on, the market forces of this rapidly expanding sector and pinpointed the need for investment as a key driver of business growth. This led her to co-establish the first, and to this day, the only investment fund dedicated to investing in Sexual Health and Women’s Health Technology businesses, Amboy Street Ventures, where she also holds a seat as General Partner and Investment Committee.

As a force for change, Dominnique is a seasoned speaker presenting on global stages, including panels at Management Today and Women Innovation Health Summits, key notes at Sigma Health Tech, Malta, sTARTUp Day, Estonia and thought leadership talks at Women in Tech Global Summit, Paris and more. Furthermore, for three years, Dominique has served as a UN Delegate for UN Women, commission of status for women and the Future of Innovation, a humbling experience understanding the fabric of our global pain points echoed in each country’s socio-political system.

Dominnique is committed to driving social permission and behavioural change across the Sexual Health and Technology industry - a name she coined for this now billion-dollar industry in its early undefined days.  Courageously, she is leading this high change sector, positioning human needs and honest innovation as the elixir for future-proofing sexual health and technology brands and making Healthy Pleasure a movement.

Yahel joined Nina Capital, a specialized venture capital firm investing exclusively at the intersection of healthcare and deep-tech, in 2020.

At Nina Capital, Yahel is part of the core investment team and is also in charge of Investors Relations and D&I in the fund, promoting an active approach to increasing diversity.

Yahel holds an MBA from IESE Business School, LLB and, BA in economics from the Hebrew University.

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Jérôme is an EPFL Alumni, MSc in Material Science Engineering (2011) and CAS in Management of Life Sciences Ventures (2023), Project Management Professional (PMP 2021) and Situational Leadership Trainer (SLII 2022) with 15 years of experience in innovation, operations management, 1 successful exit and two businesses up and running (Augeo Business Coaching and PhenomX Health SA).

Jérôme is currently an active startup coach/mentor at Tech4Eva, FemTechLab, MassChallenge Switzerland and, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of PhenomX Health, an early stage Swiss FemTech startup.

That’s his passion for entrepreneurship that pushes him to create his first company in 2010 while studying and after 5 years and a successful exit, join Procter & Gamble to drive and scale-up innovation. During more than a decade managing corporate innovation Jérôme developed a strong expertise in the consumer goods and healthcare industries, notably managing P&G/Teva Pharmaceuticals JV post dissolution and the integration of Merck consumer health from an end-to-end technical operations point of view.

As a coach and mentor since 2021 Jérôme regularly supports startups and SMEs in the fields of MedTech, Digital Health and BioTech. These activities helped him develop a strong understanding of the Swiss and International startup ecosystem and, network. His fields of expertise include business strategy and operations, portfolio and resources management, digital transformation, organizational design and development, strategic partnerships.

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Mathieu is co-founder and CEO of ASPIVIX SA. He has over ten years of experience in the development and commercial management of medical devices.

He brings a strong track record of building and leading diverse and cross-functional teams for both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies in the life sciences and medical device sector at ASPIVIX and Danaher.

With ASPIVIX, he is a pioneer in FemTech - innovative gynecological devices - and has raised more than US$10 million in dilutive and non-dilutive financing rounds.

Mathieu holds several master's degrees in mechanics from Paris Tech in France, Cranfield University in the UK, and IFP School in France, as well as an MBA from INSEAD/Wharton, France-Singapore-Philadelphia.

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MSc in Industrial Engineering from the ETHZ, Caroline Gueissaz made the biggest part of her career at IBM in sales and management consulting both in Switzerland and internationally (London, Paris, Moscow). She then worked for the Economic Development of the Canton of Neuchâtel.

In 2002 she became partner in an M&A boutique and managed a mini MBA for a private school.

In 2007 she co-founded the Business Angels Switzerland (BAS) in the French part of Switzerland and, from 2016 led BAS until April 2022 to be one of the main local players in the world of start-ups.

She is a member of the jury for Venture Kick, Innosuisse Entrepreneurship Training, etc…

Since 2022 she is also an expert for Innosuisse, a board member of an SME in the watch industry, president of ASEN-Entreprendre  and member of the board of the Hub Neuchâtel.

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Gynecologist and Obstetrician / Chief Executive Officer at Yoni Solutions - Promoting successful In Vitro Fertilisation with vaginal microbiome analysis!

The company aims to improve In Vitro Fertilisation using accurate technology to analyse women vaginal microbiota and promote the best and individual analyses for each women.

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Emilė Radytė is the Co-founder and CEO of Samphire Neuroscience, a medical device technology company building wearable solutions for neglected women’s health needs. She is a neuroscientist by training (Harvard College ’20, Oxford ’21, ’24) and has experience working in academia, public health and emergency medicine.

Emilė R. holds a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree in Neuroscience and Social Anthropology, which they obtained with the highest distinction (summa cum laude) from Harvard University. Emilė is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Neurobiology and Neurosciences at the University of Oxford, with an expected completion date in 2024.

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With over 20 years of experience in the cancer drug development industry, I am the CEO of OncoGenomX, a prediction software company that revolutionizes individualized drug-tumor matching. Our software, PredictionStar, enables prescription of more than 20 different anti-cancer drugs based on the patient's tumor profile, for certainty of therapy success before starting treatment.

As the pioneers of biology-based drug-tumor matching and the leader of reliable outcome prediction, OncoGenomX is already a trusted name among breast cancer specialists. I work closely with oncologists, clinical researchers, international clinical study groups, and business development partners to advance our mission of ending under- and overtreatment of patients, avoiding unnecessary costs, and minimizing the risk of therapy failure and liability. I am also an entrepreneur and a strategic consultant with a MD focused on Oncology, Tumor Biology, and Cancer Genetics from the University of Innsbruck. I have multiple honors and certifications in my field, including being named one of 'Europe's Top 5 Effective Leaders in Healthcare', 'Most Innovative CEO in the FemTech Industry', and 'Healthcare CEO of the Year Switzerland'.

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Cristina is a mother, entrepreneur and a data analyst. After her masters in Physics and the PhD in Biophysics, she started her academic career in the most prestigious European universities. She is author of numerous scientific publications, received prestigious research grants, and is a medical faculty lecturer. In December 2019, she co-founded b-rayZ, a spin-off of the University Hospital of Zürich developing AI solutions for the early detection of breast cancer. The company has reached an exceptional traction with commercial, technical, and clinical success in a short time.

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Joanna holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and CoA in Genetics & Genomics from Stanford Medicine. Joanna has worked in senior positions in risk management and digitalisation within the EU, followed by leadership positions in the insurance industry (SwissRe), focusing on risks and analytics. She has a long track record in the successful development of new products and services, as well as establishing and leading companies, organisations, and teams.

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