WoW Woman in WearableTech | Greta Kreuzer, Co-Founder and CEO at cosinuss°
By Marija Butkovic @MarijaButkovic
Greta Kreuzer is Co-Founder and CEO at cosinuss°, a start-up specializing on the development of wearable sensor technologies in the ear and based in Munich, Germany. cosinuss° developed a first-in-class sensor technology, called earconnectTM, that enables continuous monitring of heart rate, heart rate variability, core body temperature and arterial oxygen saturation of the blood in the ear. Based on this technology, cosinuss° provides market specific wearables for sports, for health care and for worker´s safety.
Greta´s background includes positions at Bosch, Yahoo! and Schreiner Group and was responsible for business development at a startup in the field of autonomous driving. Now at cosinuss°, she is responsible for financing, innovation management and business creation. Greta holds a diploma degree in economics from the Technical University of Munich.
What is the idea behind cosinuss° and how did you come up with it?
We created degree° to help parents to deal with fever in their children. There´s great uncertainty among parents, especially with the first child, that comes hand-in-hand with stress when children have a temperature. Because there is no step-by-step guide out there helping them to deal with it. And that´s where degree° comes in. By continually tracking the body temperature of a child parents are able to see the effects of their treatment and are thus able to easily decide what to do when. If you know what effect each of your possible treatments will have and you know what you want, it is very easy to make a decision. degree° also warns you if temperature rises too high or too fast. It gives you possible actions you can take, all information you need to know when children have a temperature as well as a medical guide that shows you the next pharmacy and medical care center on duty.
When did all start and do you have other members in your team?
We started cosinuss° in September 2011 and were conducting a lot of research as well as development until we launched our first product, cosinuss° One, for endurance athletes. From there, we did not plan to go that fast into home health but the febrile convulsion of my daughter made us to do just that! We are 10 people at cosinuss° right now. Most of the team members being developers.
How long did it take you to be where you are now?
Starting in 2011, it took us 6 years to come so far.
What was the biggest obstacle?
Financing and kick-launching a hardware product is incredibly hard.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
We are very proud to help the two best German triathletes (female and male) and at the same time 2 times IRONMAN World Champion to track and enhance their performance. cosinuss° also won a number of awards including the German Smart Business Award, Blackbox Connect Accelerator and code_n.
What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in wearable tech? How about being a female founder / entrepreneur?
Challenges are to find the lead users and early adopters for an innovation because that´s key to introduce a new product into the market. Also, challenges are to find the right pace to grow, juggling financing with development and marketing activities. As a female entrepreneur I always try to turn the fact of being a woman into an advantage which needs a lot of persistence and charm.
Is #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
Yes! Because we should raise awareness that not only men are able to create new technologies. Tech is not masculine!
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to all female founders and female entrepreneurs out there?
Use the advantages of being a female. Women are not treated the same way as men. That´s a very sad fact. But try to use the advantages that you as a woman have.
What will be the key trends in the digital health and wearable tech industry in the next 5 years and where do you see it heading?
Digital health will be more and more combined with AI. Wearable tech will have to evolve into tracking more relevant data because if there is no valuable information that people get from their wearables they won´t use it any more. Also, wearables should become more and more seamless.
Who are your 3 inspirational women in digital health and wearable tech?
Ciara Clancy of Beats Medical
Obi Felten of Google X
Zuzia Sielicka of whisbear
Website:
cosinuss: www.cosinuss.com
degree°: www.degree.cosinuss.com
Twitter:
cosinuss: @Cos_Degree
degree°: @cosinuss
Facebook:
cosinuss: cosinuss.wearables
degree°: degree.thermometer
g+:
cosinuss: https://www.cosinuss.com
degree°: https://degree.cosinuss.com
Youtube:
Instagram:
cosinuss: @cosinuss_earconnect
degree°: @degree_thermometer
This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, co-founder of Women of Wearables and Kisha Smart Umbrella. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship and diversity. Visit marijabutkovic.co.uk or follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic @Women_Wearables @GetKisha.