WoW Women in FemTech I Dora Pelczer and Anna Zsofia Kormos, co-founders of Alpha Femtech
Dora Pelczer and Anna Zsofia Kormos are the co-founders of Alpha Femtech.
ALPHA Femtech aims to help women understand how their own body responds to menstruation, as well as offers an alternative pain relief method to medication. Research indicates that this is more a choice of convenience than a choice of preference today.
Anna Zsofia Kormos and Dora Pelczer founded Alpha Femtech to resolve this gap and to turn menstruation into a positive experience. The company received €40K pre-seed funding from HiVentures in March 2020. Since then, the main focus has been the project’s business plan, marketing strategy and visual branding, and of course the development of the prototype.
ARTEMIS is an intelligent body dress that has technology that produces heat and micro-vibrations, two medically proven techniques to eliminate period pain. The product is connected to an application allowing the user to personalise the strength and the module of the pain relief. The app with which the user will be able to set the intensity of the pain relief will give objective feedback to the user about their period pain to help gynaecologists diagnose endometriosis as well.
Tell us a bit about your background and your projects so far.
Dora: I come from a land very far from femtech. Probably, if I could tell my 18-year-old self what I am doing right now, she would never believe it. I started my adult education with a Bachelor's in Photography and then took a turn toward curating and contemporary art theory at the University of Edinburgh. Later on, when I realized that getting into galleries is a long process - without any pay - and I don’t want to work as a barista until I had such an opportunity, I started to work with fashion and design brands, like THEFOUR where I met my co-founder, Anna. She brought me her project at its research project stage to help with an exhibition she was organizing which focused on period pain and period poverty. I fell in love with the project immediately and offered to help her make ARTEMIS a reality.
Zsofi: Since a young age, I`ve always struggled with unbearable period pain and other negative symptoms related to my menstruation. I`m coming from the design field, and after several years of experience in the fashion industry, while working on my Ph.D. thesis on wearable technology, I realized I`d like to use design skills to develop a garment where we can integrate clinically proven technologies to make a difference. I believe that design could be a democratic tool to make our life better.
How did you get into this industry? Has it been an easy industry to get into or have you had many challenges?
Zsofi: When I started my Ph.D. research my focus immediately turned from garment creation to wearable technologies and IoT .That was the first time Femtech as a term came into my focus. Two years ago we started to discuss my project plan with Dora, my co-founder partner, who really helped to work out this vision, deepen the research and set up a company together. This is the industry where I`ve really found myself, and I`m lucky to be part of an emerging global community.
Dora: We got into the industry thanks to Artemis and Hiventures who funded our project at a very early stage. As it is wearable technology, we wouldn’t have been able to bootstrap it. I think the reason why they trusted us was the very thorough research we conducted before applying and that we asked experts to conduct their own research on the product and on the market as well. It wasn’t just for the investors but also for us too. We had to learn and discover the opportunities and risks of the product.
How long did it take you to be where you are now? What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being in the industry you are in?
We got our first round of investment in March 2020. It was quite a small amount (€40k) just to develop the proof of concept of the product. At this point, we still had other jobs, but it was during the lockdown periods so we could put a lot of energy into developing the product with help from a team of engineers at MechatroMotive as well as working out the strategies of the business side. We talked to over 400 women to learn about their period experience, and a service design agency, Frontíra helped us design the UX and user’s journey of the whole product.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
We are still in the development stage, but we are really proud to be part of the FemtechLab cohort, it’s an amazing programme where we had the chance to meet so many inspiring experts from the field. Also, in this stage, we are really proud of every little achievement in product development that is not visible for the consumers yet, but we are working really hard to launch a product that is truly unique and transforms the way menstruators will think about their period and about themselves during their period.
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
Zsofi: I can absolutely agree with the community`s mission and impact to close the gender gap in the tech industry. Unfortunately, I also have experienced gender pre-conceptions related to my career, but I was lucky enough to gain energy from these negative experiences, but it has made me more devoted to standing up for a mission and being able to find my path. I find education very important.
What will be the key trends in your industry in the next five years and where do you see them heading?
Dora: It is a fact that under the umbrella of femtech, menstruation has the most players at the moment. Nonetheless, I do believe that it’s just the beginning, we are just starting to realize how period affects our overall well-being and how it can help diagnose other underlying problems concerning our health, like endometriosis or PCOS. I foresee a new segmentation in the menstruation industry that focuses on more niche targets, like people with potential endometriosis, pain relief, and cycle care.
Zsofi: I see the rise of products and tools that focus more on personalized solutions and prevention.
What is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in this industry?
Dora: I’ve only had a short amount of time to get insight into this industry; so far I can say is that it’s really built by a very mission-focused and open community. Everybody is very welcoming and ready to answer your questions offer advice you might have. So my advice is don’t be shy to approach the community and learn from the hard questions as well.
Zsofi: I think it's valid for almost any industry, I`d highlight devotion, determination, and courage as the most important things.
Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?
Dora: Bloody Good Period & The Pad Project are both amazing organizations on a mission to tackle period poverty and to educate women all around the world.
Alexandra Fine and Janet Lieberman, Founders of DAME are the rockstars of sex tech and their product and communication are really close to us. We are huge fans
Zsofi: I`d like to mention Katalin Kariko, a biochemist, who holds the patents for the application of non-immunogenic, nucleoside-modified RNA, which technology has been licensed by BioNTech and Moderna to develop their protein replacement technologies but was also used for their COVID-19 vaccines. Just like us, she was also born and educated in Hungary, a small central European country. Her career path, devotion, and achievements are exemplary for me.
Dora: As a bonus, the fact that we both have art or design-related background means that we usually take inspiration from various fields, not just our own. We share with one another our newest architecture, fashion, and art finds.
Find out more about ARTEMIS by Alpha Femtech on their website.
Follow ARTEMIS on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
This interview was conducted by Anja Streicher, Chief Marketing Officer of Women of Wearables. Anja is passionate about women's health and supporting women in business.