” These cycles impact quality of sleep, quality of muscle toning, energy, libido, skin health, mental health, energy levels– you name it– but nobody is discussing this,” CEO Aagya Mathur MBA 18 states. “We see a world where people can use their hormonal agent cycles to benefit them day to day– to make them a superpower rather than something they are dreading or feel is a concern.”
The start-up, which was developed throughout the MIT Entrepreneurship and Maker Skills Integrator (MEMSI), achieves that through a mix of education, community, and technology.
Aavias flagship item is a trademarked smart tablet case that can pick up when users take contraceptive pill, and advise them through a mobile app if they forget. In addition to sending these notifications, the app and its accompanying website enable users to track modifications they discover throughout their cycle, get personalized suggestions, discover from peers and medical experts, and engage with a community dealing with similar problems.
Delegated right: Aagya Mathur, Aya Suzuki, Alexis Wong. Credit: courtesy of Aavia
” [Raising awareness about hormone health] isnt something that can take place overnight, so we decided to begin by addressing a problem that people currently comprehend they have, which is remembering to take their contraceptive pill,” Mathur states. “From there, weve broadened our services based upon what weve found out is working and not working for our users.”
Mathur, along with Aavia co-founders Alexis Wong and Aya Suzuki 18, state theyre driven by the stories they hear from individuals who have used Aavias services to attend to problems with things like stress and anxiety and acne that theyve fought with for years without understanding they were connected to hormones.
” [Were] assisting people have a better health journey than their moms,” Mathur says. “Hopefully my future daughter will have a method much better health journey than Ive had. Nobody is focusing on this issue, however half the population has ovaries, so its something that is incredibly underserved.”
An idea is hatched
Suzuki had actually worked in a rehabilitation facility and saw the issues people had with treatment adherence. They were later on presented to Mathur through a mutual good friend who had also gotten involved in MEMSI.
The creators spoke with hundreds of individuals with a variety of illness to figure out where they could make the greatest distinction. The three made for a varied founding team: Mathur had actually studied neuroscience as an undergrad and believed she was going to be a physician until she entered consulting and chose an MBA at MIT was a much better path. Wong was studying electrical engineering at Hong Kong University, and Suzuki was an undergraduate at MIT studying mechanical engineering and design.
Mathur, who began awakening in the middle of the night jotting down concepts and concerns about the service, was delighted to remain in an interdisciplinary environment throughout her MBA program.
” Sloan was one of the only schools that states One MIT instead of, Were the organization school and we have everything we need,” Mathur says. “I thought that was really great due to the fact that then you could be in clubs with individuals from other areas. Multidisciplinary teams are exceptionally important to have the type of impact we look for to have.”
The founders say it was helpful to be trainees as they started building the company. They received assistance from MIT Sandbox, the MIT Venture Mentoring Service, and went through the startup accelerators MIT delta v and MIT fuse. They also won the audience choice award throughout the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition.
” Starting a business at MIT is incredible because you have many resources, both financial and academic,” Mathur says.
Today the creators continue to get worth from MITs network, conference with previous schoolmates and alumni– Mathur even refers to the class notes she took as an MBA trainee from time to time.
A new method to hormone health
After surveying countless individuals, the creators found out individuals desired an app that went beyond tracking durations or moods to actually provide users health and behavioral pointers.
” Were assisting you understand your hormone cycle through your own reporting, however the huge thing is we likewise give you actionable insights,” Mathur says. “For example, these are the three days where you have the greatest energy and heres how you can benefit from it, or these are the four days when you have the most anxiety, heres what you can do to help in reducing it. Or, its coming up so here are steps you can require to make sure its not as bad as it has actually remained in the past.”
Aavia, which has a boards of advisers of MDs, dedicates a great deal of resources to instructional efforts, making article and videos, hosting occasions, holding online forums in the app with doctors 4 days a week, and engaging on social networks. In neighborhood online forums, users can ask questions, share stories or fears, and use assistance. Aavia has actually likewise been organizing members with comparable experiences together, like those who are taking the very same acne medication or handling similar health journeys.
” The more people that we can get in front of, the more they can inform other people and assist each other out,” Mathur states.
One of Aavias members was being treated with medical depression when she started tracking her state of mind on the app. The user brought that information to her doctor, who realized the depressive symptoms were much more severe during particular time periods.
” The stories that we hear are truly what get me out of bed in the early morning,” Mathur states. “To see we altered this persons outlook on something, we helped this individual comprehend that they in fact required a various treatment, or understanding this person feels this modification in confidence or tension. Those are really 2 of our greatest success metrics: reducing stress and increasing confidence. Thats where were seeing considerable changes.”
The majority of Aavias members are 18 to 24 years of ages, a market Mathur says is much more open to talking about hormone issues. For the founders, it all returns to Aavias mission of setting a brand-new paradigm for hormonal agent health.
” We hear most regularly from individuals who seem like theyre overlooked or who are dealing with an issue that no one else is taking notice of,” Mathur states. “Our members inform us they dont always trust the big healthcare business, but they trust us. Were focused on what we can do to have a long lasting effect as users go through their hormone health journey.”
The creators spoke to hundreds of individuals with a variety of health issues to identify where they might make the biggest difference. Aavia, which has an advisory boards of MDs, dedicates a lot of resources to academic efforts, making blog site posts and videos, hosting occasions, holding forums in the app with physicians four days a week, and engaging on social media. Aavia has also been grouping members with similar experiences together, like those who are taking the same acne medication or dealing with comparable health journeys.
One of Aavias members was being treated with medical depression when she started tracking her state of mind on the app.” We hear most consistently from people who feel like theyre neglected or who are dealing with an issue that no one else is paying attention to,” Mathur says.
Aavia is integrating innovation, education, and neighborhood to empower individuals to understand and manage their hormonal agent cycles. Credit: Aavia, edited by MIT News
Alumna-founded Aavia utilizes technology, education, and neighborhood to change the method individuals consider hormonal agents.
Half the population lives with monthly ovarian hormone cycles. Those cycles impact menstrual patterns, fertility, and much more, however preconceptions around hormonal agent problems have limited awareness about hormonal agent health.
Now, Aavia is working to assist people understand their hormone cycle and its impacts.