From left: Michael Carey, chair of Enterprise Ireland; Heidi Davis, CEO of Peri; and Jennifer Melia, executive director, Enterprise Ireland. Image: Orla Murray/Coalesce
Davis shared that it is often difficult to explain perimenopause in women, as symptoms vary from person to person and change over time.
Heidi Davis, the co-founder and CEO of Peri, which develops an AI-powered wearable device to help manage perimenopause symptoms, has won this year’s Enterprise Ireland High-Potential Start-Up (HPSU) Founder of the Year Award.
Founded in 2022 by Davis and Donal O’Gorman, Peri, previously called identifyHer, is worn under the breast and provides insights to guide women toward a personalised menopause management plan.
With an academic background in nutrition and molecular medicine, Davis also has extensive experience bringing products from concept to launch. She previously co-founded CALculate My Menu, a menu analysis company focused on allergen labelling and worked as a project lead at Nuritas, specialising in muscle health.
Gorman, currently a committee member at the European Space Agency Medical Board, previously served as the interim director of the National Institute for Cellular Biology at Dublin City University.
At a panel discussion yesterday (17 October), Davis said that women’s health is often overlooked, and shared her struggles attempting to get potential investors on board.
She explained that it is often difficult to explain perimenopause in women, as symptoms vary from person to person and change over time. Perimenopause it is not an “illness” and her product is not a medical device, she added.
A new study by the University of Galway and the University of Cork published today highlights the ongoing struggles around menopausal health in Ireland.
A survey conducted by the two institutions found that 75pc of the respondents didn’t know if their company had a menopause policy, while 29pc of managers did not feel equipped to discuss menopause when direct reports had come to them about it.
On her win, Davis shared that she is “deeply honoured to receive this award, particularly as the nominees are selected by founder-peers.
“Enterprise Ireland has been with us all along on our start-up journey and we look forward to working them as we launch the Peri to market in 2025. Our ultimate aim is to grow the business globally, bringing the Peri to the women of the world, allowing them to live healthier and more productive lives,” she said.
Nine HPSUs were shortlisted for the 2024 award, voted by the 67 start-ups who took part in this year’s Founders Forum.
The runners up this year were Mark Kirwan, CEO and co-founder of Positive Carbon, an AI-powered food waste calculator; Dr Alison Liddy, CEO and co-founder of Relevium Medical, a biopharma company providing solutions to chronic pain; and Barry McCann, CEO and co-founder of Nua Surgical with an innovative surgical retractor that improves outcomes of C-section surgery.
Addressing the awards ceremony, Michael Carey the chair of Enterprise Ireland said: “The Founder of the Year Awards promotes Ireland’s ecosystem of entrepreneurs who have displayed the potential and commitment to building their businesses and set their sights on global markets.
“We are delighted to build on the success of the awards which is now in its sixth year, and the Founders Forum which acknowledges and celebrates high-performance, innovative Irish start-ups.”
Last year, Sinéad Crowther bagged the HPSU Founder of the Year Award with Soothing Solutions, which develops a range of honey jelly pops called Tonstix that provide an alternative to children’s lozenges.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
