A joint program between EPFL Innovation Park and Groupe Mutuel
Call for Application 2022 Opening soon!
Next Roadshow November 17th
Program Duration 9 months

Tech4Eva Roadshow - The Connection to Korea

Watch the recording of the event!

June 8, 2022

Date

Hybrid

Location

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About the Event

The influence of the cultural context and tech developments for women wellbeing

For this year’s Swiss-Korean Innovation Week on the theme of “diversity”, Tech4Eva is partnering with the Science and Technology Office and Embassy of Switzerland in the Republic of Korea and invites you to attend this hybrid event.

FemTech is a term applied to a broad range of technologies dedicated to women’s health and wellbeing, e.g. fertility/pregnancy, female oncology, period/menopause health.

There are still health disparities caused by the “gender data gap” (lack of female data or male-bias), taboos around the open discussion of female health issues and misinterpretation of the term FemTech as “women in tech”. That is why it is especially important to highlight this rapidly expanding industry (market value estimated to be worth USD 50 billion by 2025 ) and its social importance.

Tech4Eva’s 2022 program kicked off in April and will last 9 months. Among selected start-ups, which will all be receiving mentorship by experts and specialized workshops, those interested and with potential in the Korean market will have the opportunity to pitch during the public roadshow event. In the weeks after the public event, follow-up meetings will be organized with Korean experts and investors.

This public event aims to raise awareness on themes directly connected to women wellbeing with reference to the cultural context. In a dialogue, experts from Korea and Switzerland will address topics like prevention, treatments and development of technologies with special attention to the psychological and regulatory aspects in the two countries. In addition, examples of latest technologies developed for women wellbeing will be highlighted by participants of the Tech4Eva Roadshow.

Event Speakers

Dagmar Schmidt Tartagli
Ambassador
Full bio
Youn-Chung Chung
Seoul Foundation of Women & Family, President
Full bio
Jiwon Park
CEO, SAIB & Co.
Full bio

SAIB is a sexual wellness brand providing women with safe-to-use contraceptives and intimate hygiene products helping them to maintain their sexual and reproductive health.

The Brand name SAIB flips the word BIAS representing the company’s mission to overturn the negative gender-based biases in order to destigmatize women exercising sexual agency. With its discreet yet stylish design and shame-free experience, SAIB aims to normalize the perception of sexual wellness, redefining them as a natural and healthy part of life.

SAIB & Co. was founded by Jiwon Park, an award-winning designer, serial entrepreneur, and educator. She is a RISD(Rhode Island School of Design) graduate, ex-Fulbright Scholar, ex-Samsung Electronics designer. She has 13+ years of experience in brand design consulting and has served as an Assistant Professor at UT Austin in Texas.

Dr. Peter Hwanwook Chung
Obstetrician & Gynecologist, Houm Clinic
Full bio

Dr. Peter Hwanwook Chung is an obstetrician-gynecologist and women’s cancer oncologist. He graduated from Hanyang University College of Medicine and received a doctorate in preventive medicine. He became a research doctor at National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Washington D.C. After returning to Korea, he was a professor of obstetrics and gynecologic oncology at Sungkyunkwan University Samsung Cheil Hospital for a decade. After helping a New Zealand woman’s home birth by chance in 2007, his view of childbirth completely changed. He then worked as a doctor “disguised" as a midwife for ex-pats living in Korea who gave birth at home for two years. In 2010, he founded Medi Flower Birthing Center, which was the first birthing center in Korea where there is no delivery table, designed like a home, doesn't separate newborns to nursery rooms, and initiates immediate breastfeeding. In 2019, he transformed Medi Flower Birthing Center into Houm OB/GYN and Midwifery Center, which is Korea's first midwifery alongside birthing center. He is regarded as a pioneer in introducing natural childbirth in Korea, the country where the C-Section rate is the highest among OECD countries. Also, as an oncologist, he practices medicine for women's cervical cancer, breast cancer and health screening for Koreans and ex-pats from different cultures and countries.

Dr. Chiweon Kim
Partner, Kakao Ventures & CEO, Seoul Wise Hospital
Full bio

Chiweon Kim is a physician and a Venture capitalist in South Korea.

Chiweon Kim obtained his medical degree at Seoul National University and his MPH at School of Public health at Yonsei University. He completed his residency in the department of Internal Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital. After the residency, he worked at McKinsey & Company as a management consultant and at Samsung Medical Center as a strategy specialist before starting his own hospital.

In addition to running his hospital and taking care of patients, Doctor Kim works as a partner at Kakao ventures, a leading early-stage VC, where he is in charge of investment in digital healthcare sector.

Ji-Young Kim
CEO, StartupWomen
Full bio

Kim Ji-young is running the largest women-centered startup community in South Korea - "SWIK- Startup Women In Korea 스여일삶". Currently, it has more than 10,000 members through Facebook groups and e-mail newsletters. "SWIK" was selected as a fellow in the 2018-19 Facebook Community Leadership Program and received investment and support. As a representative of Swiki Co., Ltd., she continues various activities to create a healthy start-up ecosystem in South Korea.

Kelly Hyunjung Shin
CEO & Founder, KINSDAY
Full bio

Kelly Shin, CEO of KINSDAY, supports women entrepreneurs with their business growth and leadership capacity reinforcement. She used to be in charge of global partnership and external relations at Root Impact from 2016 to 2020, contributing to building an impact ecosystem community that connects local and foreign changemakers and various stakeholders and helps their collaboration to make a better world.

After being selected as an Asan Frontier Fellow of the Asan Nanum Foundation in 2015, she worked as a manager of a leadership development program for young social entrepreneurs around the world at The Global Good Fund, a non-profit organization based in Washington DC, USA. Before transitioning to the social sector, she had a rich and hands-on experience in the marketing and brand management field, working at Amway Korea, CJ CheilJedang, and Double A Korea.

Alessandra Apicella
Head of Science and Technology Office Seoul, Embassy of Switzerland
Full bio

I am a highly motivated scientist devoted to project coordination. My multidisciplinary background in physics, biology and materials science is the result of my enthusiastic approach to scientific research and quick learning in different domains.

As a result of my natural tendency to networking, I have been always looking for new collaborations, which I think to be a winning strategy for innovation. I had different research experiences in Europe and Asia, improving my education and my independence.

In addition, the experience at the interface between private and public research helped me to develop the right skills to enhance dialogue cross-sector and, finally, cross-border in the science diplomacy world.

Together with curiosity, dedication to science and enthusiasm for team work, the acquired skills make me the right person for jobs in the area of science diplomacy, scientific advisory and open innovation.

Simone Theiss
Program Manager, EPFL Innovation Park
Full bio

Simone has 25+ years of event management, strategy, marketing, relationship building experience. She joined the EPFL Innovation Park team in 2020 and she currently manages the Tech4Eva accelerator operations and the Tech4Growth initiative.

For 16 years she built the brand/network of Tech Tour as their Managing Director leading the events team to implement 25+ tech events per year. She has a proven ability to set up well-oiled processes and leverage networks to open partnership opportunities to build a strong ecosystem by maximizing objectives and engaging all stakeholders (corporates, investors, academia, tech start-ups in all digital sectors).

Previously she worked for the University of NC in Chapel Hill, USA, implementing the new graduate student program. She also worked at SCIP as their global operations & marketing manager both in Alexandria, VA & in London, UK, where she opened and managed their branch office to establish their European presence, as well as overseeing all aspects of international conferences & tradeshows.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA. She is fluent in English, French & German.

Event Agenda

11:00 Welcome Remarks

Speakers: Dagmar Schmidt Tartagli, Ambassador and Youn-Chung Chung, President Seoul Foundation of Women & Family

11:10 Tech4Eva Initiative

Speaker: Simone Theiss, Program Manager, EPFL Innovation Park

11:20 Spotlight Success Story in Korea

Speaker: Jiwon Park, Founder, SAIB

11:30 Tech4Eva Showcase of Selected Growth Stage Start-ups

Start-ups: Sabrina Badir of Pregnolia, Sven Mulfinger of Dana Health, Oana Gharbi of Proov, Liza Velarde of Delee, Rob Milnes of Vio Healthtech, Rebecca Sternberg of AquaFit, and Cristina Rossi of b-rayZ

11:45 Panel Discussion: "Influence of the cultural context and tech developments for Women Wellbeing"

Speakers: Peter Chung, Head Doctor, Houm Clinic, Chiweon Kim, Partner, Kakao Ventures and CEO, Seoul Wise Hospital, Ji-young Kim, CEO, Startup Women

Moderator: Kelly Hyunjung Shin, Founder, KINSDAY

12:15 Tech4Eva Showcase of Selected Growth Stage Start-ups

Start-ups: David Stoikovitch of Moona, Tzali Cnaani of Carmel Diagnostics, Eva Galant of Hashiona, Marc Finch of PreTel, Nadia Prisant of IMMA, Ruben Molina of INNITIUS, and Hélène Guillaume Pabis of Wild AI

12:30 Open Q&A Session

12:40 Closing Remarks

Speaker: Alessandra Apicella, Head of Science & Technology Office Seoul, Korea

12:45 Networking at Space Salim, Seoul and Networking Opportunity for those online

12:45 Online Event ends

14:00 Seoul Networking ends

Time zone CET

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