Field: Preventative medicine
Capital raised: $1.2 million
Personal: Both 37 | Both married with two children | Both hold PhDs in neurobiology from the Weizmann Institute of Science
"We founded a unique laboratory that traces early complications and facilitates monitoring of mother's milk. We developed an algorithm that performs the analysis.
"Our database has a fully digital interface. If, say, a woman has pain in breastfeeding, on the basis of a sample of her mother's milk we track the source of the pain. It's like taking a urine sample in order to diagnose whether there's bacteria or a fungus. There is also a test for early diagnosis of problems in producing milk, and for testing its nutritional composition."
Shechter-Ushpizin: "Five years ago, after finishing the doctorate, we went on maternity leave. Our product grew out of both of us giving birth and breastfeeding. We realized that there was a vacuum in the sector. In the same way as a woman is monitored during her pregnancy, there should be tools that facilitate correct and timely intervention.
"As scientists, we saw that there was a body fluid with important diagnostic capabilities that medicine had in effect ignored. We studied mother's milk for two years, and took the very innovative step of creating tools to prevent complications in breastfeeding.
"Almost 90% of women start breastfeeding or want to breastfeed, and only 20% fulfill the recommendations by health organizations to breastfeed exclusively in the first six months."
Haramati: "After two years of technological development, tests are now available. We founded a working laboratory in Israel, and for two years we received a budget from the Israel Innovation Authority. The largest medical laboratory in Israel is a partner in this venture. The initial market is Israel, and now we're aiming outwards. The goal is to penetrate the US."
Shechter-Ushpizin: "Don't do this alone. It worked very well for us. Neither of us could have gone through this mill by herself. It's also important to get to Silicon Valley as quickly as possible."
Haramati: "It's important to form as many connections as possible and learn from as many people as possible, but also not to immediately apply every tip they give you, because if you just follow tips, you won't be able promote yourself."
