Ayda, a wearable fertility tracker company, has recently been named the "Best Start-Up" business in Ireland along with its 24-year-old developer James Foody as the nation's Best Young Entrepreneur. The recognition came amid the growing interests in fertility tracker apps.
On Sunday, Ayda's wearable fertility tracker bagged the prize of €50,000 as the "Best Start-Up" during the IBYE awards ceremony held in Google's European headquarters in Dublin. While Foody, the developer who graduated from UCC last year with a master's degree in biomedical engineering, was named as Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur. According to the Irish Times, Foody co-founded Ayda, a company based in Cork and San Francisco, with Aoife Crowley, whom he met at a hackathon.
Ayda, a female health tech company that created a wearable fertility monitor that can be worn during sleep, has won the competition that has drawn 1,400 entries. The firm is also designing and developing a mobile phone app to help women track fertility levels and a wearable fertility tracker solution, which will be likely launched in the middle of next year, Irish Examiner reported.
As for Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur Award, 24 young business owners out of more than 400 applicants vied for recognition. And it was Ayda's James Foody, who won an investment fund for his business. Foody also explained how his fertility tracker device works, which enables women to find out the best time of the month for intercourse to maximize their chances of conceiving naturally.
"If they do conceive, they'll known exact gestation dates," Foody said, as per Breaking News.
Aside from Ayda's wearable fertility tracker and James Foody, other winners included Blaine Doyle of GlowDX in Kilkenny, who won the Best New Idea award with a €20,000 investment prize. While the Best Established Business award and its €30,000 investment prize went to James Keogh from Rathwood in Wicklow. The former is a diagnostics company that is setting out to diagnose neglected tropical diseases more cheaply in developing countries. Rathwood, on the other hand, is a retail entertainment company which has more than 250,000 visitors every year. The awards were presented by Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton, who said promoting entrepreneurship would ultimately create more jobs.
Meanwhile, Ayda's upcoming fertility tracker app is the first in the industry. As a matter of fact, there are more than 300 apps in the iTunes App Store while more than 9 million results are in Google. But the most notable are Period Tracker, My Cycles and Fertility Friend. While many women said the apps help them feel more in control of their fertility and the details on the workings of their reproductive cycle, the appeal of information through apps can similarly feed a fertility-obsessed frenzy, Chicago Tribune noted.
