Solence has raised €1.6 million in seed funding to develop AI-driven digital therapeutics for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition affecting up to 20% of women globally. Impact Shakers Ventures led the round, with participation from notable angel investors including Céline Lazorthes (founder of Leetchi, Mangopay and Resilience), former JP Morgan executive Berthe Latreille, Systemanova VC founder Stephane Mardel, and BPI France.
Clara Stephenson founded Solence in 2022 after her personal experience with PCOS, which remained undiagnosed for 10 years despite showing textbook symptoms. The condition was only discovered during fertility investigations, highlighting the diagnostic gaps that affect approximately 85% of women with PCOS who don’t receive adequate support.
“PCOS is one of the great blind spots in women’s healthcare. It’s time to change that,” said Stephenson. “Ultimately, our vision is to leverage data and environmental factors to better address chronic hormonal conditions among women, with a focus on prevention and improving their healthy life expectancy.”
PCOS is a hormonal imbalance causing excessive production of certain hormones, irregular periods, infertility, and metabolic syndrome. Symptoms include weight gain, excessive hair growth, painful stomach cramps, and mental health struggles. Over 85% of women with PCOS experience reduced quality of life, with half saying it makes work difficult.
Solence’s app offers a twelve-week program based on peer-reviewed research demonstrating lifestyle intervention effectiveness on PCOS symptoms, fertility, and quality of life. The platform provides interactive lessons for symptom management through lifestyle changes, combining biomedical knowledge with habit-formation science.
The app generates monthly PCOS assessment scores to identify problem areas and symptom triggers while providing personalized advice and resources. Professor Michel Pugeat, who has treated PCOS since 2003 and serves on Solence’s scientific committee alongside neuroscience researcher Dr. Nour Mimouni, supports the approach.
“We backed Clara and Solence not only because PCOS is a condition that affects 1 in 7 women and can have serious consequences for women’s health and wellbeing, but also because Clara brings a unique perspective, experience and network to solving this challenge,” said Yonca Breackman, Founding Partner at Impact Shakers Ventures.
The funding will support product development, team expansion, clinical partnerships, and distribution strategies as Solence aims to address the gap between evidence-based guidelines recommending lifestyle interventions and current care that relies heavily on pharmacotherapy.
