When Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) alumna Parnian Majd set out to bridge a gap in women's health care, she envisioned a future where women could easily and quickly access data about their reproductive health. To make that vision a reality, she founded Fibra an innovative startup, incubated in TMU's Zone Learning network.
TMU alumna Parnian Majd took full advantage of the resources available at Zone Learning to develop and grow her company Fibra.
Fibra's flagship product patent-pending smart underwear integrates with a mobile app to monitor and analyze reproductive health and aid fertility tracking. Unlike other fertility tracking methods, Fibra's technology provides personalized insights that can help improve the chances of conception while empowering women with a better understanding of their reproductive health.
The inspiration for Fibra came when Majd (biomedical engineering '21) learned about wearable health devices during her undergraduate studies. She wondered why there weren't any devices for monitoring reproductive health.
"Why do women living in developed countries in the 21st century have to undergo invasive and costly procedures, then wait weeks to get basic data about their reproductive health?" said Majd. "If we can monitor cardiac health with a smartwatch, why not have a wearable device that tracks reproductive health?"
Fibra's patent-pending smart underwear integrates with a mobile app to track fertility and other health data.
"A Career Boost placement in the Office of Zone Learning was my very first exposure to the entrepreneurial world and what it means to be an entrepreneur," said Majd. "Before that, I always thought if you had your own company, you were older than me, had more money and studied business. But I learned the majority of startup founders within the zone ecosystem actually have an engineering background."
Majd went on to apply to the Norman Esch Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship Awards and successfully participated in all three stages to create and develop her idea for Fibra.
Fibra's growth has since been driven by TMU's Zone Learning Network where Majd took advantage of the resources and support available at several zones including the Science Discovery Zone, Biomedical Zone, the Fashion Zone and Innovation Boost Zone.
"All of the zones have been tremendously helpful for us. The resources and expertise that we get from each zone helps us in different areas of business, said Majd.
"The Biomedical Zone, located in St. Michael's Hospital has been especially helpful. Being in a hospital environment connects us with clinicians, facilitates pilot studies, and bridges the gap to clinical trials," she said.
Alongside this foundational support, DMZ Ventures
contributed to Fibra's recently announced $1.25 million USD pre-seed funding round. The funding will help advance Fibra's research and development efforts to achieve their goal of bringing the smart underwear to market by the end of the year.
While Fibra's product is currently focused on fertility, Majd has big plans to grow her product to include monitoring and detection for a wide range of women's health issues. These include pregnancy, menopause, sexually transmitted illnesses and cervical cancer.
