Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition
Jana, Elena, Orson, Akshith and Daniel came second in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. The competition is open to all young people from the UK aged 16-25 and requires teams to come up with an idea for a technology based solution that solves a real-world issue for people. In January, we submitted our idea of CycleSense, which is a unique period tracker. CycleSense is a device, which measures the concentration of progesterone in the user’s saliva via sensors and a test strip. This data is then paired with AI through the CycleSense app in order to accurately predict the start of the user’s next menstrual cycle.
The idea stemmed from personal experiences with existing period trackers on the market. They are purely software-based, meaning they make baseless, generic predictions about when a woman’s period will start. Through market research, we found that millions around the world struggle with irregular periods, especially teenagers, perimenopausal women and women with health conditions, such as endometriosis. The uncertainty around when their menstrual cycle starts causes a fear of leaking and a waste of sanitary products. An unexpected period can also force a change of plans, such as not going swimming on holiday or wearing light-coloured clothing. These problems inspired us to consider how we could personalise period tracking to save women from the stresses of an irregular cycle. Hence, CycleSense was created.
Measuring hormones through saliva testing is not a new invention. In fact, there are many products out there that make use of this concept to track ovulation, helping couples who are trying for a baby. However, no-one has applied these techniques to simply help women know when their period will start. This gap in the market highlights a lack of research and investment in women’s health, making us realise that a product like CycleSense could make a huge positive impact for people.
A couple months after submitting our idea, we were one of fifty ideas shortlisted from a pool of thousands for the next phase of the competition. In this phase, we were mentored by experts at Samsung, who helped us prototype and research our idea. We changed several things during this phase, including designing the device to be a staple of every woman’s bathroom, rather than something which is carried out-and-about in a bag. This gave us more freedom over the size of the device as it now only has to be portable enough to take on holiday. In April, we submitted a presentation about CycleSense and the development of the product since being shortlisted.
Not long after, we found out we were one of five finalists for the 16-18 age group in the competition. For this phase, we carried out more market research and started looking into the costs of producing the product. We created a pitch deck and presented to a panel of judges at the final, convincing them to invest in Cyclesense. We were pleased to come second, meaning we have won £1000 to help make CycleSense a reality, a Samsung phone each and further expert mentoring.
Our website is cyclesense.uk if you would like to learn more and we would like to thank anyone who filled out our feedback form.