SXSW Startups: kegg
The Forrest Four-Cast: February 6, 2019
Fifty diverse startups will aim to impress a panel of judges and a live audience with their skills, creativity and innovation at SXSW Pitch Presented by Cyndx. Winners in 10 categories will be announced at the Pitch Award Ceremony at 6:30 pm Sunday, March 10, at the Hilton Austin.
A finalist in the Health and Wearable category, which will pitch at 5 pm Sunday, March 10, kegg aims to disrupt fertility industry by cutting of the unnecessary costs, providing meaningful data to women through fertility hardware and access to remote 1:1 fertility specialists. This will make fertility care affordable to millions of women and provide the necessary data for the foundation of preventive healthcare.
CEO Kristina Cahojova shared some thoughts on her company.
What are your goals for kegg in 2019?
We are shipping this summer — that’s our big goal.
Harnessing the data of a woman’s cycle is powerful, will this product help women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome?
When women suffer from PCOS it means that their body is frequently trying to ovulate but rarely succeeds. kegg will tell them when their body is gearing up to ovulate and so when a woman is potentially fertile. It will also confirm your ovulation if it happens. Most women conceive from sex that happened before ovulation and thus if you’re trying to conceive with PCOS you should be focusing on your fertile window before any possible ovulation.
What has been the toughest challenge your team faced in creating the kegg?
For the technical team it was definitely their relocation to China. They have spent one year in China. It’s not easy to work in a country where there is no easy internet connection. You have to use VPNs to access Google, email, etc. and that is even now being more difficult than before. That in combination with not being able to use maps, talk to people, totally different food and lack of free-time activities and even clean air is hard.
Tell us something about your previous experience at SXSW.
I went to SXSW last year. We had just started fundraising and I was amazed about the connections you can make by attending. I participated in FemTech panel and at that time I wished that I could pitch at the stage and now I will!
Has kegg been involved with other pitch events?
We were at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018. And we recently won $10K at CES 2019.
kegg is currently based in San Francisco. Tell us about the startup ecosystem there.
It feels like the center of the startup world here. When I’m in San Francisco, I can feel the energy — it’s buzzing!
If your team members weren’t involved in building kegg, what would they be doing?
I would likely be working on another startup focused around helping women.
Looking at the entire tech industry, what trend are you most excited about?
I love that more technology is coming out that is targeted towards women.
Looking at the entire tech industry, what technology would you call the Myspace of 2019…in other words, something we won’t be thinking so much about in 2020 and beyond?
Thermometers.
What do you enjoy most and least about the startup experience?
Most: Every day is something new — an adventure — never a dull moment.
Least: Lack of sleep!
What has the startup experience taught you about life?
Time management. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything you need to do so you really have to prioritize and spend time wisely.
Name three people, in any field, alive or dead, you’d like to meet and tell us why.
Michelle Obama, Marie Curie and Arianna Huffington are all amazing, inspirational women — I always feel extra motivated when I read something by or about them
What’s one piece of advice you wish you’d had that you’d give to others wanting to join the startup journey?
The startup journey is full of ups and downs, and you need know — trust and love — yourself to be comfortable with the unknown.
What advice do you have for young female entrepreneurs looking to disrupt this new field of femtech?
You’ve got to show, not tell. Like most things in life, women have is tougher than men in the the startup industry. You will have to prove yourself.
Look for more interviews with other SXSW Pitch finalists in this space between now and March.
Click here to see all 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2019, along with the links to their interviews on Medium.
Also, if you are an entrepreneur, check out all the cool panels and presentations in the Entrepreneurship and Startups Track, which runs March 8–12 at SXSW.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
