Surbhi Sarna, founder of nVision Medical and a partner at Y Combinator, shares her powerful journey from a personal health scare to pioneering ovarian cancer detection. She reflects on her traumatic misdiagnosis experience, emphasizing the need for better diagnostic tools in women's health. Surbhi discusses the rollercoaster of launching a medical device, including the importance of user-centric design and the unique challenges faced by women in the health tech sector. Her resilience and insights into mentorship and innovation are truly inspiring.
Surbhi Sarna's personal health experiences drove her to innovate in women's health diagnostics, leading to the creation of a groundbreaking medical device for ovarian cancer detection.
Despite facing skepticism and numerous rejections in securing funding for her startup, Sarna's determination and networking efforts eventually resulted in substantial investment success.
Surbhi's journey highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing systemic gaps in women's healthcare, advocating for innovation and advancements in this often-overlooked field.
Deep dives
Serbi Sarna's Early Health Struggles
Serbi Sarna's journey into the realm of women's health began with her own painful experiences in adolescence. After enduring complex ovarian cysts that led to a hospital visit and a near-surgery for appendicitis, she faced a lack of accurate diagnostic options for women's health issues. This experience highlighted systemic gaps in medical diagnostics and ignited a passion in her to address these challenges. The emotional and physical toll of her ordeal, coupled with the inadequate medical response, drove her to eventually explore solutions that would significantly improve women’s healthcare.
Inspired to Innovate
Motivated by her experiences and the largely unaddressed disparities in women's health, Serbi Sarna decided to create a medical device aimed at early detection of ovarian cancer. Her passion was fueled further by the loss of her grandmother to breast cancer, which solidified her desire to innovate in this field. Serbi embraced her background in science and engineering, influenced by her father's work in tech, and began sketching concepts for a device that would revolutionize how ovarian cancer is diagnosed. Through relentless research, she developed a hypothesis centered on accessing the fallopian tube as the primary site for early detection.
The Challenges of Fundraising
In the face of skepticism, Serbi Sarna embarked on the arduous journey of securing funding for her medical device startup. Despite being a solo founder with no advanced degree, she faced numerous rejections as potential investors dismissed the concept, labeling it as 'bikini medicine'. Undeterred, Serbi dedicated herself to refining her pitch and eventually secured $250,000 after a year and a half of relentless networking and perseverance. Her story demonstrates the importance of tenacity in entrepreneurship, particularly in female-led ventures in traditionally male-dominated fields.
Navigating the FDA Approval Process
Securing FDA clearance was a monumental achievement for Serbi Sarna and her team, but it demanded a wealth of knowledge and strategic planning. After raising significant funding, they conducted rigorous clinical studies to gather the necessary data for approval. Navigating this complex regulatory environment required collaboration with experts and a deep understanding of medical device protocols, which Serbi skillfully managed. Following her success in getting FDA clearances, Serbi's device gained traction in the medical community, raising awareness and interest from larger healthcare companies.
Acquisition and Reflections on Impact
Having led her startup to significant advancements and recognition in women's health, Serbi Sarna faced a pivotal decision when approached for acquisition by a major company. This decision was emotionally challenging, but ultimately, she recognized the opportunity to leverage her invention on a larger scale. The successful acquisition underlined the demand for innovation in women's health, representing not just a victory for Serbi but a broader recognition of the importance of this often-overlooked sector. Today, Serbi continues to advocate for advancements in healthcare, empowering future innovators to prioritize women's health issues.
In this episode, we speak with Surbhi Sarna, founder of nVision Medical, a pioneering company in women's health diagnostics. Surbhi shares her journey from experiencing a personal health scare as a teenager to founding nVision, which developed a microcatheter for the detection of ovarian cancer. nVision was acquired by Boston Scientific for $275 million in 2018. Now a Partner at Y Combinator, Surbhi discusses her transition from founder to mentor, offering insights into the challenges of healthcare innovation. Her book, Without a Doubt, was released in 2022.
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