Co-Founder of Cambridge Temperature Concepts “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” Finalist

Co-Founder of Cambridge Temperature Concepts “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” Finalist

Dr Oriane Chausiaux, Co-Founder of Cambridge Temperature Concepts

Cambridge, 4th of December 2009. Dr. Oriane Chausiaux, Age 27, Co-founder, Cambridge Temperature Concepts Limited was one of the 3 finalists of the Young Entrepreneur of the year from the Enterprising Women awards. Her recognition for entrepreneurship as a woman is somewhat appropriate given that the business she helped create is in turn helping make women’s lives better.

Dr Chausiaux was on the traditional academic path in 2005, undertaking her PhD research into infertility at the University of Cambridge, when opportunity knocked. She joined with a group of fellow graduate students to bring an idea for a new, more reliable and convenient fertility monitoring device to market, winning business plans at the collegiate, university, and finally national level in 2007. At the end of 2007 she graduated and made the transition to businesswoman, negotiating investment of £250,000 in the fledgling business with Angel investors.

Dr. Chausiaux, CSO, commenting on her top-three placing for Enterprising Women’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year said “I am delighted to be seen as a role-model for young women and scientists, particularly given the relevance of our DuoFertility monitor to women and families. I could have remained an academic scientist for years without making the impact on fertility that we have been able to achieve in the last two years.”

Dr Chausiaux has taken her 8 years of infertility research at Bachelors, Masters and PhD. level, and combined this with the aptitudes of the instrumentation scientists, medical doctors, and engineers in the company to develop DuoFertility, an intelligent fertility monitor that offers a natural alternative to IVF for couples having difficulties conceiving. Impressively, the company took less than 18 months from first investment to first sales of this medically approved product, which now ships worldwide through www.duofertility.com.

As is typical for a small technology company, Dr Chausiaux has operated in practically every area of the business over the last two years, from the science that she has the training and background for, to picking up accountancy, HR, marketing, sales, legal and manufacturing.

Perhaps the biggest personal achievement has however been in assisting several couples to achieve pregnancy over the past few months, she says “Businessmen and women are all driven by success, but from speaking to the other businesswomen at the Enterprising Women Awards, it was clear that we were all driven by different rewards. Last week, four of our users announced their pregnancy, one of which had gone though IVF before. That is the sort of news that keeps me motivated.” As a bench scientist, her ideas would have taken years to make a positive impact, whereas by embarking on the world of business, this impact has been faster, more dramatic, and potentially much more widely applied.

Press contact for further information is Oriane Chausiaux. Email Oriane@temperatureconcepts.com Tel 01223 437 007

Notes to the editors

About Cambridge Temperature Concepts

Cambridge Temperature Concepts was founded in 2006 by a team of postgraduates from the University of Cambridge. Having won multiple awards and business plan competitions at a collegiate, university and national level, CTC is now funded by the Cambridge Angels, Cambridge Capital Group, Downing Enterprise and private investors. The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has also provided several development grants to the Company.

The first round of funding in January 2007 raised £250,000 and was followed by a second round in September 2008 for £300,000. The third round in February 2009 raised a further £200,000, at which point the company had already reached a valuation of £3.8 million. Further financing is presently underway to fund global marketing of the DuoFertility product.

About DuoFertility

DuoFertility exists to help couples get pregnant naturally and conveniently by providing the best available fertility monitoring solution backed up with personalised help and support from of a team of world-class fertility experts.

DuoFertility is the most precise and convenient way to predict and detect a woman’s moment of maximum fertility. It works by unobtrusively measuring the woman’s body temperature 20,000 times a day with extreme accuracy. This method is scientifically proven to detect ovulation^? with 99% accuracy. DuoFertility avoids having to wake up early to measure temperature manually or having to repeat inconvenient and disagreeable urine tests. The data gathered by DuoFertility can optionally be displayed and analysed on a computer at home and can also help doctors provide the best medical advice to the couple. Because DuoFertility is entirely natural and non-intrusive, it can be used in conjunction with any other method that relies on natural intercourse to maximise a couple’s chances of success each and every monthly cycle.

DuoFertility is manufactured in the UK and priced at £495, a fraction of the cost of invasive procedures such as IVF. This includes the sensor and handheld device, along with unlimited fertility expert support.

Press images and Logos available here

Watch a short video demonstration here