In this live episode of Virgin StartUp Changemakers, Natalie Pearce sits down with Hertility co-founder Dr Helen O’Neill to explore what happens when scientific expertise, lived experience and a refusal to accept the status quo come together.

From starting Hertility as a clinical trial to building a platform designed to give women better answers about their reproductive health, Helen shares why women’s healthcare has been held back by poor data, delayed diagnoses and systems that often intervene too late. She also explores funding a women’s health startup, building trust in a high-stakes category and why education is just as important as access when it comes to helping people understand their bodies.

Whether you’re building in healthtech, solving a problem rooted in lived experience or trying to create change in an industry that has overlooked its customers for too long, this episode offers practical founder lessons on evidence, trust, resilience and building with purpose.

In this episode:

• Why Hertility started as a clinical trial rather than a traditional startup
• Turning scientific expertise into a solution for an underserved healthcare problem
• Why women are often asked to wait too long for answers about their reproductive health
• What 7,000 expressions of interest revealed about unmet demand
• Building a healthcare product when there is no room for a careless MVP
• What founders can achieve before seeking external investment
• Why bringing potential critics into the process early can build trust
• The funding challenges facing women’s health businesses
• How Hertility is building better data on female reproductive health
• What emerging data suggests about vaping and reproductive hormones
• Why reproductive health education is still missing from so many people’s lives
• Building a founding team around science, law and operations

Changemakers is brought to you by Virgin StartUp, the not-for-profit organisation helping founders start and scale the businesses they're passionate about.

Recorded live at Virgin StartUp's Changemakers events, every episode features honest conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and business leaders sharing the lessons, challenges and ideas shaping the future of business.

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