In recent years, the health tech industry has witnessed remarkable innovation, with companies striving to empower individuals to take control of their health. However, women’s hormonal health hasn’t received the same attention. Mira, a women’s hormonal health tracking company, is changing that.
Led by CEO Sylvia Kang, Mira offers a device that allows women to test their hormone levels at home. During this episode of the Startup Show with host John Biggs, Kang shed light on how Mira is changing the landscape of hormonal health, particularly in areas such as fertility, menopause, and hormone imbalances.
The Gap in Women’s Health
Mira was founded around seven years ago to fill a critical gap in women’s healthcare: the lack of continuous and accessible hormonal tracking. According to Kang, before Mira’s inception, options for women trying to understand their hormone levels were limited and often insufficient.
“Before we started Mira, a few years ago, there was really no product trying to understand women’s health,” Kang explained. Women attempting to conceive often relied on ovulation predictor kits that provided binary, oversimplified results without detailed information about their hormonal fluctuations.
For many, the next step was often in-vitro fertilization (IVF), an expensive and emotionally taxing process. Mira aimed to create a middle ground by offering a continuous hormone testing device that women could use from the comfort of their homes.
“Mira was really trying to play in between,” Kang said. The device offers quantitative results for hormones such as luteinizing hormone (LH), estrogen, progesterone, and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). This enables users to track their hormone levels over time, much like a traditional blood test from a medical laboratory.
Continuous Hormonal Data
One of the most striking aspects of Mira is its ability to provide continuous data, which is essential for understanding how hormones fluctuate over time. By analyzing this data, women gain insights into their menstrual cycles, hormone balance, and overall health. Kang emphasized that this ongoing monitoring allows women to see patterns and irregularities that might otherwise go unnoticed. “It’s continuous testing, and we provide a quantitative answer for every hormone you test, just like what you got from a lab test,” she noted.
This feature has been a game changer for many women who need to track their cycles closely, whether they’re trying to conceive, dealing with menopause, or managing conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Mira’s app provides users with a visual representation of their hormone levels, showing fluctuations and trends across multiple cycles.
Additionally, the device compares each user’s data to population averages, providing personalized insights based on similar demographic groups. “We compare your data to your population group average or a healthy population group average,” Kang explained, adding that users are alerted to potential red flags in their hormonal health.
New Insights with Big Data
Mira’s approach to hormonal health goes beyond personal monitoring by also contributing to broader scientific understanding. With over 1.3 million data points collected from users, Mira has generated a wealth of information about how women’s cycles vary from person to person and from cycle to cycle. As Kang pointed out, the data Mira has collected has revealed a significant amount of variability in women’s cycles that wasn’t previously understood.
When they started to test real user hormones, they found that their bodies never functioned like the information provided elsewhere. It became clear that the available information on women’s hormonal health is outdated and often oversimplified. The insights from Mira’s data show that very few women follow the standard 28-day cycle often referenced in medical literature.
Hormone levels can fluctuate widely, affected by factors such as age, lifestyle, stress, and even sleep patterns. Kang emphasized that “everything is connected,” and understanding these factors is crucial for maintaining hormonal balance.
Expanding Access to Hormonal Health Data
Mira’s product is classified as a medical device and is FDA-compliant, but its mission isn’t exactly diagnostic. The company aims to educate women about their bodies and provide them with the tools to manage their health proactively. “We’re not like a diagnostic company. We’re more like a tracking company,” Kang said. This distinction allows Mira to focus on continuous monitoring and education, rather than solely on diagnosing medical conditions.
Kang expressed her belief that healthcare systems have traditionally overlooked this kind of proactive care. “We don’t provide them [consumers] education,” she said, pointing out that diagnostics often come too late, when a condition has already developed. Mira’s approach seeks to empower women with the knowledge they need to prevent problems before they escalate.
The company offers personalized educational content, including articles, tips, and webinars, designed to help women understand their hormone levels and what actions they can take to maintain hormonal balance.
Challenges Building a Health Tech Startup
Building a company like Mira wasn’t without its challenges. Kang, who transitioned from a role in a Fortune 500 company, had to adapt quickly to the startup world. “There was no information given to me,” she admitted, recalling the early days of Mira. From learning how to conduct customer research to building a marketing and product team, the journey was filled with hurdles.
One of the toughest challenges was establishing Mira’s brand in a market that was relatively uneducated about hormone tracking. Kang recalled her initial concerns: “When I launched the product, I was worried this might be too technical. We’re talking about hormone names… but surprisingly, consumers had a really good understanding.”
Mira’s marketing strategy has since evolved to include partnerships with influencers, fitness experts, and IVF clinics. The company has also seen success in directly engaging with consumers through social media and community-building efforts.
A Vision for the Future
Mira has already made significant strides in expanding its product line beyond fertility tracking. Last year, the company launched a menopause tracker and a virtual clinic that connects users with professional coaches to guide them through life changes that impact hormonal health.
“We have a lot of professional coaches that have experience about coaching people through difficult lifetime and balancing their hormone [health],” Kang explained. This holistic approach emphasizes that hormone tracking isn’t just about solving immediate issues, but about understanding the broader context of a woman’s health journey.
As Mira continues to grow, its mission remains clear: to empower women with the knowledge and tools they need to take control of their hormonal health. Through continuous innovation and a commitment to education, the company is helping to transform the way women approach their well-being — one hormone test at a time.
