French femtech Solence bags €1.6M to help women manage PCOS through lifestyle changes

Paris-based Solence, a health startup focused on care for women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), has raised €1.6M in seed funding.

Investors in the round include Impact Shakers Ventures, Céline Lazorthes (founder of Leetchi, Mangopay, and Resilience), Berthe Latreille (formerly of JP Morgan), Stephane Mardel (founder of Systemanova VC), and BPI France.

A digital programme to support women with PCOS

Solence is a health startup founded in 2022 by Clara Stephenson, a former Ernst & Young corporate lawyer and creator of the PCOS blog “Les Natives”.

PCOS is a condition involving hormonal imbalance. It originates from the ovaries and the central system. It leads to increased testosterone levels, irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, and metabolic complications.

Stephenson started the company after her personal experience with PCOS, a condition that remained undiagnosed for about 10 years during her legal career. Her diagnosis came during fertility investigations, which revealed both the presence of a long-term condition and the possibility of infertility.

This is where Solence looks to make a difference. The company develops tools for managing chronic conditions linked to PCOS. The company uses lifestyle programmes and AI-based systems to support patients. Its goal is to make care more available and reduce the impact of chronic conditions, to increase life expectancy. 

Targeting gaps in PCOS care

Up to 20 per cent of women worldwide live with PCOS, but 85 per cent do not receive adequate support. Symptoms range from weight gain and irregular periods to mental health struggles. Many report a decline in quality of life, with half facing difficulty at work. 

Standard care relies heavily on medication, although guidelines recommend lifestyle and behavioural changes as first-line treatment. Solence addresses these gaps with a digital app offering a twelve-week program based on peer-reviewed research. 

The app includes interactive lessons focused on symptom reversal through lifestyle changes, monthly assessment scores, and guidance to manage triggers. It also uses data insights to adapt care to individual symptom patterns.

Solence’s scientific committee includes Professor Michel Pugeat, who has worked with PCOS since 2003, and neuroscience researcher Dr. Nour Mimouni. High treatment costs and misinformation continue to affect access to proper care across Europe.

Professor Pugeat says, “The general public needs information on PCOS, whose multitude of clinical expressions and the complexity of the causes, intertwined with the metabolic state, justify management by all health professionals, but also the search for new innovative and essential therapeutic approaches, such as that of Solence.”

Capital utilisation

Solence’s first product is a patient app, built to support symptoms “beyond the pill” through personalised lifestyle interventions that do not rely on pharmaceutical treatment alone. The funds will support the company to further develop the app’s functionality and grow its team.

The proceeds will also help the company to strengthen its clinical partnerships and support distribution strategies, to improve the lives of millions of women.

Clara Stephenson says, “PCOS is one of the great blind spots in women’s healthcare. It’s time to change that. Ultimately, our vision is to leverage data and environmental factors to better address chronic hormonal conditions among women, with a focus on prevention and improving their healthy life expectancy. This first round is a step towards realising this vision.”

Yonca Breackman, Founding Partner Impact Shakers Ventures, adds, “We backed Clara and Solence not only because PCOS is a condition that affects 1 in 7 women and can have serious consequences for women’s health and wellbeing, but also because Clara brings a unique perspective, experience and network to solving this challenge and scaling a solution that has the potential to reach hundreds of millions of women to improve their quality of life.”

During the COVID pandemic, Stephenson started Les Natives to share her experience with PCOS. The blog grew into a health and wellness platform, attracting over 135,000 visits and more than 8,000 followers. The response led Stephenson to found Solence.