“Networking helped us understand the Ukrainian ecosystem and discover new collaboration opportunities” — How the Generation H program became a starting point for Ovul’s success

How the idea for a hormone tracker emerged

While planning for a baby, Serhii, the CEO and co-founder of Ovul, and his wife faced the need to carefully track her cycle, ovulation, and fertile days. Even in 2024, this process remains cumbersome and outdated, typically involving test strips. They decided to completely change the process by adding modern AI.

“At the time, I was working on building Siemens labs. When I came home, I had to deal with regular test strips that needed drying, storing, and triple-checking. It was incredibly inconvenient. Working on advanced diagnostic technology, I realized there must be a better solution — and that’s how Ovul began.”

What makes this solution unique?

Ovul can determine fertility from saliva in just five seconds. It’s simple: apply saliva to the device, close it, and let Ovul use AI to decode the sample and provide a precise result on your smartphone.

“It’s convenient, quick, and doesn’t require extra materials. For comparison, other methods force you to adjust your daily schedule, for example by using the first urine of the day or planning a testing schedule. We made a product that works whenever a woman needs it.”

Why saliva is the right material to work with

Using saliva to track fertility dates back to 1945. When saliva dries, specific patterns form on its surface, influenced by estrogen levels. The Ovul team designed a digital microscope that photographs these patterns and sends them to the cloud for AI analysis.

“We like to compare these patterns to a fern’s fronds. These shapes are unique and appear when hormone levels are high.”

How does Ovul’s AI technology work?

Ovul uses two levels of artificial intelligence. The first level recognizes patterns on the saliva image that signal estrogen levels. The second level analyzes the user’s historical data, such as cycle, well-being, weight, and habits. This enables personalized diagnostics.
Ovul doesn’t just recognize hormonal changes — it can detect other correlations between the images and user data.

How did the Generation H program help Ovul?

“We joined the program seeking connections, and that goal was achieved completely. We met many great mentors who gave us invaluable advice. For example, Jane Davydiuk gave a talk on startup management that changed our approach to planning. Volodymyr Nerubenko, Olena Pshenychnа, Serhii Kudriashov, and Maksym Moneta also played a big role in our development.

The biggest value of Generation H is people. Networking with mentors and other startups helped us understand the Ukrainian ecosystem and find new collaboration opportunities.

We became winners of Generation H, won the pitching session at the longevity symposium at Stanford, and were finalists in the Startup Grind Global Pitch Competition as one of the top 10 out of 1,500+ startups from 35 countries. These are significant achievements for us.

At Stanford, we showed how old scientific methods can gain new life through modern technology. Many experts were impressed.”

How the team used the $5000 Generation H grant

“We allocated the grant to clinical studies in Ukraine because we want to verify new diagnostic methods we’ve observed through data correlations. This $5000 helps us move forward and add more functionality to our product. Clinical studies are a critical step for us, since we aim to make Ovul a medical device officially registered in Ukraine.”

Ovul’s future

Along with steady growth and active participation in symposiums, scientific programs, and conferences, the team has clear milestones for the coming year. Among their main goals are:

• Expanding saliva analysis features and introducing new diagnostic parameters.
• Registering the product in Ukraine as a medical device.
• Turning Ovul into a lifestyle partner for every woman, helping keep track of health with minimal effort.

What advice would you give to other startups?

“First, it’s simple but hard to put into practice: don’t be afraid to start. Even if you don’t have a finished product, bring your idea to potential users. Their feedback will help you build something better.
Second, listen to your users. We started sending prototypes just three weeks after launching, and every three weeks we released a new iteration. This helped us develop something that the market really needs.”