Swindon & Wiltshire News
Tech startup launches wearable to combat hot flushes
A pioneering Bristol-based health-tech company has developed cutting-edge cooling technology to combat hot flushes.
Hot flushes affect millions across the UK, yet practical, science-backed solutions remain limited. The startup’s newly launched wrist-worn product uses a miniaturised cooling system capable of lowering skin temperature by up to 19.5°C in three minutes, with 10°C delivered in the first 10 seconds alone.
MyCelsius, co-founded by Maxime Kryvian, who personally experienced hot flushes due to stress and anxiety and Aonghus O’Donovan, an ex-Dyson engineer, has spent the last three years developing the device to deliver rapid, targeted cooling to manage hot flushes – particularly during menopause and periods of stress.
The wearable provides an instant cold sensation on the wearer’s wrist to cool and calm the body in moments of overheating, giving relief within seconds and the ability to nip a hot flush in the bud, improving sleep and daily comfort.
It’s one of the most powerful miniaturised cooling systems of its kind and is an intervention-first wearable, unlike most devices, which focus on data tracking.
MyCelsius is currently based at UWE Bristol’s Launch Space incubation hub, part of the University Enterprise Zone for aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage tech startups, and its team’s engineering background spans aerospace, aeronautics, Formula One and Dyson.
And it has credited UWE Bristol’s Launch Space incubator with playing a key role in accelerating its product development and engineering breakthroughs.
Maxime Kryvian, MyCelsius co-founder and CEO, said: “Women’s health has historically received far less attention and innovation than it needs, with hot flushes a daily reality for millions who feel there are few practical solutions available. We aim to bridge that gap, driving innovation to support wellbeing and confidence for women and for people who struggle with hot flushes on a daily basis.
“The environment at UWE Bristol has been instrumental in helping a small team rapidly develop and refine advanced hardware that demands extremely high engineering precision.
Being embedded in Launch Space has given us access to world-class engineering support just when we needed it most.”
The combination of engineering expertise, facilities and instant user access has created a development environment rarely available to early-stage hardware startups.
User trials with UWE Bristol’s menopause support group, Menochat, provided continuous feedback on the cooling bracelets’ effectiveness, size, design, usability and style – shaping multiple engineering decisions and accelerating development timelines.
This feedback loop allowed MyCelsius to quickly refine prototypes despite limited funding and a small team, creating a user-led, science-backed approach to women’s health innovation.
Unlike most wearables, which focus on tracking metrics, MyCelsius was built around intervention. Using an advanced and patent-pending thermo-electric technology system, it targets thermal nerve receptors in the wrist – one of the most temperature sensitive areas of the body – to interrupt the incorrect ‘overheating’ signal sent by the brain during a hot flush.
Trials have shown that the MyCelsius Cooling Bracelet can help reduce perspiration, heart racing and vasodilation more quickly and effectively, which halts a hot flush in its tracks. MyCelsius launched publicly just three weeks ago and is already receiving strong customer feedback and growing interest from health partners, employers and innovation networks.
Mahmoda Ali from Enterprise at UWE Bristol, which includes Launch Space, said: “MyCelsius is the perfect example of the high-impact, tech-enabled innovation that Launch Space exists to support.
“Developing advanced hardware of this complexity is a huge challenge for an early-stage business, and the team has made exceptional use of the facilities, expertise and specialist capabilities available within the Bristol Robotics Laboratory.
“What stands out in particular, is the speed at which MyCelsius has been able to iterate the product, working closely with our academic community and user groups on campus. It’s rare for a university to play a direct role in shaping the design of a product, and this is exactly what Launch Space is designed to enable.”
Launch Space’s hardware-focused accelerator has given MyCelsius access to:
- Specialist engineering facilities – including 3D printing, electronics support and specialist technicians able to work at micro-millimetre precision.
- On-site facilities within Future Space – being part of one of the UK’s most advanced engineering and robotics environments and connected to organisations within it.
- Proximity to UWE Bristol’s 4,500-strong staff community on the Frenchay Campus in North Bristol – facilitating connections and enabling MyCelsius to run rapid user testing and product refinement with the university’s internal menopause support group, Menochat, led by Sarah Garlick, assistant director of Student and Campus Life.
MyCelsius is rapidly gaining momentum across the South West tech and health innovation ecosystem, recently winning ‘One to Watch’ at the Medilink South West Regional Awards and shortlisted in both the ‘Innovation’ and ‘Health’ categories at the Tech South West Awards, as well as being a finalist in the ‘Pre-Revenue’ and ‘Health & Wellbeing’ categories at the EntreConf Awards.
With Bristol emerging as a UK centre for engineering and health innovation, MyCelsius now plans to grow its presence within the region and expand its developing partnerships with employers and menopause clinics.
