WoW Woman in HealthTech | Eszter Ozsvald, founder and CTO of Notch
Interview by MarijaButkovic
Eszter Ozsvald is the founder and CTO of Notch, a motion-tech company based in New York and Budapest. Notch serves as a platform for developers, researchers and entrepreneurs to understand and analyze human motion, and build products and apps to either help improve health-related (e.g. gait analysis in Parkinson’s) or sports-specific physical fitness (e.g. golf coaching tool). Their latest initiative, Yoganotch, offers yoga practitioners a personal yoga assistant by providing live personalized advice.
Eszter holds a double engineering major degree from Budapest Technical University (industrial design + mechatronics), and a master's degree obtained at NYU ITP. During her bachelor's degree, Eszter designed a biologically inspired robotic fish that swims very similar to a real fish. She has been also working on interactive textile installations, her work has been featured around the world, in exhibitions, including Siggraph LA + HK and Issey Miyake Tribeca storefront. She is the co-creator of Heatit, an Arduino-based hardware platform for powering interactive textiles. In her free time, Eszter enjoys doing boxing, yoga, and running, watching (reading) sci-fi, or reading about psychology, creativity, and education.
Eszter, what is the idea behind your project/product and how did you come up with it?
We built Yoganotch after spending a lot of time on the road in different countries, with schedules, that made visiting gyms or studios impossible. At that time I was in charge of setting up manufacturing for Notch Pioneer and had to invent all sorts of fitness routines to stay in shape. When we were discussing potential consumer applications yoga was something everyone on the team could relate to. It was also a perfect application for at-home practice.
When did all start and do you have other members in your team?
We started working on Yoganotch in late 2017 not long after we launched Notch Pioneer. We have a team in NYC and in Budapest, where engineering is taking place.
How long did it take you to be where you are now?
We shipped our first device at Notch in 2017, the first Yoganotch set about 2 months ago. Overall it took around 3 years of R&D (from 2014 to 2017) to get to our first launch. Now we have 1000s of researchers and developers around the world using Notch Pioneer devices and have just started shipping first Yoganotch units.
What was the biggest obstacle?
The biggest obstacle for Yoganotch was making technology as unobtrusive as possible. For something as nuanced as yoga we had to make sure that all the parts visible to practitioners, or even just influencing their experience do not get in the way of their yoga. The audio instructions have to sound like you are actually participating in a yoga class. The results and the analysis that we present to the practitioner should be understandable at a glance and yet have enough depth to help someone improve their practice.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
5-star reviews in App Stores for the Notch Pioneer App. Nothing beats seeing glowing unsolicited feedback from people who are using something you have created.
What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in the niche you are in? How about being a female founder / entrepreneur?
Getting past "hardware is hard" bias in fundraising, which some many see as "hardware is impossible". It's also challenging to be a female founder in the sport-tech field, which is mainly represented by male entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
What are your projects you are currently working on?
I am in self-isolation right now, with my family so I am getting to try all sorts of new things - the latest one was digging up 5x5 meter space to plant some lettuce and tomatoes. Now I am also setting aside some time to read and expand my knowledge in exercise physiology, and psychology and learning.
Is #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
Yes, most definitely. There are differences in how women and men experience the world we live in as well in the way we design and use technologies to bring new ideas to life. It is especially important in the industry where I am in; health-related fitness, sports-related performance, and personal goals can be just way different for women and men, both physiologically and mentally.
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to all female founders and female entrepreneurs out there?
Never ever believe in gender-based stereotypes. Don't doubt your skills. If you don't know something [that's important to reach your goal], go ahead and learn it. Be patient and consistent.
What will be the key trends in the health tech and wellness industry in the next 5 years and where do you see it heading?
I am so looking forward to seeing new ways of interactions and personalized guidance: next-level sports education and super engaging ways to maintain health-related fitness. Our experience in the physical world will inform our experiences in the digital world and vice versa. Commercially available.
Who are your 3 inspirational women in health tech / wellness?
It is a very good question! There are lots of cool health-tech / wellness-tech companies, but in fact, I am not sure who is in charge.
Website: http://yoganotch.com http://wearnotch.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yoganotch/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoganotch/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/yoganotch
This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship and diversity. Visit marijabutkovic.co.uk or follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic.