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In many countries around the world, balancing career and family has resulted in women having children at an older age. But with that comes the reality that there are far more difficulties in trying to get pregnant. That has fueled a demand for start-ups looking to bridge the gap via technology. Our correspondent Mark Niu introduces us to some Chinese female startup founders who have been driven by the quest to create happy and healthy families.
For Beijing-native Du Han, having her second child took nearly five years. She named her son Comper, the same name she later gave her company, which came out with a smart basal thermometer and app that tracks the best time to conceive. A neurosurgeon by training, Du faced another challenge when starting her company-- convincing male engineers to join her.
DU HAN FOUNDER AND CEO, COMPER HEALTHCARE "They want to do something really cool like, something flying, diving into the water. They think that's sexy right? So, in the beginning, we had a lot of communication. You will feel proud if you come to make some product that your wife can use, your Mom's can use. They will feel very thankful, make some products really can change people's lives."
Comper's basal thermometer became one of the most popular items in its category in online stores in China. The company also listened to customers' needs and created new products to satisfy them - like a fetal heart monitor and their latest device - a thermometer that measures a child's temperature by being applied to the forehead.
MARK NIU SILICON VALLEY, CALIFORNIA "Du founded Comper here in Silicon Valley, but later moved the headquarters to Beijing to access a greater pool of engineering talent, more efficient manufacturing capabilities, and to better target China's market. But still, Comper has decided to launch their forehead thermometer on U.S. crowdfunding site Kickstarter."
MARK NIU "Why use crowdfunding in the U.S.?"
DU HAN FOUNDER AND CEO, COMPER HEALTHCARE "It's a test for the U.S. market. For product to see if American users like it or not, they are giving us a lot of feedback to improve our product."
MARK NIU "Why won't that work in China?"
DU HAN FOUNDER AND CEO, COMPER HEALTHCARE "We have not found any platform like Kickstarter."
MARK NIU SILICON VALLEY "Americans like to purchase things earlier. Is that one thing?"
DU HAN FOUNDER AND CEO, COMPER HEALTHCARE "Yeah, yeah, yeah, Americans like purchase earlier. They feel very comfortable to pay first and get the product months after or even one year."
Focusing on pregnancy is also proving to be a winning formula for the startup Mira.
"Mira is like shrinking that kind of lab equipment into a palm-sized device."
Having won numerous pitch contests, Mira has just launched this fertility tracking device, which measures actual hormone concentrations.
SYLVIA KANG CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, MIRA "She will just pee on this or sample her urine by dipping into there. Insert this test wand into our Mira analyzer. The data will be synchronized to our Mira app. This will show what is her fertile day. And most importantly, we will have her hormone curve. And also it will tell this is her fertile time."
Headquartered in northern California, Mira also has its own production facility in Hangzhou, China. Their aim is to target both the U.S. and China markets, firmly believing their technology will impact lives around the world. Mark Niu, CGTN, Pleasanton, California.