From Idea to Impact: How UNSW’s Women Founders Are Revolutionising Health Tech
At UNSW Founders’ annual International Women’s Day Breakfast, the theme ‘March Forward’ set the stage for an inspiring showcase of women-led innovation in health tech. The event brought together trailblazing entrepreneurs who are breaking barriers in MedTech, biotechnology, and digital health, turning personal challenges into solutions that are now changing lives worldwide.
The panel featured three standout founders who have taken on some of healthcare’s biggest challenges:
Hayley Saddington (CEO, Peak Medical) – Developing AI-powered rehabilitation technology to improve surgical recovery.
Catherine Slogrove (Founder, Amelia Bio) – Tackling vaginal microbiome health with science-backed probiotic solutions.
Anastasia Latin (Co-Founder, Preview Health) – Using AI to detect early signs of Parkinson’s disease, bridging the gap between research and real-world diagnostics.
Their journeys, filled with resilience, strategic pivots, and a relentless pursuit of impact, highlight a growing trend: women founders are driving some of the most critical innovations in healthcare today—yet they remain significantly underfunded.
From left to right: Victoria-Rose Tucker (New Wave Program Manager), Catherine Slogrove, Hayley Saddington and Anastasia Latin.
Disrupting Healthcare: The Founders Making It Happen
Hayley Saddington: Bringing AI into Surgical Recovery
With a background in robotic surgery and MedTech, Hayley Saddington saw firsthand how public hospital patients struggled to prepare for and recover from major surgeries. Many waited months or years for procedures, only to be given minimal support in the lead-up and rushed through post-surgical rehabilitation.
Determined to change this, she co-founded Peak Medical, an AI-powered digital health platform that provides personalised prehabilitation and recovery plans, mimicking the experience of working with a physiotherapist, but from the comfort of a patient’s home.
Peak Medical is now launching with a national hospital in Australia and expanding to India, proving that founder-led innovation can fill the gaps where traditional healthcare systems fall short.
Catherine Slogrove: Breaking Barriers in Women’s Health
Women’s health remains one of the most overlooked areas of medical research, with conditions like vaginal microbiome imbalances often dismissed or poorly understood.
For Catherine Slogrove, this was personal. After struggling to find effective treatments, she realised just how little innovation existed in this space. She used profits from her first business to fund years of R&D, working with scientists, gynaecologists, and regulatory experts to develop Amelia Bio, a clinically backed probiotic aimed at restoring and maintaining vaginal microbiome health.
Despite the regulatory red tape and lack of established market pathways, Amelia Bio has already gained international traction, with products shipping to the US, UK, Belgium, and Canada.
"Women’s health research has been decades behind. If we waited for traditional R&D funding, we’d be looking at another 20 years before real innovation reached consumer."
Anastasia Latin: Using AI to Detect Parkinson’s Early
A career in public health and psychology wasn’t supposed to lead Anastasia Latin into entrepreneurship, but a chance meeting with her co-founder changed her career course.
Her co-founder, a medical researcher, had discovered an AI-driven method to detect early signs of Parkinson’s disease, a breakthrough that had the potential to transform diagnostics and improve patient outcomes. But like much of medical research, the discovery risked being buried in academic journals rather than reaching patients who needed it.
Recognising the potential for global impact, Anastasia pivoted her career and co-founded Preview Health, a startup now working to bring cutting-edge AI diagnostics to market.
"The hardest part of healthcare innovation isn’t the technology—it’s getting it into the hands of the people who need it."
Why Women’s Health Startups Need More Support
Despite their successes, these founders know the odds are still stacked against women-led startups, especially in health tech. Research shows that women-led businesses receive less than 1% of private sector funding, despite generating higher returns on investment and reinvesting more in community health and social impact.
Programs like UNSW Founders’ Health 10x Accelerator play a crucial role in bridging this gap. By providing access to funding, investor networks, and expert mentorship, they ensure that high-impact ventures don’t get lost in the system. For many founders, this is the difference between making it or not.
"Cold emails often go nowhere, and breaking into the health industry as a founder is tough," Catherine Slogrove said. "But at UNSW Founders, we didn’t just get introductions—we got real support. That changes everything."
Investing in the Future of Women in Innovation
Kristen Pelletier, highlighting Westpac’s invaluable partnership with UNSW Founders.
Beyond accelerator programs, long-term funding commitments are essential to sustaining the pipeline of women-led startups. That’s why Westpac has stepped up, funding:
💰 Two $7,500 first-place prizes for both New Wave’s Showcases in 2025.
🎓 Three $20,000 equity scholarships for women and non-binary founders accepted into the UNSW Founders 10x Accelerator.
By removing financial barriers and providing critical early-stage funding, these initiatives allow women entrepreneurs to focus on building, scaling, and launching innovations that have real-world impact.
What’s Next? Applications Open April 1!
If you’re an ambitious founder looking to scale your health or biotech startup, or if you're a woman or non-binary entrepreneur needing financial support to go full-time, now is the time to apply.
🔹 Health 10x Accelerator Applications Open April 1 – Get the support, mentorship, and funding to scale your medtech, biotech, or digital health startup.
🔹 Westpac Equity Scholarships Applications Open April 1 – Receive $20,000 to support your entrepreneurial journey, covering expenses so you can focus on building your venture.
As the UNSW Founders International Women’s Day Breakfast wrapped up, one message was clear: Women founders are driving some of the most important innovations in healthcare, but they need the funding, resources, and recognition to scale their impact. With more support, these startups won’t just succeed, they’ll redefine how we approach healthcare altogether.
