About Mohana
is a precision health platform to help women in perimenopause feel better and navigate this transition with ease and confidence.
They leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify the most impactful interventions from scientific literature for each user鈥檚 symptoms, given each person鈥檚 unique biomarker profile.
1. What ignited your passion for women's hormonal health and inspired you to start Mohana?
Mohana founder Dora Jambor鈥檚 entrepreneurship journey stemmed from a foundation in computer science and AI, as she recalls 鈥渁lways being interested in the technical side of things.鈥� While working as an AI research scientist at , a renowned Montreal-based artificial intelligence institute, Jambor observed that many of her peers were striving to work for Silicon Valley tech giants, a dream she once shared herself. However, she ultimately pivoted away from this trajectory in pursuit of a career more closely aligned with her personal values.
During this period, Jambor wrestled with hormonal health, and through candid conversations with female friends, she uncovered a widespread struggle among women facing similar frustrations. These shared experiences inspired Jambor to build a women鈥檚 health startup, aiming to empower individuals with credible, science-backed health information to take a proactive role in managing their health.
2. What do you see as gaps in the healthcare system regarding women鈥檚 health?
After speaking to hundreds of physicians and women to pinpoint why women remain frustrated, confused, and overwhelmed with addressing their hormonal health, Jambor has identified three key reasons for the persistent gap in women鈥檚 perimenopausal health:
Lack of physician training in perimenopausal health
Many women turn to friends or unreliable online sources for information about their hormonal health. This is often because their first point of contact, physicians, are not adequately equipped to address their concerns. Perimenopause is not a focus in most medical school curricula, leaving many doctors unable to connect women鈥檚 symptoms to hormone-related health issues. As a result, women frequently fall into a cycle of seeking ineffective solutions before realizing their issues are hormone related.
The exclusion of women from medical research
Jambor highlights that researchers were not required to include female participants in their clinical studies until 1993. As a result, much of the medical knowledge available today was developed without ever being tested on the female body. She shares that while there is already a significant gap in our understanding of women鈥檚 health, even the knowledge we possess is not being effectively disseminated to women.
The funding gap for women鈥檚 health issues
Lastly, Jambor points to a funding gap in the field of women鈥檚 health. She explains, 鈥淲hen there is no capital, you cannot build a company. You can have the biggest idea, the best intentions, and the best training, but if you don鈥檛 manage to raise capital, it is going to be very challenging to go from point A to B.鈥�
The lack of female representation among investors exacerbates the issue. When discussions about women鈥檚 hormonal health take place in rooms dominated by male investors, it can be difficult to capture and sustain their attention. Jambor emphasizes that addressing this funding gap is critical to advancing solutions for women鈥檚 health.
3. What challenges have you faced as a solo founder? How have your community and partners within the entrepreneurship ecosystem supported you?
Jambor shares that she never intended to be a solo entrepreneur. Reflecting on her journey, she recalls navigating several co-founder trials before finally meeting her current co-founder, Sabrina B枚sch. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very difficult experience to go through the challenges of building a company on your own versus with someone by your side,鈥� she explains. 鈥淏eing a solo founder requires extreme mental resilience to get yourself out of the lows of building a company.鈥� Looking back, Jambor recognizes that finding the right co-founder has been the missing piece in her entrepreneurial journey until now.
Jambor also emphasizes the importance of building a strong network of female founders. She highlights the value of incubators like the 海角社区 Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship, noting:
鈥淗aving a lot of individuals personally invested in my success means the world to me because, as an entrepreneur, you want to feel the support of the ecosystem. That completely changes your attitude towards how you build your company.鈥�- Dora Jambor, Founder & CEO of Mohana
Jambor also credits Rachel Bartholomew, a member of the advisory board of , as one of her champions in the industry. She considers Bartholomew an inspiring example of what it means to advocate for female founders and hopes to do the same for junior female founders.
4. Pitchbook data reveals that women-founded startups accounted for 2% or less of venture capital (VC) funding invested in Europe and the United States in 2023. As a female founder, you鈥檝e advocated for closing this gender gap. What role do you think investors should play in this effort?
Dora Jambor emphasizes that change must originate within the venture capital world. 鈥淲omen鈥檚 health issues are not going to be solved until you put capital towards it. This is how innovation happens. It鈥檚 not a lack of female founders or their lack of skills; the [VC industry] must change systematically,鈥� she explains.
Reflecting on her fundraising experiences, Jambor highlights the importance of female representation among venture capitalists. She notes that having at least one woman in a room of VCs can make a significant difference, as men often lack firsthand experience with women鈥檚 hormonal health issues. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very inspiring to see more women joining the VC world so they can make a difference,鈥� she adds.
5. How were you able to develop your business acumen while building Mohana?
Dora Jambor shares that she holds an undergraduate degree in business and economics and recalls being entrepreneurial in high school, participating in several startup competitions. However, she acknowledges that transitioning from her technical AI career to becoming a founder required her to acquire many new skills. Jambor credits incubator programs for equipping her with essential knowledge, including startup fundamentals, market analysis, and pitch-deck building.
6. You were a top 3 finalist at the SLUSH 100 Pitch Competition. How do you deliver a compelling pitch, and how did you develop these skills?
Practice is key, according to Dora Jambor, who recalls the countless hours she invested in refining her pitch. She shares that, over the course of building Mohana, their team went through at least 40 iterations of the same pitch deck. Jambor later emphasizes the importance of always being open to feedback. 鈥淪how your pitch deck to people, to your male friends,鈥� she advises. Reflecting on the overwhelmingly male presence among the 4,000 investors at the center stage, she recalls thinking of ways to present perimenopause and women鈥檚 health to a male-dominated audience.
To address this challenge, Jambor stresses the importance of using relatable language tailored to the audience and crafting a digestible story that clearly conveys the problem at hand. She even shares that ChatGPT has been a useful resource, recounting instances where she prompted ChatGPT to act as Paul Graham, the influential co-founder of Y Combinator, to critique her deck.
Finally, Jambor highlights the last step to delivering a great pitch: memorization. She concludes by saying that even if you鈥檙e woken up in the middle of the night, you should know the story by heart.
7. As a finalist at SLUSH, what were you most excited about?
Jambor candidly says, "the prize," explaining that the prospect of closing 鈧�1,000,000 in equity investment during a single conference was both exciting and just simply, an efficient approach to fundraising, especially compared to the lengthy process of traditional fundraising.
She also highlights the positive and energizing atmosphere of the conference. 鈥淎ll the founders in the competition were so supportive of each other,鈥� she shares, noting that even the finalists were rooting for one another to win. Finally, Jambor emphasizes the exposure Mohana gained by pitching to a sizable audience. The pitch generated significant momentum, putting Mohana in a position to close out its fundraising.
