Kesia Hudson
Amy Divaraniya, the founder and CEO of OOva, will tell you she had no intention of becoming an entrepreneur. As a matter of fact, she avoided taking any business courses during undergraduate studies, but as fate would have it, Amy was destined to be an entrepreneur.
Instead of business, Amy gravitated towards science with a focus on biology. She was interested in the intersection of biology and technology. Getting her masters degree in bioinformatics merged these two sectors for her. After graduating, Amy joined a large pharmaceutical company. It was a challenging environment for a young woman fresh out of graduate school with lots of innovative ideas to make an impact. There was a lot of bureaucracy and promotions were given to her male colleagues. Amy realized having a doctorate degree would add a lot more validity to the ideas she had and help her to compete in this industry. So, she went back to school.
Amy and her husband were trying to start a family, while she finished her doctorate degree. They were struggling to get pregnant. Amy tried all of the available tools and kits in the market, but found them to be inadequate. They are designed for women who have regular menstrual cycles, which she did not. After 18 stressful months, Amy conceived her son! Although she was fortunate, Amy knew there had to be a better way. Leveraging her data science and genetic science expertise, Amy developed Oova, the first at-home multi-diagnostic fertility test to confirm ovulation with groundbreaking precision and clinical accuracy. This discovery changed her outlook on entrepreneurship.
Founder Talk with Amy Divaraniya, was in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) Month. This event concludes The Standard Chartered Women’s Entrepreneurship Program Spring Speaker Series. To hear the full conversation moderated by Valerie Pholpituke, of Standard Chartered, click here.