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Providing lifetime value to folx who are
on a journey to a better quality of life,
one pelvic floor at a time

The seed of the idea for Hyivy Health
has quickly grown into an international
company of over 24 professionals

Woman owned and run company
invested in improving and innovating
the future of women’s health

I started this company because you deserve better.

From surgery for endometriosis, pelvic floor therapy sessions treating my PTSD for Bartholin’s gland issue, to a cervical cancer diagnosis at 28 years old, I have faced the realities of early menopause, long lasting damage to my bladder and pelvic floor, and the ways this has impacted my ability to be intimate for rest of my life.

I created Hyivy Health while on bed rest after my hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy. I turned to a community of over 10,000 women who shared their stories, support, and tips about after care which got me through my darkest days. These women inspired me to get inquisitive about pelvic floor rehabilitation.

Why haven’t pelvic dilators been updated since 1938? Why isn’t pelvic health looked at more holistically? Why aren’t there more resources for pelvic health patients to connect with clinicians and pelvic floor therapists? Why aren’t women getting better care?

I knew something had to be done.

I started this Hyivy Health during one of the worst times in my life. It inspired me to talk to my doctors, therapists, and other patients where I learned that better, intelligent, patient-centered solutions can revolutionize pelvic health.

Our purpose for Hyivy started with my experiences, but has quickly grown to addressing each woman’s individual situation. We have created the first holistic device that treats, monitors, tracks and prevents various pelvic symptoms 1 in 3 women experience in their lifetime.

Our vision is to provide lifetime value to women, globally; and our mission is to support and care for women who are on a journey to a better quality of life, one pelvic floor at a time.

Sincerely,

 

 

Rachel Bartholomew, CEO & Founder

The Hyivy Team

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    Rachel
    Rachel Bartholomew
    CEO & Founder
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    Rachel Bartholomew
    CEO & Founder

    Rachel Bartholomew has been involved in the Canadian start up community for the past 10 years working in various roles in small businesses, venture capital, innovation labs and ecosystem partners. She currently working on her second business, Hyivy Health, created from her own battle with cervical cancer in 2019. Her last start up, The Mod Market, worked with large corporate clients, such as eBay and Canadian Tire, to create augmented reality, e-commerce experiences for the aftermarket automotive industry.

    She is a graduate of the Masters of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology program at the University of Waterloo and Bachelors of Commerce at York University. After graduation, she became an entrepreneurial advisor to over 250 formation stage businesses in the University of Waterloo undergraduate and graduate programs.

    She gives lectures in entrepreneurship to graduate, PhD and postdoctoral students in Business, Engineering, and Quantum Computing. She has worked as an Analyst for venture capital firm CyberNorth Ventures, an Innovation Manager at Meridian Credit Union, Program Coordinator for Wilfrid Laurier University’s incubator program LaunchPad, a Business Development Manager for a clean tech startup and is the Chapter Lead for Waterloo Regions Hacking Health Global Initiative. Her involvement and dedication to the health care community came from her recent cancer diagnosis and her passion and motivation to help improve the health care industry for patients and practitioners alike.

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    Julianna
    Julianna Downes
    Systems Engineering Lead
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    Julianna Downes
    Systems Engineering Lead

    Julianna is the Systems Engineering Manager at Hyivy. I’m a graduate of the Biomedical Engineering program at the University of Waterloo (BASc ’21), where I developed my engineering experience through co-ops and schooling. I’ve worked in a wide array of fields such as automotive, robotics, augmented, autonomous robotics, and medical devices. I’ve had the opportunity to have multiple different roles in these field, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, software app development, and mechatronics engineering. At Hyivy, I’m considered the bridge between the mechanical and electrical engineering teams, focusing on the integration of the two for the device.  

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    Susan
    Susan Stover
    Director of Marketing & Sales
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    Susan Stover
    Director of Marketing & Sales

    Susan Stover is a Marketing and Branding specialist working in the FemTech industry. With over 10 years of experience working as a marketing and sales professional, Susan has worked across numerous verticals including biometrics, mobile identification, finance, and health care. Susan is a passionate member of the FemTech community with her blog What the FemTech?!, she has been featured in publications like FemTech Insider and FemTech.Live, and is the co-host of the monthly FemTech Focus Book Club facilitating thought-provoking conversation with FemTech entrepreneurs, innovators, authors, and thought leaders. Susan lives in Toronto, Ontario with her cat Mister Pickles.

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    Amy
    Amy Wang
    Quality Manager
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    Amy Wang
    Quality Manager

    Amy is a graduate of McMaster University, where she completed her Master of Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization (MBDC) in 2023. During her studies, she gained a comprehensive understanding of the pharmaceutical and medical device commercialization process. She has also gained experience in various facets and roles within the life sciences industry, including consulting, working for start-ups, creating commercialization strategies for innovative technologies, and conducting laboratory research. Amy initially joined Hyivy as a Quality intern, and she is enthusiastic about contributing to the success of Hyivy while continuing her professional development with the talented team there. 

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    Annabelle
    Annabelle Chu
    Director of Product Development
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    Annabelle Chu
    Director of Product Development

    Annabelle is a dynamic leader with extensive experience in bringing medical devices to market. She is passionate about creating safe and effective healthcare solutions that positively impact patient outcomes and their quality of life. She has successfully led the delivery of multiple complex medical devices through design & development, manufacturing, to launch across multiple international markets (USA, Canada, and Europe); while implementing compliant Quality Management Systems. With a decade of experience, her portfolio includes a neuro-planning software, a neuro-navigation device, a medical imaging informatics system, surgical tools, a cryogen-free 0.5T MRI, and a soft-tissue localization device. Her expertise spans standalone hardware, software, and integrated systems. She has held roles in systems engineering, quality and design assurance, regulatory affairs, testing, and project management - giving her a uniquely holistic perspective on medical device development.

    Annabelle has a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University in New York, has a Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto, and is a Professional Engineer. Outside of work she enjoys travel, discovering new food, cooking, and baking.

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    Christie
    Christie Eby
    Director of Operations
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    Christie Eby
    Director of Operations

    Christie Eby brings over 20 years of experience in the Health IT field, as a leader in the areas of: Medical Device Regulatory, Quality Systems, Innovation and Change Management, Process Improvement, Facilitation, Software Development and HR for scaling operations. For the last 15 years she has been part of a management team at three start-ups: Client Outlook Inc, Intellijoint Surgical and HyIvy. In all organizations Christie was leading QMS compliance in:  ISO 13485:2016, MDSAP, CE Mark, TGA, ISO 62304, Health Canada, ISO 14971. In addition, she ensured compliance for Iterative Development with respect to Agile and Scrum methodologies.

    Prior to Client Outlook, she was an Operations team member for the Global Informatics Business Unit at Agfa HealthCare, and a member of the Quality Management team for international software development sites involved in Medical Devices.

    Christie is passionate about Healthcare innovation and a member of the Board for Waterloo MedTech as well as on the Board of Directors for WCT Waterloo. She is currently writing her dissertation paper for her MBA specializing in ‘Managing Innovation and Change.’

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    Kelly
    Kelly Foley, PhD
    Director of Clinical & Medical
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    Kelly Foley, PhD
    Director of Clinical & Medical

    Kelly brings over 15 years of research experience to Hyivy, having worked in academic, private medical practice, and Medtech environments. With particular expertise in knowledge translation of medical research, Kelly has contributed to 40+ publications in peer-reviewed journals across Neuroscience, Dermatology, and Orthopaedics. She has managed day-to-day project operations of a real-world evidence research program and lead cross-functional projects to support regulatory and commercial activities.

     

    Kelly's focus is building Hyivy's clinical and medical program that will advance medical education in pelvic health and develop partnerships with HCPs to gather high quality real-world evidence to further our understanding of pelvic health and improve the lives of patients.

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    Michelle
    Michelle Chan
    Mechanical Lead
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    Michelle Chan
    Mechanical Lead

    Michelle is the Mechanical Lead at Hyivy. Michelle attended the University of Waterloo for Mechanical Engineering as an undergraduate student as well as a graduate student. She is experienced in many disciplines of mechanical engineering such as fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and mechanical design. She has gained this experience from her research at the University of Waterloo along with her experience in construction and consulting co-ops. Michelle began as a mechanical co-op at Hyivy and is excited about her new position at the company. In Michelle's free time she enjoys watching reality tv shows, reading, and playing with her cat.

Our Advisors

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    Keri
    Keri Martin Vrbanac
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    Hannah
    Hannah Duraid
    Social Media Advisor 
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    Bryce
    Bryce Bonneville
    Lawyer
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    Dr.
    Dr. Michael Krychman
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    Dr.
    Dr. Stephanie Ferguson
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    Dr.
    Dr. Shubham Gupta
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Our Research Team

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    Dr.
    Dr. Mathew Leonardi
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    Dr.
    Dr. Jocelyn Wessels
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    Shay
    Shay Freger
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    Dr.
    Dr. Zhao Pan
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    Dr.
    Dr. Jason Ding
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    Dr.
    Dr. Daniel Glick

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Hyivy Health recognizes Kamyar Rounidej as former co-founder and first chief technical officer.