American entrepreneur launches female healthcare app following successful Newcastle Startup Week venture

Minnesota-based Cindy Moy Carr has chosen to launch a female healthcare app, mySysters, in the North East after finding help at Newcastle Startup Week in 2017.

mySysters is a social and self-care mobile platform to help women manage the symptoms that can occur from the hormonal fluctuations during ‘pre-menopause’ - when a woman’s body gradually produces less estrogen, possibly leading to the likes of migraines, joint pain, anxiety and other symptoms.

Symptoms typically start around age 35 and last into the 60s but may begin in a woman’s 20s. The app lets women track their symptoms, print a chart of what they’ve tracked, and share advice with other women in discussion forums.

Founder, Cindy Moy Carr’s decision to launch her business in the North East is a direct result of the help she found at Newcastle Startup Week in May 2017.

She said: “It began by accident. There isn’t much of a startup community in Minnesota, or in the US for people who aren’t fresh out of college so I was originally looking for tech hubs in Canada.

“However, a 2012 blog post written by Paul Lancaster popped up in my search results that said Newcastle was a great place for startups.

“I decided to attend all five days of the festival… Eight weeks after Newcastle Startup Week, we registered as a UK company!”

Jon Dudgeon, co-founder of Blu Sky Chartered Accountants, added: “Cindy spotted us on stage at Newcastle Startup Week in 2017 and ended up chatting to one of our team during the after party.

“We were instantly hooked on her business concept and couldn’t wait to get involved to help grow the business. Working with Cindy provides us with plenty of opportunities to look at scaling and supporting a growing business and is something we enjoy.”

Paul Lancaster, founder and event producer of Newcastle Startup Week, also commented: “The reason we first started Newcastle Startup Week was to show the world what a great place the North East is to start or grow a business by bringing together all the best help, advice and support in one place.

“Cindy’s story is such amazing validation for the event and the close-knit and collaborative nature of the business startup community you can find in our region that we are consistently told doesn’t exist anywhere else.”

The mySysters app is currently available to download on the App Store.