Startup of the Month: B•wom

CEO and co-founder of B•wom Helena Torras, 41, Barcelona

I was first introduced to the concept of B•wom in 2015 by Veronica Torras (the fact that we have the same last name is just a coincidence). I was immediately drawn to her idea of creating an app that would teach women how to train their pelvic floor muscles, and a few months later we launched the company. We managed to raise €60,000 in funding for the app in the first few months, and as investments continued to grow in 2016, I joined the company full-time. 

I have a lot of experience in the world of business. I studied business administration at ESADE before joining the auditing sector of KPMG. After a few years working as a consultant, I was appointed CEO of the domiciliary healthcare firm SARDomus. It was here that I first began to invest in startups together with my husband and some friends, and I took a leap of faith and invested in two guys with only a PowerPoint presentation. Soon after, I left my job in order to concentrate on acquiring investments for this startup, a cloud management software company called Abiquo. So far we’ve raised 28 million dollars.

There are many taboos when it comes to women’s intimate health. B•wom empowers women by providing them with the right information. A woman’s body goes through a lot of changes throughout life, but often people don’t know much about them. B•wom creates personalized preventative care plans for women’s intimate health, giving them tips, exercises, content and healthy habits.

Our target audience is all women. While most of our current users are over 30, we’d like to start reaching younger audiences too—the earlier you introduce good habits, the better. At the moment we have 200,000 users in more than 10 countries around the world. Of course we’d like to grow globally, but another goal is to increase our B2B customer base to expand the health scope that the app deals with.

We’re based at Pier 01. Everyone working in the building is an entrepreneur or an investor, so it really is a supportive community—it’s nice to be able to share any experiences or doubts with other people going through the same process. I think Barcelona is one of the best cities in Europe to start your own business. We have a loyal workforce, a growing ecosystem and the city is attractive to the international market.

My advice for those looking to start their own business is to do so because they really believe in it, not because they have nothing else to do. Launching a business is never a smooth path, but while it may be tough, it’s also extremely rewarding. In terms of practicalities, it’s vital to look for your customers before you act on an idea—after all, your product won’t sell if there’s no market. 

For more about the app, visit b-wom.com.