A wearable device developed through three years of research and testing is helping women manage hot flushes – demonstrating how innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration can translate ideas into real-world impact.
For many women, hot flushes are one of the most disruptive symptoms of menopause – affecting sleep, confidence and day-to-day life. Yet, like many issues when it comes to women’s healthcare, practical solutions remain limited.
At UWE Bristol’s University Enterprise Zone, a start-up called MyCelsius has spent the past three years developing a wearable device designed to provide rapid cooling during hot flushes. The wrist-worn technology delivers targeted cooling within seconds, helping women manage symptoms in a discreet, non-medicinal way. The innovation combines engineering, user-centred design and real-world testing, supported by the innovation ecosystem across Launch Space, Future Space and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory.
For co-founders Max and Aonghus, the goal was clear: create a solution that genuinely improves women’s health and wellbeing.
The Problem
Hot flushes affect millions of women worldwide, yet the everyday impact of the symptom is often underestimated.
The idea behind MyCelsius began when co-founder Max experienced hot flushes linked to stress and anxiety. Early in the company’s journey, the founders joined an incubator programme with healthcare provider Bupa, where they gained deeper insight into the scale of the issue through conversations with women experiencing menopause.
What they heard was striking.
“Hot flushes can disrupt sleep, which leads to fatigue and insomnia,” explains Max. “That then affects concentration, productivity and mental wellbeing.”
For many women, existing solutions were limited.
While hormone replacement therapy (HRT) works well for some, it isn’t suitable or desirable for everyone. Outside of medical treatment, options were often limited to handheld fans or other temporary fixes.
“We realised there was a real gap,” Max says.
“Women deserve solutions that are effective, discreet and designed specifically with their needs in mind.”
The Innovation
Turning that idea into a viable product required extensive research and development.
Over nearly three years, the MyCelsius team conducted more than 1,000 tests and built hundreds of prototypes to refine the technology behind the device.
“We’ve worked with a community of hundreds of women going through menopause,” says co-founder Aonghus. “At every stage we tried to get prototypes onto people’s wrists so they could tell us how it should function, how it should look, and how it should feel.”
This user-centred design approach shaped every stage of development.
Early prototypes were large and bulky; they were functional, but impractical.
“We started with a big, ugly prototype strapped to someone’s wrist,” Aonghus laughs. “Even when it worked, people didn’t want to wear something that large.”
Over time, continuous testing and feedback helped the team refine the design, reducing the size while improving performance.
The result? A compact wearable device capable of delivering rapid cooling to the skin, helping to interrupt or reduce hot flushes. The system uses a miniaturised cooling mechanism designed to deliver significant temperature change within seconds.
Engineering that performance into such a small device was one of the biggest technical challenges.
“It’s easy to increase performance by making something bigger,” Max explains.
“The real challenge was maintaining that cooling power while keeping the device small, stylish and wearable.”
The Impact
Although still early in its journey, MyCelsius is already showing the potential of innovation driven by real user needs.
For the founders, the most rewarding part has been seeing the product make a difference in people’s lives.
“Designing something that genuinely helps people is what we’re most proud of,” says Aonghus.
“After years of development, seeing real users have a fantastic experience with it makes it all worthwhile.”
Voices from the Project
The journey from concept to market has not been straightforward.
“When we started, we genuinely didn’t know if the system was even feasible,” Max says.
Three and a half years later, the device has evolved dramatically.
“We started with something that looked like a prison tag. Now we have a stylish wearable product that’s helping people manage hot flushes.”
For the team, however, this is just the beginning.
“It feels too early to say we’ve achieved everything,” Max reflects. “You climb one mountain and then you see the next one behind it.”
Innovation at UWE Bristol
The MyCelsius journey has been closely connected to UWE Bristol’s innovation ecosystem.
The company has been based within Launch Space, part of the University Enterprise Zone, with additional support from Future Space and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL).
These environments provide access to workspaces, specialist facilities, technical expertise and business networks that help early-stage companies accelerate their development.
“We’ve been incredibly fortunate to be part of Launch Space, Future Space and BRL,” says Aonghus. “At Launch Space we have access to offices, labs and workshops. At BRL we can learn from experts in electronics and robotics. And Future Space connects us with an incredible network that helps us solve challenges.”
Max agrees the support has been transformative.
“It’s given us the infrastructure and foundation we needed to build the company.”
What’s Next?
Having launched the product recently, the next goal is simple: reach more people.
“We want to get MyCelsius onto as many wrists as possible,” says Max.
As more users adopt the technology, the team plans to continue gathering feedback and refining the product – ensuring the innovation continues to evolve alongside the needs of the people it serves.
For the founders, one milestone stands out.
“The moment I’m looking forward to,” Max says, “is seeing someone wearing MyCelsius out in the street.”
You can learn more about MyCelsius and the technology behind the wearable cooling device.
Discover more RISE stories showing how research, innovation, skills and enterprise at UWE Bristol are creating real-world impact.
