The founding team of Feminai is unique in the Israeli entrepreneurial world, both in the composition of the founders and in the challenge they are addressing. The three – Dr. Karny Ilan, Shani Klein and Gal Yanuka – developed a new technology in the field of breast cancer diagnosis, backed by a registered patent, and established a startup in the summer of 2022. The startup was established to diagnose breast cancer at an early stage by introducing home screening tests that combine wearable technology supported by artificial intelligence.
Each of the founding partners brought a different expertise to the startup. Dr. Karny Ilan (CEO), a doctor from Sheba Hospital; Shani Klein (CTO), with a master’s degree in electrical engineering, specializing in artificial intelligence; and Gal Yanuka (CPO), an electronics technician and fourth-year biomedical engineering student at the Technion.
From the beginning, the startup won several competitions at Ben-Gurion University, at the Biztec accelerator at the Technion, and reached second place in the global She Loves Tech competition. During their work, the three wrote a patent, produced a prototype and began clinical trials at Sheba Hospital. These days they are preparing for clinical trials in the USA.
Feminai has received academic grants from universities in Israel and from the Council for Higher Education, and has also raised investments from the Cactus Capital, Fusion VC, and ICI funds.
During the war, Karni and Gal were recruited to the Intelligence Corps, and Shani, as a young mother, remained in the home front while her partner was recruited. “Despite this, we continued to advance the startup even from within IDF bases – when our most significant progress as a company happened during this period”, they say.
“We found Feminai to be a light in these dark times. We continued to develop Feminai and eventually raised a first round, complete pre-clinical trials and start a clinical trial in Tel Hashomer”.
Medical Innovation
Dr. Karny Ilan, 28, a doctor and CEO of the startup, grew up in Jerusalem and served in the 8200 Intelligence Unit. “From a young age I dreamed of being a doctor, and due to a family tendency for breast cancer I dreamed of changing the world of cancer diagnostics for women”, she says.
After her release from the IDF, she studied medicine at Ben-Gurion University and graduated with honors, then completed her internship at Sheba Hospital.
Karni won the “Entrepreneur of the Year 2023” award from Ben-Gurion University, and an excellence award for medical innovation from the Faculty of Medicine.
A Turbulent Journey
Shani Klein, 29, a data scientist at Microsoft, co-founder and CTO of the startup. She grew up in Kfar Saba and enlisted in 8200 as an Arabic intelligence analyst. After her release, she was the first woman at Ben-Gurion University to receive a double degree in electrical engineering and computer science, and then completed a master’s degree with honors in electrical engineering specializing in artificial intelligence.
During her studies, her research participated in international competitions; she built a machine learning-based system for 8200; and was a teaching assistant as part of the engineering faculty’s teaching staff. While studying, she integrated into Dell, and later joined Microsoft as a data scientist.
Gal Yanuka, 28, the third partner in Feminai, is a fourth-year biomedical engineering student at the Technion and CPO of the startup. She grew up in Kibbutz Dalia and then completed electronics and computer technician studies with honors at the Technion. She served in the Hoshen unit of the Communications Corps, and after her release worked at Israeli embassies in India, Singapore and Bangkok as head of the communications team. In 2020, she began studying biomedical engineering at the Technion, while conducting research in the field of lung diseases during her studies.
“The journey to establish a startup in the field of women’s health was turbulent and challenging”, they say. “Our first exposure to the world of entrepreneurship was in a supportive student environment. In contrast, in the real world, we experienced a crisis stemming from the understanding that the pride of the institutions where we grew up (among other things, being an all-female team in a technological world), doesn’t necessarily earn us bonus points. Maybe the opposite.
“The encounter with the feeling that we are less believed and doubted in our ability was very hard to contain. This situation forced us to prove ourselves in every meeting, to be more professional, more prepared and more thorough than any other entrepreneur we met in our field. Together, as a team, we are learning to empower each other against the constant skepticism”.
