On April 7, 2026, Irish startup MyCelsius launched a wrist-worn cooling bracelet designed to reduce menopause hot flush discomfort by cooling the skin by 10 degrees Celsius in under 10 seconds. The device uses advanced thermo-electric cooling applied directly to the wrist — a pulse point where blood vessels run close to the surface — sending a temperature signal to the body's thermoregulatory system that reduces sweating and flushing.

Why It Matters

The menopause tech market is heating up — metaphorically speaking — as the convergence of demographic scale (1.1 billion women will be postmenopausal by 2030), destigmatization, and VC investment creates a land grab across pharmaceutical, digital, and device categories. MyCelsius enters a market that includes the Embr Wave cooling bracelet and several less sophisticated competitors, but claims a significant performance advantage in cooling power. The 10-second response time addresses the core user need — hot flushes strike unpredictably and demand immediate relief. Combined with this month's NICE approval of Veoza for the NHS and the continued growth of menopause-focused femtech (Natural Cycles' perimenopause algorithm, Prickly Pear's $600K+ pre-seed), the launch confirms menopause as the breakout health-tech category of 2026.

Co-founded by Aonghus O'Donovan, a 33-year-old mechanical engineer with experience at Dyson, Formula 1, and aerospace, and CEO Maxime Kryvian, 37, MyCelsius spent three years in R&D with input from hundreds of menopausal women. The company claims the bracelet's cooling system is five times more powerful than competing products on the market, with an 80% efficacy rate for reducing hot flush discomfort. The device offers five modes including a dedicated nighttime setting for nocturnal symptoms — a common pain point since hot flushes frequently disrupt sleep.

The launch targets the 1.3 million women in Ireland alone who are affected by menopause symptoms, with broader market availability expected. MyCelsius emerged from UWE Bristol's Launch Space accelerator program and positions itself at the intersection of wearable technology and women's health — a market segment that has seen explosive growth alongside the broader menopause tech wave that includes pharmaceutical treatments (Veoza/fezolinetant, approved by NICE in March 2026), digital health platforms, and cooling products.

Sources

Update — 2026-04-08

Initial entry — story first created.