Austria’s healthcare sector is witnessing a remarkable wave of transformative changes, driven by pioneering CEOs who are redefining the industry with groundbreaking innovations and visionary leadership. Leading this charge is Antonia Riva-Frizberg, an esteemed figure in healthcare entrepreneurship. As the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Lumetry Diagnostics GmbH, Antonia epitomizes a commitment to innovation and enhancing patient outcomes.
Lumetry Diagnostics GmbH is not just a company; it’s an institution of hope for those battling lung health issues. Specializing in innovative healthcare solutions, particularly in the field of lung health, Lumetry Diagnostics is revolutionizing at-home monitoring with its groundbreaking pCO2 trackers. With a laser focus on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Antonia and her team are crafting solutions that empower patients to take charge of their health with precision and ease.
Antonia’s role as a Co-Founder and Co-CEO is not merely administrative; she is deeply immersed in the development and testing of Lumetry’s products, ensuring that each innovation meets the highest standards of efficacy and accessibility. Her dedication and visionary leadership are driving forces behind the company’s mission to redefine the future of healthcare, one breath at a time.
Let us dive into Antonia’s remarkable journey, exploring the story of a visionary leader who is reshaping the landscape of healthcare and illuminating the path toward a healthier, more empowered future for all.
Can you share some insights into your professional journey that led you to co-found Lumetry Diagnostics GmbH?
My career path has always been planned out. I wanted to study and work abroad to gain international experience before starting an entrepreneurial life. Back in Austria, I had the urge to drive innovation within the DACH Region. After a few years back at home I finally came across an Austrian startup team, which used breath gas analysis to identify women’s fertile days. Amazed, I completely fell in love with the technology and joined the team. It was during this experience that I began to grasp the cast insights we can derive about our bodies through breath gas analysis, particularly when combined with AI. Also, part of the team was my co-founder Christian Neubauer. With the COVID pandemic, it became evident that we should use our knowledge on breath gas analysis to do more. Thanks to the trust and support of our investors, medical experts and a group of inspiring people we started lumetry, with the goal to become the number one lung monitoring platform in the world.
Can you share the founding vision and mission of Lumetry Diagnostics, and how it has evolved since the company’s inception?
Our vision is to help people gain better control over their lung disease from the comfort of their own home, ultimately enhancing their quality of life. While at the beginning we will focus on COPD, one day we want to help people around the world with asthma, pneumonia, long covid and many more, becoming the number one lung monitoring platform.
Originally, we mainly wanted to look into patient monitoring but we have come to understand that early diagnosis is key in order to achieve our vision, so we will be offering services ranging from early diagnosis all the way to monitoring and hospitalization prevention.
What are the leadership principles that guide your decisions in steering Lumetry Diagnostics towards its goals?
- Adaptability: I believe it’s crucial for us to maintain a continuous learning mindset. Staying curious and open-minded about alternative approaches is essential as we navigate the growth of our company.
- Trust: Trust in our team, hence empowering each team member to do the best they can.
- Clear vision: Establishing a clear vision/ goal ensures that everyone in the organization is moving in the same direction.
How do you ensure that Lumetry’s products stand out in terms of both innovation and practicality?
From the foundation of our startup, the end users, namely, the patients suffering from lung diseases have been at the heart of our company. We always include them in feedback loops ensuring their perspectives to our product development. This commitment extends to every phase of our go-to-market strategy, where we actively seek and incorporate their feedback.
How do hardware and software solutions work together in Lumetry’s approach to make lung health monitoring easy and fast for patients?
It is our unique hardware that collects data from a person’s breath and our software and AI to analysis this data for patients and doctors on a smart device. The challenge lies in achieving complete design simplicity, ensuring that both the presentation of results in our software and the handling of our hardware are straightforward for any user. Striking this balance is a complex task, and to address it, we conduct multiple usability tests with individuals from diverse age groups. Through these tests, we aim to refine our design to meet our goal of making lung health monitoring an intuitive and efficient experience for all users.
In the journey of building Lumetry Diagnostics, what challenges have you faced, and how did you overcome them?
I think one of the biggest challenges we come across regularly is balancing short-term and long-term goals. Especially here it has been key for me to have Christian as a strong co-founder & Co-CEO, an active and supportive advisory board and a strong team. In shorter and longer sessions, we look at the pros and cons and try to take the best decision possible for both short- and long-term goals whenever possible.
Can you highlight a significant achievement or milestone that you are particularly proud of during your tenure as CEO?
I am particularly proud of the people and experts who believe in us and that have supported us along the way. This includes medical experts like Prim. Valipour from the Karl Landsteiner Institute for lung research, Misses Illek from COPD Austria support group and of course our advisory board members and investors.
How do you envision the role of respiratory monitoring evolving in the future, and what role does Lumetry aim to play in that evolution?
COPD is the third leading cause of death according to the WHO. Asthma is extremely widespread and let’s not forget about pneumonia and COVID. With air pollution and increased life expectancy lung health will become more important than ever and thus respiratory monitoring will become a crucial non-invasive and affordable instrument to help affected patients. We at lumetry want to play a key role to make that happen.
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