Female Founder Friday: Karli Büchling, Founder of Blake Health

In this edition of Female Founder Friday, we’re featuring Karli Büchling, the powerhouse founder behind Blake Health, who is on a mission to change the way we understand and diagnose women’s health. Karli is building Europe’s first biobank for menstrual blood, aiming to fill the massive research gap around conditions affecting millions of women globally. It’s an ambitious, ground-breaking project that challenges the longstanding stigma and creates a brand-new approach to diagnostics.

As part of the FounderCatalyst Female Founder Friday series, I, Gideon Stott, had the pleasure of talking to Karli about her vision, her journey, and the challenges she’s tackled along the way.

FC: Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you came to start Blake Health?

KB: “Blake Health came out of my own experience with healthcare. Back in 2008, I was really unwell and had to do loads of blood tests. One time, since I was already on my period, I asked if they could just use my menstrual blood instead of poking me with another needle. The nurse laughed it off and said it was ‘disgusting.’ That really stuck with me. I thought, why not menstrual blood? After all, it’s just another bodily fluid!

Then, years later, when I was starting a family, I found myself frustrated by how little there was for women’s specific needs. I dug into the issue and found that women had been left out of most medical research until the 1990s. The impact was huge: even conditions like endometriosis go undiagnosed for years because we still don’t understand female physiology enough. So I thought, why not use menstrual blood, which holds all this information about the uterus and cervix, as a diagnostic tool? That was the start of Blake Health.”

FC: It’s a unique idea. Why has menstrual blood been overlooked, and what does it offer that current diagnostics don’t?

KB: “Menstrual blood has been stigmatised for ages. Most people just see it as a ‘hygiene’ issue, dead blood, worthless and nothing more. But menstrual blood is actually loaded with health markers that can tell us a lot about conditions in the uterus and beyond.

Right now, there are over 20+ known uterine conditions—like endometriosis and PCOS—that go undiagnosed for far too long. For example, endometriosis takes an average of eight years to diagnose, and it usually requires surgery to get to that diagnosis. Imagine if we could run simple tests on menstrual blood to detect these conditions—no surgery, no years of waiting and suffering. The biobank we’re building at Blake Health will help us research menstrual blood and hopefully, through partnerships, create these kinds of non-invasive tests. It’s long overdue.”

FC: I have to ask, where did the name ‘Blake Health’ come from?

KB: “The name Blake symbolises ‘from black to white, and everything in between.’ Menstrual blood is usually dark, even black, not bright red as people think. To me, the range of colours between black and white represents the diversity within women’s health and all the conditions we need to understand better.

So, at Blake Health, each ‘shade’ represents a potential diagnosis or treatment that we’re aiming to decode through menstrual blood. It’s all about revealing this untapped information in menstrual blood, kind of like discovering a rainbow of health information that’s just waiting there. This isn’t just a name; it’s a statement that we want to understand all women’s health needs.”

FC: It sounds incredibly ambitious. What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far?

KB: “There have been a lot of challenges. One of the biggest ones is stigma. Even though more people are open to talking about periods, menstrual blood is still viewed by a lot of institutions as ‘unhygienic’ rather than something useful for health. We lost out on a partnership with a major research centre because of this stigma, and some clinics were hesitant to get involved. But now we’re partnering with the University of Warwick, where hopefully the first biobank will be based.

Another challenge is the lack of regulation. Menstrual blood isn’t currently considered a diagnostic tool, so there’s no clear regulatory path. For instance, in the U.S., it took a menstrual pad that detects HPV eight years to get FDA approval because it didn’t fit into any existing category. That’s ridiculous. So, we’re working to set these standards from the ground up, but it’s not easy. Closing the gender health gap means we have to challenge long-held ideas about what’s ‘normal’ in women’s health.”

FC: What’s next for Blake Health and its impact on women’s health?

KB: “We’re on the brink of launching ROOY& biobank, and we hope it’ll inspire others to look at menstrual blood as a valuable tool for diagnostics. I don’t just want to release one product; I want to help shift the entire field of women’s health. With ROOY& biobank, we’re aiming to fast-track research and start designing tools that will give women the answers they deserve.

Long-term, I see Blake Health leading the way in menstrual blood diagnostics and connecting with healthcare providers globally. We want people everywhere to recognise that women’s health deserves just as much attention, funding, and research as any other field.”

FC: “That’s an ambitious vision! Speaking of impactful contributions to women’s health, I understand you’ve also taken on an exciting consultancy role as the ‘Period Dealer.’ Could you tell us more about that?”

KB: “Yes, alongside my work with Blake Health, I’ve been fortunate to offer consultancy services under the moniker ‘The Period Dealer.’ This involves advising founders, start-ups, and businesses on strategy, growth, and product development, particularly those looking to integrate or enhance female-specific product lines within their offerings.

Recently, I gave a TED Talk exploring these themes, and it’s set for release early next year. The talk centres on the untapped potential in addressing gender gaps across industries, especially in healthcare and product innovation. For me, it’s all about amplifying the conversation and making impactful change a reality.”

A huge thank you to Karli for sharing her story as part of Female Founders Friday. We’re here to support her throughout her fundraising journey as she works to transform women’s health diagnostics.

Learn more about Blake Health on LinkedIn or explore the ROOY& biobank initiative here.