This article originally appeared in the May/June 2025 issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe

“This is such a pressing issue, and the gap is obvious. I feel like women deserve better. Developing a non-invasive screening alternative is hard, but it's not that hard. We just have to prioritise it and really deliver on closing this gap by giving women the option they’ve been waiting for.”

Papcup is a safe, non-invasive diagnostic device that is designed to be used at home to test for cancer-causing HPV (human papillomavirus) strains in menstrual blood. It has been developed by a team of scientists and engineers, but more importantly, by women, and it delivers results in 15 minutes without the need for painful speculums or lab visits.

A change of chemistry

Foia had always wanted to be a scientist, and her father inspired her from a young age to pursue her passion. After he suffered a stroke when Foia was 17, she became even more determined to follow that path. It was at Imperial that she was introduced to biomedical engineering and point-of-care diagnostics – an experience that changed everything.

“I applied for a PhD in biosensing, and that's where I entered this whole world of diagnostics that aim to deliver care to users and patients without having to rely on complex lab equipment for diagnostics.”

This knowledge of biosensors and diagnostics made Foia the perfect candidate for developing a smear test alternative. However, it isn’t something she went into her PhD focused on. 

The idea for Papcup came after Foia had her first cervical screening test. Shortly after, she found herself on her period, curled up on the floor in pain, wondering why women had to endure this “ordeal” every month. T hen a realisation struck her: what if periods could be transformed from life disruptors into opportunities to gain insights into women’s health? With her recent smear test experience fresh in mind, the first area to innovate in was clear – the smear test was in urgent need of reinvention.

No one seemed looking into treating menstruation as a resource, and Foia wondered why – because “it’s a big sample of bodily fluid.” Fortuitously, her PhD is focused on biosensors for malaria, so she knows how valuable blood is as a resource and how biosensors can help make women’s experiences better. Armed with that knowledge, Foia stayed up until 2am researching whether menstrual blood had been explored as a diagnostic fluid for HPV and making her first rough sketches of the device. What she found told her it was not only possible, but that it was underexplored.

What is Papcup?

Papcup is a small, modular device that uses a biosensor to detect HPV in menstrual blood. The sensor is chemically engineered to generate an electrical signal in response to very small traces of HPV, eliminating the need for lab-based amplification such as PCR.

“The biosensor is like an electrode that's been chemically modified, so the nano architecture of the electrode has been changed so that it very, very specifically interacts with HPV, and this interaction triggers an electric current which we then measure.”

To work the device, users collect a swab sample of menstrual blood taken from a tampon, pad, or menstrual cup and put it into the device. It then delivers results in about 15 minutes – privately, quickly, and painlessly.

Designed by women, inspired by everyone

If you’re a woman between 25 and 64 years with a cervix, you will likely have received a letter telling you that your smear test is due and experienced the 'ankles together, floppy knees' speculum route, or perhaps you’ve already used alternative home sampling kits that require you to collect samples yourself and post them out. Whilst any way to find and stop cancer from spreading is a good thing, there are a multitude of reasons why these routes might not be the best for many women.

Conceptualised by Foia, she brought Papcup to life with her mother, who has a background in engineering. Both women are also artists, a fact that influenced the design thinking behind Papcup.

“My mum pulled all-nighters for Papcup, and she was so dedicated. We were very in tune with marrying the science with the functionality, and then how the shape and user experience would deliver that.”

And when Foia talks about functionality, she isn’t only referencing the sleekness of the look or the biosensors working, she is also prioritising accessibility – something that is inspired by her father’s paralysis on one side. Her father taught her to let go of assumptions and build based on observation, an ethos that made her more aware during the development process that the device also needed to be easy to use for anyone, including those with disabilities.

A working demo is now complete, and usability testing with focus groups will soon begin. As with everything Foia does, she considers the end user: “We're going to have a series of co-design sessions to make sure that users are included throughout the whole process in the development.”

Built with evolution in mind

Although Papcup is built for menstrual blood, its design enables it to have a wider reach for those who don’t menstruate. It also means that in the future it has the potential to detect STDs and other biomarkers.

“It doesn't prevent people who don't menstruate from taking the self-collection swabs and using them in the device … we have a lot of freedom to incorporate into what we offer.”

The statistics are poor

According to Foia, non-attendance rates for cervical screening in the UK are at 30%. In Germany it is 40%. In India, 99% of women are not screened at all.

“It's maddening, because it's one of the few cancers that are almost entirely preventable, theoretically no one should die from it. That's the outrage that keeps me going.”

*UK cervical cancer statistics at a glance:

• 3,256 – the number of new cases of cervical cancer each year (2017-2019 average). That’s around nine new cases every day
• 853 – deaths from cervical cancer (2017-2019). That’s more than two every day. In the UK, it’s the 14th most common cancer and accounts for 2% of new cancer cases in females
• 51% – survive cancer for 10 or more years (2013-2017, England)
• 99.8% – cervical cancer cases are preventable (2015)

“The absolute goal with Papcup would be for it to be a full alternative to the smear test … so that everyone who (for whatever reason) might be prevented from accessing lifesaving care could choose to do this … this is guided by our mission to break down inequalities and barriers that prevent women from accessing this care.”

Papcup's impact on public health and women's autonomy

Speaking on what success looks like beyond the product itself, Foia’s dream is for cervical screening to become so embedded into women’s wellness routine that the user doesn’t even need to think about it.

“I see cervical screening becoming something super banal, something so incredibly underwhelming, because of Papcup. The dream is for it to be so normal and so integrated in people's lives, that it's not a big thing because it's part of the way we take care of ourselves.

“An incremental step is not enough at this stage. Papcup is not doing incremental steps. We are setting a whole new standard.”

Communicating screenings to investors

Communicating Papcup’s potential to investors hasn’t always been easy.

“Cervical screening is not something that often comes across [an investors'] desk … I think a lot of people don’t realise how much of a pain it is for women and they don’t realise how much the healthcare systems want to solve this problem.”

Healthcare professionals are onboard, but in order to show investors the need for the device, Foia had to think a little differently. So, being a scientist, Foia proved that there was a need by pro-actively using public feedback to show a demand.

“Every single woman I’ve spoken to hates smear tests. I am yet to meet one who had a neutral experience.”

This, teamed with media features and strong engagement online have helped build traction, plus a small-scale campaign on Instagram revealed overwhelming interest.

“The response was astounding. People are ready for this.”

Becoming a founder

Being a scientist, Foia had to learn to pivot to think like a founder and the Venture Builder Programme helped her do just that. Foia had to learn to switch from academic thinking to thinking like a founder.

“Being a scientist you're just hardwired to only speak in facts and evidence … you’re not trained to inspire belief in something before the evidence exists.”

This change in communication ability, Foia credits to the Venture Builder Programme: “I had to find the balance between maintaining the scientific rigour, but also being able to inspire people to believe in the idea.”

When can we get Papcup?

Foia is busy developing the prototype and biosensor in parallel with the view that the first pilot studies will begin in a little over 12 months.

“Our plan is to adopt a D2C model, with early adopters providing the evidence that Papcup works in the real world. But our ultimate mission is for Papcup to be something that everyone can access, hence our long-term goals to sell to the NHS in the UK.”

From a personal perspective, I believe that this device couldn’t come soon enough and Foia, with her way of pivoting her thinking to consider all angles whilst not forgetting the end user, plus her personal experience and drive, make her the exact person to bring this product to fruition. And because of the way this device is designed, it could be the literal difference between life and death for some women.

Papcup gives women their power back – and what could be better than that.

*Statistics taken from Cancer Research UK