Sanziana Foia
Papcup turns menstrual blood into fast, non-invasive home diagnostics, using biosensors to read health biomarkers in minutes with lab-grade accuracy.
Project
Papcup
URL
Year founded
2023
Business stage
Pre-Seed
High-growth sectors
Life Sciences
Sector
Health
Location
London
Funding
Funded Award Winner
The problem and opportunity
Most health diagnostics are slow, invasive and tied to a clinic, so people test late or not at all. Menstrual blood is a rich, recurring source of health information that is routinely discarded rather than measured. Women in particular are underserved by testing that feels uncomfortable or hard to access. The result is missed early detection across many conditions from iron deficiency to cervical cancer.
The solution and innovation
Papcup is a novel, patent-pending biosensing platform that reads molecular biomarkers from menstrual blood in minutes, non-invasively. Its advanced electrochemical detection is a reusable base for a growing menu of tests rather than a single product, so new biomarkers can be added over time. Papcup has featured on BBC News, The Telegraph and Cancer Research UK, and is backed by Innovate UK and Oxford Innovation.
Market and ambition
Papcup is building the category of at-home, menstrual-blood diagnostics, starting in women’s health and extending to further biomarkers over time. Early traction includes 600+ users on the waitlist and letters of intent (LOI) with pharmacy chains converting to £420k annual recurring revenue (ARR) at launch.
Founder perspective
Sanziana Foia is an Imperial College London PhD-trained biosensor researcher and chemist, specialising in point-of-care diagnostics. She committed to diagnostics after her father’s stroke when she was 17, and now leads Papcup to create a new category of testing that is faster, earlier and non-invasive.
Women in Innovation Award
Recipient of an Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award 2025/26, receiving funding, tailored business support, and access to specialist training and networks. View all winners and highly commended applicants from the Women in Innovation cohort 2025/2026.