Meet BGU Women Innovators: How Feminai is Revolutionizing Breast Cancer Detection
Meet BGU Women Innovators: How Feminai is Revolutionizing Breast Cancer Detection
May 26, 2026
As she stepped away briefly from surgery to answer an unexpected phone call, Dr. Karny Ilan learned that she had earned the 2023 Ira M. Ingerman Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU).
For Ilan—then a young physician with a bold idea to transform breast cancer screening—it was more than an award.
“It felt like people are really behind me, believe in my mission, and will do everything to support it,” she recalls.
That moment captures the spirit behind Feminai, a BGU-born startup that is reimagining how women detect breast cancer. At its heart is a powerful convergence of medicine, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship—nurtured from the earliest days by BGU’s Yazamut 360° entrepreneurship center and through an investment from Cactus Capital, a venture fund backed by the University.
AN IDEA ROOTED IN PERSONAL MISSION
Feminai’s story didn’t begin in a lab or boardroom, but in a medical school classroom. Growing up with a family history of breast cancer—the most common cancer among women—Ilan felt the stakes personally. While training at BGU as an aspiring breast cancer surgeon, learning to perform clinical breast exams made one thing clear: screening could, and should, be better.
BORN AT YAZAMUT 360°
The company itself was forged on campus at BGU. Ilan met her co-founders, Shani Klein Antman and Gal Yanuka, through “WE,” a women-only entrepreneurship community organized through the Yazamut 360° center. The program, part of a broader initiative to cultivate entrepreneurial talent in the Negev, created what Ilan describes as a “bubble”—a rare environment where an all-female founding team felt not unusual but entirely natural.
Yazamut 360° provided more than coursework. It delivered validation, mentorship, and critical ecosystem connections.
“It gave us the first push into this world and made us believe that our dream and vision is possible,” notes Ilan.
Through Yazamut 360°, the founders also gained access to experts and investors who helped them move from concept to company formation. Those connections translated into tangible backing when Cactus Capital, Israel’s first student-run venture capital fund rooted within Yazamut 360°, made a $100,000 early investment.
For first-time entrepreneurs, it was transformative.
“It was our first money in the bank,” Ilan explains. The funding enabled Feminai to write and publish its patent and build its first working prototypes. Just as important, it signaled institutional confidence in a bold idea emerging from the Negev.
Our goal is to make breast cancer screening more accurate, accessible, and affordable—ultimately improving outcomes for women’s health. — Dr. Karny Ilan Co-founder & CEO of Feminai
SCREENING REIMAGINED
Feminai’s solution is deceptively simple in concept but sophisticated in execution. The company combines an AI-powered mobile application with a disposable wearable patch. A woman uses the patch at home for a five-minute scan, and the system generates a clinician-signed breast health report.
By moving screening beyond traditional imaging centers, Feminai aims to expand access dramatically and shift the trajectory of early detection. The technology is designed not to replace mammography but to provide a complementary, accessible tool particularly valuable for women who face geographic, financial, or biological barriers to standard screening.
FROM THE NEGEV TO THE WORLD
What began as a classroom connection has quickly matured into a venture-backed health-tech company. Feminai recently secured a $6 million seed investment, marking a major milestone in its growth. The company is now pursuing FDA approval and preparing for a U.S. go-to-market strategy.
BGU President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz recently commented on this momentous milestone, “This is exactly why we invest so deeply in entrepreneurship. Because when universities trust young innovators and give them room to grow, ideas turn into impact.”
Read more about BGU’s innovators in our latest Negev Connection: https://americansforbgu.org/negev-connection-spring26/
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