Cecile Brosset Dubois, co-founder and CEO of Sonio, combines a strong business acumen with a heartfelt passion to transform lives and bring real value to the world. She began her education at Lycée Henri IV and later went on to obtain a Master's degree in International Affairs from Sciences Po and earned a Master's degree in Strategic Management from HEC Paris.
Cecile’s professional career began in the corporate corridors of Capgemini and Bain & Company. There, she cultivated a keen sense for strategic thinking and mastering complex business problems. Yet, even as she ascended the corporate ladder, Cecile was drawn to the possibility of making a more tangible impact. Switching to Bpifrance, the French public investment bank, she focused on steering financial support towards fledgling startups. However, being behind the steering wheel of funding emerging technology wasn’t the sort of direct, meaningful impact she wanted to define her career. After nearly six years at Bpifrance, she shifted gears and founded Sonio in 2019, a company developing AI software for obstetric ultrasound.
The transition from strategy and finance to life sciences entrepreneurship came natural for Cecile. During her time at Bpifrance, she recognized the enormous potential in medtech startups, particularly those leveraging artificial intelligence. She recalls, “That's when I thought, I really need to get my hands dirty now, stop watching, and really bring some value. That's basically how I ended up meeting with some great folks and building Sonio.”
Sonio is focused on developing software to improve obstetric ultrasound aided by AI. Their goal is to better equip OBGYNs and maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) sonographers to detect potential problems by improving the clarity and quality of imaging.
So why is Sonio focused on improving ultrasound imaging? For starters, 1 in 33 babies in the EU and the US are born with birth defects and 50% of these defects go undetected during ultrasound. Finally, 300,000 women die every year due to causes that could have been prevented if they were detected earlier during their pregnancy. The Sonio platform enhances the quality and efficiency of ultrasound scans to improve the outlook for babies and mothers alike.
To that end, Sonio’s mission is clear: make fetal screenings more efficient, more accurate, and infinitely more reliable.
Sonio’s offering includes two types of software: one for optimizing image collection and another for diagnostic support powered by AI. Both programs are easy to integrate into existing ultrasound technologies.
Within just four years, Cecile and her team have already reached significant milestones. The company’s diagnostic tool has been cleared by FDA and received the CE mark in Europe. The founding team of Sonio includes experts from the Necker-Enfants Malades University Hospital in Paris, and the company has now grown to 30 employees. They have completed three funding rounds and ascended from a Paris-based startup to a global player with a new presence in the US.
Key Learnings From Cecile’s Experience
- The guiding principle both in product development and team building is the same: progress is iterative. Aiming for perfection, while a worthy goal, should not paralyze the journey towards improvement. Be tenacious and don’t give up.
- Having an in-house regulatory team that understands both the product and the ever-changing landscape is a must, especially if you’re utilizing new, AI-based technologies.
- Whether you’re commercializing or fundraising, understand your audience and keep an open dialogue with experienced entrepreneurs. Focus on building relationships and leveraging them for growth.
Cecile Brosset Dubois began her career in 2005 at Capgemini, later advancing to Bain & Company. Her strategic insights as Head of Strategy at FSI - Fonds Stratégique d'Investissement - and her pivotal roles at Bpifrance set the stage for Cecile's entrepreneurial journey. At Kamet Ventures, she embraced the startup world before co-founding Sonio, a company dedicated to revolutionizing obstetric ultrasound through AI technology.
Iterate the Imperfect, Step-by-Step
In medtech, the goal is to create a flawless product as fast as possible. However, you should acknowledge that perfection is not something you can achieve immediately – or even quickly.
"We didn't build the full platform in one go," says Cecile, emphasizing her methodical, incremental approach to product development.
Sonio started as a single diagnostic tool that served in a clinical support capacity. The initial version went through multiple, iterative phases based on both user and regulatory feedback, serving as a ground for subsequent modules.
"It really informed our roadmap as well as our decisions on how to structure the team," says Cecile. The goal is to be both capital-efficient and agile, learning as you go.
It’s also important to establish a flexible organizational structure that allows you to iterate rapidly. For instance, with Sonio, data science, product development, clinical, and regulatory are all under one roof. This allows Sonio to “really anticipate what would be expected from a regulatory standpoint early enough in the process" and pivot accordingly, says Cecile. For example, some modules of their software are not regulated like typical workflow solutions. “We developed continuously and iterated with our users while we adapted the AI modules to regulations," she added.
In essence, Cecile believes that perfectionism should not halt progress: "At BPI, I kept hearing that you should keep iterating, which means making incremental changes; in this sense, not doing it perfectly is the right path."
This step-by-step approach doesn’t just apply to building a product. It also applies to putting together a team.
"Hiring is a mix of testing and trusting," says Cecile. Her approach to team building is analogous to dating, but in a professional context. The hiring process is a period of mutual evaluation, where both parties assess each other. The employers, for instance, evaluate whether a potential team member would fit within the company's culture and work dynamics over a given period. This allows both employers and candidates to gauge their compatibility before making a long-term commitment.
Even though recruitment was a learning process as well, Cecile knew one thing from the very beginning: the key to assembling a great team lies not just in technical qualifications but in shared values and goals. In line with that, her team-building criteria are simple enough: "I like to go fast. I'm ambitious. So basically, if they fit those criteria, usually I know that we're going to get along quite well."
In line with that, she pays attention to how reactive people are, gauging their commitment to the mission and their willingness to move fast. "You don't join a startup if you don't want to work hard and challenge yourself," she adds.
The Advantages of Having an Internal Regulatory Team
AI holds incredible potential to revolutionize healthcare. However, it's a rapidly evolving field and even regulatory bodies like FDA are playing catch up to the ever-updating AI algorithms. It’s a challenge to find established regulatory pathways that serve as precedents, which is why Cecile advocates for having an in-house regulatory team that understands both the intricacies of your product and the shifting landscape of regulations.
Cecile learned this the hard way. Sonio started out by employing external consultants, only to realize that "if you don't understand what the product does, you're not going to get it right," she mentioned. In other words, outside consultants simply lacked the insights necessary to effectively drive the regulatory process forward.
Recognizing the need for specialized, internal expertise in regulatory affairs, she recruited a seasoned professional from the industry. This proved especially helpful when external advisors, even advisors who had worked at FDA before, were uncertain regarding Sonio’s chances of gaining approval. But their in-house expert – Florian Akpakpa – who had a deep understanding of the product, was undeterred and has successfully led the company down the path of eventual FDA approval.
The takeaway lesson here is that when working on novel technology, it’s invaluable to have someone on your team who really understands your product and the various regulatory guardrails.
And don’t forget that the regulatory landscape is always changing. New guidelines come into play, and what worked last year might not fly today. That’s also why having someone on the inside who's up-to-date can be a lifesaver.
Right Audience, Right Approach
Launching a sophisticated product is no small feat. Cecile and her team at Sonio succeeded by first understanding their audience — both customers and investors — and then figured out how to keep them loyal to the cause.
Starting with customer engagement, Cecile attributes her startup’s initial success to their winning market segmentation. They didn't just try to sell their diagnostic module to anyone who'd listen; they knew their early audience was specialized diagnostic centers in fetal medicine, which is why they specifically targeted those centers.
Once you've got the right target, the next step is customer engagement or, as Cecile calls it, ‘customer success’. "Onboarding people on your software, making sure that they're happy with how it works, and helping them use it in a clinical context is incredibly important," she says. An important point that Cecile emphasizes is that the sale itself is only the beginning of your relationship with clients. Helping customers get the most out of your product is what will eventually solidify the bond.
Effective communication is just as crucial in fundraising as it is in customer engagement. In Cecile’s experience, her first pitch didn't resonate with investors at all. "I shared my vision and project consistently, yet it was initially met with rejection," she recalls. The breakthrough came after consulting with two seasoned entrepreneurs. They helped Cecile refine her pitch to capture the essence of the business case in a more compelling way.
"It wasn't about changing the reality but about framing our story to align with their priorities so that they feel comfortable investing. I pitched the same company, same vision, same plan, but just a little differently in a slide deck. And then we started receiving checks like a month and a half after that,” Cecile recalls.
Beyond the right type of communication with investors, it’s important to keep the channels open with those who've successfully navigated the fundraising waters before you. "I really had to partner with serial entrepreneurs that have succeeded in fundraising in the past. And they were the people who helped me build the right pitch deck and understand what investors were looking for," Cecile comments.
Lastly, remember that although it’s never easy, fundraising typically gets a little less challenging with each successful round. For example, Cecile’s third round had investors approaching her, a far cry from the hurdles she experienced the first time around.
Her ultimate bit of advice is: "Be well-accompanied by experienced people who want to help you. If you have a project that you believe in, don't give up. There are always going to be people that will trust you."
Cecile Brosset Dubois, co-founder and CEO of Sonio, combines a strong business acumen with a heartfelt passion to transform lives and bring real value to the world. She began her education at Lycée Henri IV and later went on to obtain a Master's degree in International Affairs from Sciences Po and earned a Master's degree in Strategic Management from HEC Paris.
Cecile’s professional career began in the corporate corridors of Capgemini and Bain & Company. There, she cultivated a keen sense for strategic thinking and mastering complex business problems. Yet, even as she ascended the corporate ladder, Cecile was drawn to the possibility of making a more tangible impact. Switching to Bpifrance, the French public investment bank, she focused on steering financial support towards fledgling startups. However, being behind the steering wheel of funding emerging technology wasn’t the sort of direct, meaningful impact she wanted to define her career. After nearly six years at Bpifrance, she shifted gears and founded Sonio in 2019, a company developing AI software for obstetric ultrasound.
The transition from strategy and finance to life sciences entrepreneurship came natural for Cecile. During her time at Bpifrance, she recognized the enormous potential in medtech startups, particularly those leveraging artificial intelligence. She recalls, “That's when I thought, I really need to get my hands dirty now, stop watching, and really bring some value. That's basically how I ended up meeting with some great folks and building Sonio.”
Sonio is focused on developing software to improve obstetric ultrasound aided by AI. Their goal is to better equip OBGYNs and maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) sonographers to detect potential problems by improving the clarity and quality of imaging.
So why is Sonio focused on improving ultrasound imaging? For starters, 1 in 33 babies in the EU and the US are born with birth defects and 50% of these defects go undetected during ultrasound. Finally, 300,000 women die every year due to causes that could have been prevented if they were detected earlier during their pregnancy. The Sonio platform enhances the quality and efficiency of ultrasound scans to improve the outlook for babies and mothers alike.
To that end, Sonio’s mission is clear: make fetal screenings more efficient, more accurate, and infinitely more reliable.
Sonio’s offering includes two types of software: one for optimizing image collection and another for diagnostic support powered by AI. Both programs are easy to integrate into existing ultrasound technologies.
Within just four years, Cecile and her team have already reached significant milestones. The company’s diagnostic tool has been cleared by FDA and received the CE mark in Europe. The founding team of Sonio includes experts from the Necker-Enfants Malades University Hospital in Paris, and the company has now grown to 30 employees. They have completed three funding rounds and ascended from a Paris-based startup to a global player with a new presence in the US.
Key Learnings From Cecile’s Experience
- The guiding principle both in product development and team building is the same: progress is iterative. Aiming for perfection, while a worthy goal, should not paralyze the journey towards improvement. Be tenacious and don’t give up.
- Having an in-house regulatory team that understands both the product and the ever-changing landscape is a must, especially if you’re utilizing new, AI-based technologies.
- Whether you’re commercializing or fundraising, understand your audience and keep an open dialogue with experienced entrepreneurs. Focus on building relationships and leveraging them for growth.
Cecile Brosset Dubois began her career in 2005 at Capgemini, later advancing to Bain & Company. Her strategic insights as Head of Strategy at FSI - Fonds Stratégique d'Investissement - and her pivotal roles at Bpifrance set the stage for Cecile's entrepreneurial journey. At Kamet Ventures, she embraced the startup world before co-founding Sonio, a company dedicated to revolutionizing obstetric ultrasound through AI technology.
Iterate the Imperfect, Step-by-Step
In medtech, the goal is to create a flawless product as fast as possible. However, you should acknowledge that perfection is not something you can achieve immediately – or even quickly.
"We didn't build the full platform in one go," says Cecile, emphasizing her methodical, incremental approach to product development.
Sonio started as a single diagnostic tool that served in a clinical support capacity. The initial version went through multiple, iterative phases based on both user and regulatory feedback, serving as a ground for subsequent modules.
"It really informed our roadmap as well as our decisions on how to structure the team," says Cecile. The goal is to be both capital-efficient and agile, learning as you go.
It’s also important to establish a flexible organizational structure that allows you to iterate rapidly. For instance, with Sonio, data science, product development, clinical, and regulatory are all under one roof. This allows Sonio to “really anticipate what would be expected from a regulatory standpoint early enough in the process" and pivot accordingly, says Cecile. For example, some modules of their software are not regulated like typical workflow solutions. “We developed continuously and iterated with our users while we adapted the AI modules to regulations," she added.
In essence, Cecile believes that perfectionism should not halt progress: "At BPI, I kept hearing that you should keep iterating, which means making incremental changes; in this sense, not doing it perfectly is the right path."
This step-by-step approach doesn’t just apply to building a product. It also applies to putting together a team.
"Hiring is a mix of testing and trusting," says Cecile. Her approach to team building is analogous to dating, but in a professional context. The hiring process is a period of mutual evaluation, where both parties assess each other. The employers, for instance, evaluate whether a potential team member would fit within the company's culture and work dynamics over a given period. This allows both employers and candidates to gauge their compatibility before making a long-term commitment.
Even though recruitment was a learning process as well, Cecile knew one thing from the very beginning: the key to assembling a great team lies not just in technical qualifications but in shared values and goals. In line with that, her team-building criteria are simple enough: "I like to go fast. I'm ambitious. So basically, if they fit those criteria, usually I know that we're going to get along quite well."
In line with that, she pays attention to how reactive people are, gauging their commitment to the mission and their willingness to move fast. "You don't join a startup if you don't want to work hard and challenge yourself," she adds.
The Advantages of Having an Internal Regulatory Team
AI holds incredible potential to revolutionize healthcare. However, it's a rapidly evolving field and even regulatory bodies like FDA are playing catch up to the ever-updating AI algorithms. It’s a challenge to find established regulatory pathways that serve as precedents, which is why Cecile advocates for having an in-house regulatory team that understands both the intricacies of your product and the shifting landscape of regulations.
Cecile learned this the hard way. Sonio started out by employing external consultants, only to realize that "if you don't understand what the product does, you're not going to get it right," she mentioned. In other words, outside consultants simply lacked the insights necessary to effectively drive the regulatory process forward.
Recognizing the need for specialized, internal expertise in regulatory affairs, she recruited a seasoned professional from the industry. This proved especially helpful when external advisors, even advisors who had worked at FDA before, were uncertain regarding Sonio’s chances of gaining approval. But their in-house expert – Florian Akpakpa – who had a deep understanding of the product, was undeterred and has successfully led the company down the path of eventual FDA approval.
The takeaway lesson here is that when working on novel technology, it’s invaluable to have someone on your team who really understands your product and the various regulatory guardrails.
And don’t forget that the regulatory landscape is always changing. New guidelines come into play, and what worked last year might not fly today. That’s also why having someone on the inside who's up-to-date can be a lifesaver.
Right Audience, Right Approach
Launching a sophisticated product is no small feat. Cecile and her team at Sonio succeeded by first understanding their audience — both customers and investors — and then figured out how to keep them loyal to the cause.
Starting with customer engagement, Cecile attributes her startup’s initial success to their winning market segmentation. They didn't just try to sell their diagnostic module to anyone who'd listen; they knew their early audience was specialized diagnostic centers in fetal medicine, which is why they specifically targeted those centers.
Once you've got the right target, the next step is customer engagement or, as Cecile calls it, ‘customer success’. "Onboarding people on your software, making sure that they're happy with how it works, and helping them use it in a clinical context is incredibly important," she says. An important point that Cecile emphasizes is that the sale itself is only the beginning of your relationship with clients. Helping customers get the most out of your product is what will eventually solidify the bond.
Effective communication is just as crucial in fundraising as it is in customer engagement. In Cecile’s experience, her first pitch didn't resonate with investors at all. "I shared my vision and project consistently, yet it was initially met with rejection," she recalls. The breakthrough came after consulting with two seasoned entrepreneurs. They helped Cecile refine her pitch to capture the essence of the business case in a more compelling way.
"It wasn't about changing the reality but about framing our story to align with their priorities so that they feel comfortable investing. I pitched the same company, same vision, same plan, but just a little differently in a slide deck. And then we started receiving checks like a month and a half after that,” Cecile recalls.
Beyond the right type of communication with investors, it’s important to keep the channels open with those who've successfully navigated the fundraising waters before you. "I really had to partner with serial entrepreneurs that have succeeded in fundraising in the past. And they were the people who helped me build the right pitch deck and understand what investors were looking for," Cecile comments.
Lastly, remember that although it’s never easy, fundraising typically gets a little less challenging with each successful round. For example, Cecile’s third round had investors approaching her, a far cry from the hurdles she experienced the first time around.
Her ultimate bit of advice is: "Be well-accompanied by experienced people who want to help you. If you have a project that you believe in, don't give up. There are always going to be people that will trust you."
