Female-Led Startups Present Cutting-Edge Technologies at K2MATCH Investor Lounge in Monaco

Key Points

• Tenth Edition of K2MATCH Investor Lounge: Four female-led startup enterprises pitched their business models to prospective investors on Thursday, 22 October 2026, at Le Méridien Beach Plaza in Monaco as part of the Hers Monaco event framework.
• Diversified Sector Innovations: The pitching lineup featured a wide range of international technology solutions, spanning Japanese AI 3D motion analysis, French luxury upcycled carbon fibre manufacturing, Scottish location-based hotel wellness platforms, and British primary art education tools.
• Shosabi (Japan): Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sachiko Kamiyama presented a markerless 3D motion-sensing system combined with artificial intelligence designed to analyze human movement for premium fitness clubs and preventive health clinics.
• By Karbon (France): Partner and Creative Director Nathalie Colin demonstrated how her firm upcycles high-performance carbon fibre waste—including 400 kilograms recovered from Team Malizia offshore racing yachts—into luxury jewellery, trophies, and accessories.
• Tethered (Scotland): Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Karen Kerr detailed a generative AI audio platform delivering location-specific sleep and wellness content for hotels, currently deployed at Virgin Hotels Edinburgh.
• Everybody Creates (United Kingdom): Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Emilie Scholey unveiled an ed-tech platform providing primary school teachers with complete art curriculum packages and machine-learning progression tools ahead of a planned 10 to 20 school pilot program.
• Focus on Investor Alignment: The event highlighted fundraising strategies for female entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of founders conducting due diligence on potential investors before accepting investment offers.

MONACO (Monaco Weekly Newspaper) October 27, 2026 – Four innovative female-led startups showcased their business frameworks, commercial metrics, and growth strategies to prospective international investors at the tenth edition of the K2MATCH Investor Lounge, held on Thursday, 22 October 2026, at Le Méridien Beach Plaza in Monaco. Organized under the umbrella of Hers Monaco ahead of its official jury day and gala, the pitching showcase connected early-stage entrepreneurs with venture capital representatives and angel investors. The commercial ventures presented ranged from Japanese artificial intelligence motion-sensing technology to sustainable French luxury manufacturing, Scottish hotel audio platforms, and British primary educational tools. Each founder presented plans for scaling operations, securing capital, and expanding international market access.

How Does Shosabi Apply AI and 3D Motion Sensing to Human Movement in Health and Fitness?

As reported by business journalist Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Sachiko Kamiyama, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Japanese deep-tech startup Shosabi, presented her company’s proprietary movement analysis system.

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Sachiko Kamiyama detailed how Shosabi combines advanced depth-sensing hardware, a standard laptop, and a monitor with artificial intelligence to calculate and display the gap between how individuals believe they move and their actual physical movement patterns.

According to Kamiyama, the technology operates without requiring users to wear tracking devices, harnesses, or physical sensors, relying instead on real-time visual feedback to correct biomechanical posture and movement errors.

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Shosabi is targeting commercial deployments across premium fitness clubs, preventive healthcare centers, and luxury hospitality wellness facilities. The company’s business model pairs an initial upfront system hardware fee with an ongoing monthly software-as-a-service (SaaS) licence. For clinicians and fitness coaches, the system simplifies movement analysis, offering users visual proof of movement mechanics that verbal instructions alone fail to convey.

How Is French Startup By Karbon Turning Offshore Racing Waste into Luxury Accessories?

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Nathalie Colin, partner and creative director of French firm By Karbon, demonstrated how high-performance carbon fibre waste from extreme sports can be transformed into luxury jewellery, trophies, and collectible art objects.

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Nathalie Colin explained that By Karbon collects and traces discarded carbon fibre materials directly from shipyards, Formula 1 teams, aerospace manufacturers, and competitive sailing syndicates, executing design and manufacturing processes in Brittany.

Highlighting a direct connection to the Principality of Monaco, Colin revealed during her presentation that By Karbon recovered 400 kilograms of discarded carbon fibre from Team Malizia—the offshore sailing team associated with Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Herrmann. The upcycled material is being converted into boat scale models, bespoke jewellery, and commemorative accessories.

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, By Karbon is seeking new investment capital to expand manufacturing capacity and grow both corporate B2B gift channels and retail consumer markets, leveraging its established relationships within the international marine and racing sectors.

How Does Scottish Platform Tethered Use Location-Based Generative AI to Improve Hotel Sleep Quality?

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Karen Kerr, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Scottish audio technology company Tethered, presented a platform designed to enhance hotel guest wellbeing through hyper-local soundscapes and storytelling.

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Karen Kerr explained that Tethered uses generative artificial intelligence to craft customized sleep, relaxation, and wellness audio content tied directly to a hotel’s specific geographical location, local history, and regional ambient sounds.

Delivered under the hotel property’s own brand identity via QR codes, guest mobile applications, or in-room television interfaces, the platform aims to provide an immersive alternative to generic, unbranded relaxation playlists. The subscription model gives independent and boutique hoteliers access to bespoke audio content without requiring the large capital budgets usually needed to commission private sound libraries.

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Karen Kerr identified Virgin Hotels Edinburgh as an active commercial deployment site for Tethered, noting that the firm’s growth roadmap includes launching a self-service software product designed specifically for smaller independent hotel operators.

How Does British Ed-Tech Enterprise Everybody Creates Support Primary School Art Education?

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Emilie Scholey, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of United Kingdom-based ed-tech startup Everybody Creates, presented a digital platform engineered to equip non-specialist primary school educators with practical resources to teach art.

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Emilie Scholey outlined how the subscription-based platform provides complete curriculum packages, including structured lesson plans, required material lists, and specific modifications for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The platform includes automated administrative tools designed to capture evidence of student learning and track skill progression over time, reducing teacher workload.

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, Emilie Scholey stated that future development plans involve integrating machine-learning tools to evaluate student learning patterns and suggest curriculum modifications. Scholey stressed that these AI tools are built to offer indicative guidance rather than diagnostic assessments, with strict privacy controls, operational transparency, and bias testing embedded into the development process. The company is preparing to launch a pilot program across 10 to 20 primary schools.

What Guidance Was Shared Regarding Female Founders and Investor Due Diligence?

Beyond individual pitch presentations, the K2MATCH Investor Lounge provided a forum for discussions on early-stage fundraising dynamics, particularly regarding access to capital for female founders.

As reported by Nancy Heslin of Monaco Life, participants at the Hers Monaco event discussed the importance of founders maintaining leverage during investment rounds. Panelists and organizers highlighted that while securing early-stage capital remains challenging for female entrepreneurs, founders should rigorously evaluate potential investment partners for strategic fit, alignment on corporate governance, and long-term value addition, rather than accepting initial terms simply to secure capital.

Background of the Particular Development

The K2MATCH Investor Lounge is a recurring international business matchmaking series organized to connect early-stage technology startups, growth-stage ventures, and high-net-worth investors, family offices, and venture capital funds across Europe. The tenth edition was staged in Monaco in collaboration with Hers Monaco, an initiative focused on promoting female leadership, female-led entrepreneurship, and targeted venture capital deployment for women founders across global markets.

Female founders historically receive a disproportionately small share of global venture capital funding. Market research across North America and Europe indicates that all-female founding teams consistently secure less than 3% of total annual venture capital funding allocations. Platforms like K2MATCH and Hers Monaco aim to address this disparity by providing structured pitch forums, direct introductions to angel investor networks, and mentorship programs tailored to scaling women-led enterprises across high-growth sectors including artificial intelligence, circular manufacturing, travel technology, and educational technology.

How This Development Can Affect Female Entrepreneurs and Early-Stage Investors

The presentations and investor networking conducted at the K2MATCH Investor Lounge in Monaco are expected to yield several distinct outcomes for the participating founders, early-stage investors, and the broader regional startup ecosystem:

1. Participating Startup Ventures (Shosabi, By Karbon, Tethered, Everybody Creates): Securing growth capital from the Monaco investor network will allow these four companies to accelerate their technical roadmaps and international market penetration. Shosabi will likely expand software licensing across European wellness facilities; By Karbon can secure industrial recycling agreements with additional luxury automotive and nautical brands; Tethered will be positioned to accelerate sales of its self-service software across independent hotel chains; and Everybody Creates will gather essential operational metrics from its upcoming 10 to 20 school pilot to support future institutional ed-tech funding rounds.
2. Angel Investors and Impact Venture Funds: Investors engaging with platforms like Hers Monaco will gain access to vetted, high-growth female-led startups operating across sustainable manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and ed-tech. Successful investments resulting from the event will help validate impact-focused investment thesis models, encouraging traditional venture funds to expand allocation quotas for female-founded enterprises.
3. Monaco as a Regional Innovation Hub: By hosting high-profile pitch lounges linking global founders from Japan, France, Scotland, and the UK with local capital, Monaco reinforces its strategic position as an international hub for wealth management, family office investments, and sustainable innovation. This ecosystem will likely attract more international tech founders seeking early-stage growth capital and strategic European partnerships.