Pauline Issard
Co-Founder & CEO
Born and
bred in Paris, Pauline spent many holidays in the not so sunny North of France,
where the only dry activity was horse riding. Unlike her sister who soon grew
out of the hobby, Pauline became hooked and hoped that one day she would work
with horses as a career. Her parents however, advised her that she should pursue
her education first which lead to further study of mathematics, physics and
engineering sciences and eventually a Masters in Engineering Science from UCL during
which she met Jeremie and Chris. Having spent some time doing internships for
some large companies, she always strived to have her own business and wondered
how she could incorporate her love for engineering and horses.
Something
that always frustrated her was that the horses she cared for always seemed to
be injured or unwell. She first thought of designing a wearable for riders to
optimise exercise/training sessions and rehabilitation but quickly realised
that training was just one small part of the overall management of the horse. Here
came the idea for Trackener – a horse wearable bib, device and app which could
track the horse’s movements and behaviour all the time with alerts for signs of
poor health, distress or anxiety. This would mean injuries caused by racing
around in the field, stress or conditions such as colic could be detected
earlier on and prevented. With many months of testing, production, feedback and
support, Trackener was born in September 2015.
Pauline admits that it has not been an easy journey starting a tech company and one that probably wouldn’t have begun had she not met Jeremie as she started as a young entrepreneur with relatively little professional experience. However, as a big believer in mentors, Pauline loves to learn from others experiences and expertise and has gradually expanded on her skill set and knowledge which she now shares by taking part in panels at events and tutoring. Women of Wearables is an example of one community she is involved with, recently being shortlisted as one of the Top 100 women in Wearable and Consumer Tech.
Although
living and working in London, Pauline is always on the go around the country:
networking, working on research projects with universities, meeting mentors,
fundraising or on tour with Trackener providing demonstrations. As a result, she
is very active because her main modes of transport are the train and her own trusty
steed – a bike! This doesn’t leave much time for riding herself but will often
involve cuddling or even riding horses belonging to product testers along with
some tennis or other sports if they are on offer!Click here to listen to Pauline's recent podcast on the 'Tech talk show- Jumping for Joy' (35 minutes onward) or read more about her involvement in Women of Wearables.
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