photographer: julia powalacz© | make-up artist: dirkje visser from art of colors agency
violette defourt(she/her)
ceo at rapidemic
about
i founded rapidemic as i was doing my masters degree over 4 years ago, after winning an mit-competition with a student team from leiden university. i always knew that at some point in my life i would be working with infectious diseases and global public health. i’m a science-nerd at heart, and i learned to be an entrepreneur along the way. the journey so far has been equally tough as rewarding and meaningful.
why do you think it is important that role models need to be visible?
as a female entrepreneur in the life sciences, i often find myself in rooms full of men. in the past, i struggled from the lack of relatablle role models that i could look up to and get inspired from when i first started my company. representation of diversity in leadership is critical to inspire the next generation of changemarkers, so we as a society can fully capitalize on the ambition and talent of these future leaders to generate meaningful impact.
rapidemic
rapidemic was founded four years ago with the mission to create a world where anyone can access quality diagnostics, anywhere, anytime. at rapidemic, we envision a radically new approach to molecular diagnostics where we are building the first test that can provide lab-grade diagnosis of infectious diseases in under 15 minutes using a simple portable test cassette. with this groundbreaking technology, we aim to revolutionize the diagnosis of diseases with high unmet needs in the space of sexual and women’s health.
powered by gemeente leiden
de gemeente leiden maakt samen met inwoners, ondernemers en andere partijen een steeds mooiere plek van leiden en de leidse regio. het stimuleren van ondernemerschap is belangrijk voor gemeente leiden. we werken daarvoor onder andere samen met unlock_ van plnt leiden. om het belang van ondernemerschap en het leiden bio science park verder uit te dragen heeft gemeente leiden een aantal onderneemsters vanuit dit incubatorprogramma genomineerd voor de rolmodellencampagne.