Chiara Cespi Polisiani is a European entrepreneur and the Co-founder and CEO of Papilio Bio, a French health technology startup focused on improving access to HPV screening and early disease detection. Based in Paris, she has built her career across startups, marketing, business development, and growth strategy before moving into the biotechnology sector. Today, she leads Papilio Bio’s strategy, fundraising efforts, partnerships, and business development as the company works to create more accessible diagnostic solutions.
Papilio Bio was founded with a mission to make early detection easier, more private, and more accessible. The company is developing a rapid HPV self-test and a digital companion platform designed to support users throughout the screening process. While still in the research and development stage, the startup has already gained recognition within France’s innovation ecosystem and has attracted support from several leading startup and biotech organizations.
Chiara’s journey demonstrates how entrepreneurial experience, business expertise, and a commitment to solving real-world healthcare challenges can come together to create meaningful innovation.
Early Career and Professional Foundation
Unlike many biotech founders, Chiara Cespi Polisiani did not begin her career as a scientist. Her professional background is rooted in business, marketing, and startup growth.
According to Papilio Bio, she spent more than eight years working in marketing, communication, brand strategy, startup operations, go-to-market execution, and international expansion. Throughout these roles, she developed experience in building brands, launching products, managing growth initiatives, and helping companies expand into new markets.
Her early professional experiences exposed her to the fast-moving startup environment, where adaptability and problem-solving are essential. These years helped her develop the operational and strategic skills that would later become critical in building her own company.
Public interviews from earlier in her career show that she studied economics in Italy before pursuing professional opportunities in France. After graduation, she intentionally sought experience within startup environments because they allowed her to learn across multiple functions rather than remain limited to a single role. This approach helped her gain broad business knowledge at an early stage in her career.
Beyond her marketing and operational expertise, Chiara also completed coding training through Le Wagon. While she is not a software engineer by profession, this experience expanded her understanding of technology and digital product development. It also strengthened her ability to work across technical and non-technical teams.
The Decision to Enter Healthcare Innovation
Chiara has publicly stated that building a deep-tech healthcare startup was not part of her original career plan. Her entry into biotechnology came through a process of exploration and personal reinvention rather than a predetermined path.
She has spoken openly about how the intersection of healthcare, technology, and entrepreneurship gradually became an area where she felt she could create meaningful impact. Instead of remaining within traditional marketing or business leadership roles, she chose to apply her experience to a healthcare challenge with significant social importance.
That challenge was HPV screening.
Human papillomavirus, commonly known as HPV, is one of the most common viral infections worldwide and is responsible for the vast majority of cervical cancer cases. Although screening programs exist, participation rates remain inconsistent in many countries. Barriers such as access, awareness, stigma, inconvenience, and follow-up challenges often prevent people from receiving timely screening. Recognizing these gaps, Chiara saw an opportunity to contribute to a healthcare solution that could improve prevention and early detection.
Founding Papilio Bio
Papilio Bio was co-founded by Chiara Cespi Polisiani and Serena Petracchini.
The partnership brought together two complementary skill sets. While Serena contributed extensive scientific expertise, including a PhD in Microbiology and years of research experience, Chiara contributed entrepreneurial, operational, marketing, and business development expertise.
According to the company, Chiara leads strategy, fundraising, partnerships, and growth initiatives. Serena leads scientific development, product strategy, and clinical planning. Together, they established Papilio Bio with a clear mission: to make early detection more accessible through innovative diagnostic technologies.
The company’s first focus is HPV screening. Papilio Bio is developing a rapid self-test intended to simplify screening while also creating a digital application that can help users understand results, access educational resources, and navigate appropriate medical follow-up.
The founders believe that healthcare solutions should be designed around users’ needs. Their vision is to reduce barriers that often prevent individuals from participating in preventive healthcare. Importantly, Papilio Bio states that its products remain under research and development and are not yet approved for medical use. The company’s work is currently focused on developing and validating its technology.
Building a Startup in a Complex Industry
Healthcare innovation presents challenges that extend far beyond product development. Founders must navigate scientific validation, regulation, funding, partnerships, manufacturing considerations, and market adoption.
For Chiara, entering this environment required combining her startup experience with a deep understanding of the healthcare landscape. Rather than positioning herself as a scientific expert, she focused on building the business foundations necessary for innovation to reach real users. This included securing support from startup programs, establishing partnerships, developing market strategies, and communicating the company’s vision to investors and stakeholders.
Since its creation, Papilio Bio has become part of several respected innovation ecosystems in France. The company has received support from organizations including Bpifrance, Agoranov, Genopole, La French Tech, La French Care, 21st by CentraleSupélec, Wilco, Femtech France, SheEOs, Réseau Entreprendre, and other startup support networks.
These organizations provide mentoring, incubation support, visibility, and opportunities to connect with investors and industry experts.
Papilio Bio has also participated in startup competitions and innovation programs. In 2025, the company received the HealthTech Prize during Genopole Partnering Week. The award recognized the startup’s work in developing accessible HPV screening solutions and provided additional support to help accelerate its development. The company has also publicly stated that it is pursuing fundraising efforts to support prototype development, technology optimization, recruitment, and future growth.
Leadership Style
Although detailed descriptions of Chiara’s management methods are not publicly documented, her interviews and public comments provide insight into how she approaches leadership. She consistently emphasizes collaboration and complementary expertise. In discussions about startup building, she has highlighted the importance of shared values among founders, strong mentorship, ecosystem support, and balancing scientific excellence with business execution.
One recurring theme in her public statements is that successful startups are fundamentally built by people. She has described entrepreneurship as a human journey as much as a technical one. This perspective appears to influence how she approaches team building and company culture. Rather than focusing solely on technology, she frequently discusses the importance of creating environments where people can collaborate effectively toward a common mission.
She has also emphasized the value of adaptability. Her own transition from marketing and startup growth into biotechnology reflects a willingness to learn new disciplines and embrace change when opportunities arise.
Industry Expertise and Vision
Chiara’s expertise lies primarily in startup growth, brand strategy, communications, market development, and business operations. While these skills differ from scientific research, they are often essential for translating innovation into practical impact. Many healthcare technologies fail not because the science is weak, but because they struggle with adoption, communication, or accessibility.
Papilio Bio’s strategy reflects this understanding. The company is not simply creating a diagnostic test. It is also developing digital tools designed to help individuals better understand their health information and connect with appropriate healthcare pathways. The company’s vision extends beyond HPV detection. Public statements from the founders indicate that they ultimately hope to apply their approach to additional health conditions and screening challenges.
At the center of this vision is a commitment to prevention. The founders believe that healthcare systems become more effective when diseases can be identified earlier and when individuals have easier access to screening tools. This focus aligns with broader trends across healthcare, where prevention and early detection are increasingly viewed as essential components of better health outcomes.
Achievements and Recognition
Although Papilio Bio remains an early-stage company, it has already achieved several important milestones. The startup successfully established itself within France’s competitive health-tech ecosystem. It secured support from major innovation organizations, gained visibility through startup competitions, participated in incubation programs, and earned recognition for its healthcare mission.
The company was selected for multiple startup support initiatives and became part of networks that connect entrepreneurs with investors, healthcare experts, and industry partners.
Papilio Bio has also received recognition for its efforts to improve HPV screening accessibility and expand preventive healthcare options. For Chiara, these accomplishments reflect her ability to combine entrepreneurial execution with a mission-driven approach to innovation.
Personal Approach
Publicly available information suggests that Chiara values continuous learning and professional growth.
She has spoken about the importance of remaining open to change and allowing careers to evolve in unexpected directions. Her own professional path demonstrates this philosophy. Rather than staying within a single discipline, she moved across marketing, startup operations, technology, and healthcare innovation.
She has also advocated for greater inclusion within entrepreneurship and has publicly discussed challenges that women founders often encounter when seeking investment and support. These perspectives reflect a founder who views innovation not only as a business opportunity but also as a way to address broader societal challenges.
Future Outlook and Impact
Papilio Bio remains in an important stage of development. The company is continuing to refine its technology, expand partnerships, and advance its diagnostic platform.
If the startup successfully achieves its goals, its work could contribute to more accessible screening and earlier detection of HPV-related health risks. By combining self-testing technology with digital guidance tools, the company aims to simplify healthcare journeys that are often difficult to navigate. The potential impact extends beyond convenience. Improved participation in screening programs can lead to earlier intervention and better health outcomes, making preventive healthcare more effective.
For Chiara Cespi Polisiani, the journey is still unfolding. Yet her story already highlights the growing role that entrepreneurs can play in addressing healthcare challenges. Through Papilio Bio, she is helping build solutions designed to make prevention more accessible, more inclusive, and easier for people to use.
As the company continues to grow, her combination of startup experience, strategic leadership, and commitment to healthcare innovation will remain central to its development. Whether viewed as an entrepreneur, startup leader, or advocate for accessible diagnostics, Chiara Cespi Polisiani represents a new generation of founders working to connect technology and healthcare in ways that serve real human needs.
