Hind Hobeika's Inspiring Journey as a Female Scientist in Underwater Technology

A female scientist and entrepreneur hailing from Lebanon, Hind Hobeika has changed the world of technology. The founder and CEO of Instabeat created a wearable underwater technology device, proving that women in science are just as revolutionary as men. In her quest to create the first-of-its-kind technology,  Hind faced numerous challenges and roadblocks. However, her refusal to give up and her dedication to bringing a technically sound and usable product for swimmers around the globe is awe-inspiring. Female scientists worldwide should learn from Hind's journey of creating Instabeat and become the change-makers of their time. She describes her aims in a ToolMaker Talk: 

“I am also part of that generation who will, through our projects, develop and nurture the right resources to make it easier for the next crazy change-makers! ”

Image Souce: Instabeat

Hind Hobeika's Early Life

Hind Hobeika was born in 1987 in Beirut, Lebanon. By 2010, she had a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the famous American University of Beirut. Hind has always been an avid swimmer, from swimming in the Mediterranean to swimming competitively in university. During her competitive swimming period, she felt the market gap for a heart monitor that could measure heart rate underwater for swimmers in real-time. Determined to find a solution, Hind entered a pan-Arab reality TV show, Stars of Science, where young innovators compete. She created the prototype for Instabeat during Star of Science and won third place in the competition. Due to her impressive entrepreneurship, she has been featured in WIRED magazine and has led multiple UNESCO International Conferences as a speaker.

Instabeat’s Journey from Prototype to Market

The prototype successfully showcased the possibility of measuring real-time heart rate underwater. However, it still needed to be a marketable product for swimmers. Hind conducted extensive testing and tweaking with engineers, swimmers, and coaches. After detailed product testing, she turned a very bulky prototype into a sleek, lightweight sensor that could be attached to any swimming goggles. After spending eight years researching and developing between Lebanon, the US, and China, the final sensor was ready for market. Instabeat’s monitor could now track a swimmer’s heart rate and other metrics such as lap detection, automatic stroke recognition, and other performance-enhancing analytics. After monitoring, it instantly displayed the metrics on the small display on the goggles worn by swimmers. During these eight years, Hind faced innumerable challenges, from depleting capital to hardware glitches and failures and finding a suitable manufacturer, but with determination, she always found a solution. 

Challenges of Launching Instabeat

As a new technology, Instabeat also faced several obstacles. Raising capital for a hardware company is complicated due to investors' reluctance, but Hind initially overcame this challenge through crowdfunding from 56 countries. She details her experience with these challenges in an interview with Shikhar Ghosh (Source: StartipGuide.com):

“Actually I had found a bunch of engineers, but either some – It was just such a bad cultural experience. One of them supposedly had a family member die every week, which is the reason he gave me why he kept not showing up to work and he kept delaying the deliverable.”

She made complex technology user-friendly and functional for a niche market. She worked with expert designers and engineers and moved to San Francisco to access a broader swimmer community for testing and feedback. Manufacturing was another hurdle, which Hind crossed by moving to China for a year to find a suitable manufacturer with relevant experience. As a female Lebanese-American entrepreneur, she faced cultural isolation and gender challenges in an industry dominated by men. But Hind persevered as a champion for women in science. 

Hind Hobeika's TED Talk 

Instabeat has made a notable difference in the world of swimming. Hind, who was once a competitive swimmer, noticed that something was missing in the market. So, she created a product to help swimmers get better. In one of her inspiring Ted talks, Hind gives an overview of Instabeat’s products and explains how they are beneficial for swimmers and coaches.

Swimmers find it easier to train and track how they are doing. Coaches use it to see where swimmers need to get better. And there is more good news: Instabeat's new sensor can give audio feedback. This sensor helps visually impaired swimmers to compete just like everyone else.

Hind Hobeika's List of Achievements

Instabeat's success is measurable by its accomplishments of raising over $10 million in funding and being recognized by organizations like Harvard Business School. Hind Hobeika has made a name for herself in the otherwise male-dominated tech industry. For her accomplishment, Forbes Middle East has named Hind one of the "Top 50 Women in Tech" and has been featured in international publications like  WIRED. Hind has also been recognized as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum and included in the list of top 5 Arab innovators by MIT. Hind's impressive achievements, despite her young age, are because of her unwavering commitment to her goals and belief in herself. Women in science in any part of the world can take inspiration from her resolve and work towards their dreams. Female scientists and innovators must recognize the role they have to play in the technological advances of their times.