Golnar Abivardi and Haleh Abivardi, also known as Abivardi Sisters, are

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

s and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

s, known for their chain of dental

clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

s called Swiss Smile.

Early life and education

Their father was a

natural scientist Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatabili ...

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

and their mother was the director of a school for the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

. Moving within the country, they started working different side jobs as teenagers, receiving their

Matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. Both studied

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...

at the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

; Haleh Abivardi from 1990 to 1996, finishing her dissertation in 1998, and her younger sister Golnar from 1993 to 1998, finishing hers in 2001.

Career

After working as employed dentists, Haleh Abivardi, the older sibling, took over a dental practice in

Amriswil , neighboring_municipalities= Egnach, Erlen, Hefenhofen, Muolen (SG), Salmsach, Sommeri, Zihlschlacht-Sitterdorf , twintowns = Amriswil ( Low Alemannic: ''Amerschwiil'') is a town and a municipality in Arbon District in the canton of Thurga ...

in 2001, opening the Abivardi & Abivardi practice with her younger sister. In 2002, they founded Swiss Smile with its first clinic at the ShopVille

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

Zürich Central Station , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () ...

. The business idea is inspired by the mall itself, featuring f. e. long opening hours. In 2017 the Swiss

Jacobs Holding Jacobs Holding AG is an investment firm based in Zürich founded in 1994 by Klaus Johann Jacobs which developed from Jacobs Suchard AG. Following the sale of 10.1% of Adecco in 2014, the focus is on the 50.1% stake in Barry Callebaut AG. In addit ...

bought a share from the Abivardi sisters and from

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

EQT Partners EQT AB Group is a global investment organization founded in 1994. Its funds invest in private equity, infrastructure, real estate, growth equity, and venture capital in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. , EQT's assets under management a ...

that had acquired a

minority interest In accounting, minority interest (or non-controlling interest) is the portion of a subsidiary corporation's stock that is not owned by the parent corporation. The magnitude of the minority interest in the subsidiary company is generally less than 5 ...

in 2013. They exited their shareholdings in Swiss Smile and the parent company Colosseum Dental in 2020. In August 2019, the two sisters founded vVardis AG with a registered office in

Zug, Switzerland , neighboring_municipalities = Cham, Baar, Walchwil, Steinhausen, Unterägeri , twintowns = Fürstenfeld (Austria), Kalesija (Bosnia-Herzegowina) Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; french: Zoug it, Zugo r ...

, an oral care company that includes Credentis AG (acquired in 2020) and its portfolio of oral care technologies.

Personal life

Haleh Abivardi has four children and is married. Golnar is the mother of two children and also married.

Recognition and philanthropy

Besides being engaged in charity organisations offering free dental care for people in need, both Abivardi sisters received the

Veuve Clicquot Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin () is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known vintage champagne in 1810, and i ...

Businesswoman of the Year award for

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 2007. In addition, CNBC Magazine described their approach in 2007 as revolutionary.Richard Lofthouse'': Bright Prospects'',

CNBC Europe Consumer News and Business Channel Europe (referred to on air simply as CNBC) is a business and financial news television channel which airs across Europe. The station is based in London, where it shares the Adrian Smith-designed 10 Fleet Pla ...

Magazin, p. 28, October 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abivardi, Golnar and Haleh 1969 births 1973 births Living people Swiss dentists University of Zurich alumni