How we close the gender health gap with femtech
Earlier this year, Femstreet and firstminute capital (London-based seed fund backed by 30 unicorn founders and Tencent) brought together 90-odd people with one thing in common: they all desperately wanted to speed up innovation in women’s health. Many of them were founders and operators, but with “femtech” (i.e. technology focused on women’s health) set to become a $50bn market by 2025, investors are beginning to turn their heads too.
If you’re a woman — here’s why you should be excited about what 2019 has in store for you (and your health!):
1. The hormone revolution is only just beginning
With the proliferation of apps such as MyFlo and Moody Month, we are slowly starting to better our hormonal health, our menstrual cycles and how these affect body and mind. The rise of wearables means we are slowly gathering a pool of valuable longitudinal data which will help women find personalised solutions for their health. Traditionally stigmatised and largely underserved as a market, menopause is finally heating up as a space and women are offered solutions other than the traditional (slightly controversial) Hormone Replacement Therapy. “What’s still lacking is a one-stop-shop for all this fantastic, but complex data which can help women make sense of their fertile, infertile and post-fertile bodies” says Marje Isabelle, founder of Babushka, a hormone personalisation platform for menopausal women.
2. Regulators are waking up to the power of femtech
In 2018, Natural Cycles became the first FDA approved app to market itself as a contraceptive. In the UK, the NHS has partnered with kegel trainer Elvie to help better support women with stress urinary incontinence. Whilst many companies — particularly those addressing female pleasure and sexual wellness — still face a challenging regulatory environment, these are promising milestones.
3. Women are moving up the ranks in VC
2018 was the year of female venture capital promotions. More women are raising their own funds and being promoted to partner. Female-founded funds such as Cowboy Ventures, Forerunner Ventures and Female Founders Fund are helping to narrow the massive gender funding gap and there is more investment in startups targeting women’s healthcare. Hopefully the days of trying to convince an all-male investment committee that “it’s finally time to innovate on the tampon!” are coming to an end, with the rise of a more diverse and understanding audience.
4. A new wave of activism: Women are fuming in the wake of me-too
Society has taught us to be so disconnected from pleasure and to be ashamed of our own body. Andrea Barrica, founder of sex ed platform O.School tells us: “Sexual and genital shame are still rampant, but women are pretty pissed right now. The timing is right to talk about female pleasure”. This point extends far beyond female sexual pleasure: Our anger is making room for wider conversation in other taboo fields as well, and with that, we are slowly removing the stigma surrounding female health. Or, to put it in the words of Sophia Bendz, Partner at Atomico: “Today we are better informed, motivated, engaged, empowered and better prepared and funded to build products and services that are meeting our own expectations and basic human needs as women. It’s outrageous that this area has been so underserved and that women, for too long, have settled with less. I’m convinced that we would have seen more research and solutions in place a long time ago if men were dealing with contraceptives, fertility issues, pregnancy, breastfeeding, period management and menopause. I see we’re now in a place where we are taking control of our own well-being by creating the products and services we need, this is something that makes me beyond excited both as an investor and a woman.”
If you’re a femtech founder looking for funding to fuel your next stage of growth, or if you ‘d like Femstreet to shout about what you’re building, Sarah and I would love to talk to you (lina@firstminute.capital; sarah@femstreet.com).
Femstreet is a weekly newsletter on women in tech, entrepreneurship and diversity in venture capital. You can subscribe here.
firstminute capital is a $100m global seed fund, launched in 2017. The fund is backed by 30 unicorn founders, and strategics such as Tencent, Henkel and Atomico. It has made thirty-four seed stage investments to-date across the US, Europe and Israel.
