It’s A Great Time To Be A Woman In Healthtech

By Catherine Jones, Co-founder and CEO of Werbie

I’m a strong believer in looking at the silver lining not the dark cloud. Our healthcare system is in a state of crisis. But, as a female entrepreneur working on solutions for women with diabetes, I see this crisis as a window of opportunity to highlight women’s health issues and women in technology.

I’m sure everyone knows at least one woman with diabetes: your mother, grandmother, sister, friend, spouse, or co-worker. The problem is epidemic. It affects about 13 million women, one in ten women over the age of twenty in the United States, and millions more worldwide. Costs are crippling.

As co-founder and CEO of Werbie, our mission is to build clinically validated diabetes tools for women. We are starting with gestational diabetes. Every time I pitch our GlucoseMama Diabetes Assistance System solution, or send out investor materials, or draft a press release, or talk to people, I have a golden opportunity to educate them on the little known topic of diabetes during pregnancy, and the fact that 50% of women with gestational diabetes will develop type 2 and their children are at risk as well.

The recent focus on women’s healthcare issues, spurred by the possibility of certain critical coverages being denied, creates a new stage on which to highlight the perils of not funding conditions affecting women, such as pregnancy, diabetes, female cancers, and heart disease. Our voices are being heard and taken seriously. Not loudly enough yet, but this is a start.

Women working in healthtech on female problems are uniquely qualified to do so. They understand the female body. Female issues. Emotions. Stress points. And challenges. As healthcare becomes more digitized and individualized, often managed from one’s smart phone, investors are seeing an ever-expanding market. They know that women make 80% of health-related decisions for their families, and a whopping 80% of overall purchasing decisions.

Technology focused on women impacts the health of future generations. That cancer drug, breastfeeding pump for NICU moms, and GlucoseMama diabetes self-management tool, not only helps women today, but also their children and future children.

To my fellow female entrepreneurs, I implore you to keep innovating. Stay focused on women. The future is ours.

SPECIAL NOTE: If you’re a woman with diabetes or are working in the diabetes healthcare world, please reach out (Catherine@glucosemama.com). We’d love to hear from you!

Catherine Jones is the Co-Founder and CEO of Werbie. The GlucoseMama Diabetes Assistance System will be available shortly. It is currently in clinical trials at the University of Maryland (Baltimore) School of Medicine’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine Department; funded by MIPS. Catherine is an award-winning author of four books. Follow Twitter for updates: @Werbiellc