The history of women’s health is one of triumph over underrepresentation and historical neglect. It honors the incredible courage of women who have, for centuries, managed all aspects of their healthcare needs — often without adequate support or knowledge.
We are living in a new era when women’s health is finally getting the attention and respect it deserves at the crossroads of technology and healthcare.
In this article, we will showcase some of the most outstanding examples of the femtech revolution, highlighting startups and femtech companies that offer innovative women’s health solutions.
What is femtech
The term FemTech (Female Technology) was first introduced in 2016 by the entrepreneur Ida Tin, co-founder of Clue, a women’s menstrual cycle monitoring software. The term quickly became popular in the healthcare industry.
Femtech refers to a variety of products, software, and digital health technologies created specifically for women’s health. It acknowledges particular health challenges that women experience – from menstrual health to reproductive health, maternity care, and menopause.
With these functionalities, femtech marks a significant advancement towards tailored care.
The growth of the femtech industry
The Femtech sector was initially a niche market, but in recent years it experienced a significant increase in both interest and investment. This growth is being driven by the increasing public awareness of women’s health issues but what lies at the core of Femtech’s evolution are technological advancements.
The sector offers more precise, personalized, and easily accessible health solutions by utilizing the latest technological innovations. These include mobile applications, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
The femtech space has had multiple record-breaking years, including a breakthrough in 2021 when global venture capital surpassed $2 billion for the first time.
The current estimated size of the global Femtech market is approximately $26.8 billion. Over the ten-year period of 2024 to 2034, the market is projected to continue growing on average at a CAGR of 4.5% and it is expected to reach a size of $43.4 billion by 2034.
This pattern emphasizes how technology-driven solutions are becoming more and more important in the field of women’s healthcare products and services.
Femtech solutions revolutionizing healthcare systems
The growing Femtech industry has many segments, all concentrating on specific health issues that affect women.
From managing menstrual health and sexual well-being to reproductive health and maternity care, these segments cover it all. Let’s explore the distinct characteristics that set each femtech segment apart.
Pelvic Health
Pelvic floor disorders are the focus of the femtech pelvic health segment, which provides solutions such as digital platforms for condition management and gadgets for muscle training.
It was developed specifically to address issues including pelvic discomfort and incontinence, greatly improving women’s postpartum recovery and general well-being.
Elvie
One of the most overlooked health problems affecting more and more women is pelvic floor dysfunction, which can have serious consequences on a patient’s quality of life.
The National Institutes of Health report that 27% of women between the ages of 40 and 59 and 37% of women between the ages of 60 and 79 suffer from some form of pelvic floor dysfunction. Thankfully, pelvic floor trainers can help reduce discomfort and improve the vaginal muscles.
Since 2013, UK-based femtech company Elvie has been at the forefront of the industry, creating products that benefit women.
The company not only revolutionized the sector with its wireless and hands-free breast pump line, but also created a Kegel trainer. The trainer employs biofeedback technology to improve pelvic and sexual health by training the pelvic floor muscles through enjoyable five-minute workouts.
Tania Boler, the company’s female founder, raised $42 million for Elvie in 2019. This was the biggest amount ever made in the femtech industry.
General Health & Wellness
With the integration of digital health clinics, mental health solutions, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) products, the General Health & Wellness segment of femtech offers a holistic approach to women’s health.
Its main objective is to provide clinical care and continuous support for a broad range of medical conditions ensuring women’s needs-specific, comprehensive, and easily accessible healthcare services.
Maven
The holistic approach is the most appealing aspect of a health service intended to support women both during and after pregnancy. Maven, a New York-based company launched by Kate Ryder, is improving women’s healthcare through a round-the-clock virtual clinic.
It employs mental health therapists, relationship consultants, and back-to-work or sleep coaches, among other traditional medical specialties, for women to choose from. They were using telemedicine well before COVID-19 mandated that clinics do so, and the firm was glad to make use of its competitive advantage in the market.
With a large network of family and women’s health providers, The Maven Clinic offers video appointments and private chat. From family planning and pregnancy to postpartum assistance and career guidance, it offers a range of services and makes it easy for women to access care.
Pregnancy, Childbirth & Nursing
Femtech’s Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Nursing segment provides specific tools and supplies for every phase of motherhood, from conception to postpartum care.
This category contains innovative femtech products like breastfeeding support, pregnancy monitoring applications, and fertility trackers. All of them are intended to improve the health and wellbeing of expectant women and their children throughout these vital stages of life.
HeraMED
Founded in 2011, HeraMED is a company based in Israel. It provides various monitoring devices that track fetal heart rates, ensuring peace of mind for expectant mothers and their families.
The portable HeraBEAT sensor can measure the heart rate and pulse of the fetus, especially when the mother is unable to feel her unborn child’s movements. This functionality is successfully preventing needless trips to the hospital for concerned parents.
The company launched the HeraCARE platform, which offers complete remote maternal health care. With it, patients use a smartphone app and a kit of connected medical devices to do the tasks outlined in their personalized care plan.
Consequently, medical professionals may monitor patient behavior remotely through a dashboard.
Menopause
Femtech’s Menopause segment provides customized solutions to control symptoms and preserve health, catering to the specific needs of women going through the menopause.
It consists of innovative tools and resources for tracking symptoms, personalized wellness advice, and peer support. All of them are targeted at giving women the support they need to smoothly and confidently go through this normal transition.
Elektra Health
Elektra Health was founded in 2019 by the female founders Alessandra Henderson and Jannine Versi with the goal of eliminating the stigma associated with menopause. They do that by providing evidence-based support, care, and education to the 50 million women who are currently going through the transition.
Elektra provides professional treatment via telemedicine in addition to its own “Meno-morphosis” program. It includes evidence-based symptom management pathways, community cohort support, and direct access to a menopausal specialist.
75% of menopausal women fail to receive appropriate care in the traditional health system. Black women and gender-expansive people are especially neglected. Elektra is expanding its advisory group by including a variety of academics, researchers, medical leaders, and activists in an attempt to advance gender and health equity, delivering culturally sensitive care.
Nutrition Health & Supplements
Targeted nutritional solutions and supplements that are especially designed to promote women’s health and hormonal balance are offered by the femtech Nutrition, Health, and Supplements segment.
This segment focuses on customized meal plans and high-quality supplements with the goal of maximizing well-being. It is also addressing particular health issues, and boosting general energy levels for women across all stages of life.
Beeya
Hormonal imbalances were an issue that no one was discussing until female entrepreneurs and co-founders of Beeya, Yasmin Nouri and Kaya Purohit pointed out.
Yasmin and Kaya are determined to provide guidance and resources to help women live the most fulfilling lives possible. They realized that it was time to promote hormone health in an affordable, accessible, and natural way. Their product, which balances hormones by eating certain nutrient-dense seeds during the menstrual cycle, is modeled after the Seed Cycling method.
Seed cycling is a naturopathic therapy intended to balance estrogen and progesterone levels by eating flax and pumpkin seeds during the first half of the menstrual cycle and sunflower and sesame seeds during the second half.
According to their beta results, 94% of users experienced fewer cramps, and 88% experienced fewer PMS symptoms, demonstrating the remarkable results of this natural, research-backed approach.
Beeya is on a quest to restore balance to the body, and her foundation is the idea that food is medicine.
Menstruation Care
Femtech’s Menstruation Care segment provides innovative solutions designed to improve menstrual health.
It covers a broad range of services and goods, such as novel, environmentally-friendly period products and smart menstruation monitoring applications. They are all intended to give women comfort, convenience, and informed care during their menstruation cycles.
Daye
In 2017, a young Bulgarian woman came up with the idea to help the 90% of women who experience monthly cramps by creating the world’s first pain-relieving tampon. She built the gynae health start-up Daye with the vision of permanently closing the gender health gap and working towards establishing a gender-aware healthcare system.
In less than a year, Valentina Milanova achieved the largest round in the field of women’s health in Europe – $5.5 million and attracted a significant investment of $11.5 million.
After helping more than 75,000 women with reducing their menstrual cycles’ discomfort, Daye introduced the second-generation tampon to make it easier for people to diagnose STIs, HPV, and vaginal infections at home.
The next goal of Daye is ambitious – to create solutions for gynecological conditions that are underserved, such as menopause, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, and endometriosis.
Reproductive Health and Contraception
The main goal of the femtech’s Reproductive Health and Contraception segment is to empower women with choice and control over their reproductive health.
It offers a wide range of options, including modern fertility monitoring tools, personalized contraceptive methods, and educational materials. They aim to help women make informed decisions about their reproductive health. These options are reliable, practical, and helpful.
Clue
Ida Tin, a Danish female entrepreneur, launched Clue in 2012 because she firmly believes that technology will drastically change family planning in the future.
The app analyzes user data to calculate and predict users’ periods and PMS. It uses global population statistics to determine fertility windows, which may be adjusted for accuracy by users by adding ovulation test results.
They introduced a novel method of birth control – a digital contraceptive that has undergone clinical testing and FDA clearance. It works by tracking the period start date to determine which days you are at high risk of pregnancy.
Moreover, a global research consortium, led by a University of Exeter expert, is partnering with Clue in women’s health research, creating one of the world’s largest datasets of under-researched and under-diagnosed female health conditions.
The purpose of Clue is to empower women to take charge of their own everyday activities and live fulfilling lives not in spite of their biology, but in tune with it. More than 10 million active users depend on Clue to help them better understand their bodies and keep their health-related data safe and private.
Whether you’re a startup, a Fortune 100 company or a government organisation, our team can deliver a solution that works for you.
BGO Software
Other segments of Femtech
Many femtech companies use the consumer-centric manner and develop products that address common health-related problems for women.
Some solutions other than the described above include:
- Sexual awareness apps;
- Oncology tech solutions;
- Gynecological health solutions;
- Chronic illnesses tracking and monitoring apps;
- Family Care, parenting, etc.
Primary healthcare decision-makers can often use the data to understand how conditions affect women differently, thus supporting personalized medicine and tailored approaches.
Closing the women’s health gap
The persistent gap in women’s healthcare, which is defined by differences in diagnosis, treatment, access and research, has a major impact on the global economy.
An average woman has poor health for nine years of her life, which reduces her earning potential and interferes with her presence and productivity at work, home, and in the community.
Innovation is essential to closing this gap. Gender-specific research, inclusive health policy, and technological breakthroughs can all lead to significant advancements.
In addition to improving the lives and health of millions of women, addressing the 25% extra time that women spend in “poor health” has the potential to increase the global economy by at least $1 trillion by 2040.
We can unleash huge economic potential by reducing the gap in women’s health, which would result in a healthier, more productive society and a stronger global economy.
The future of femtech
Femtech startups are growing quickly and are exploring areas well beyond the conventional problems of conception and pregnancy. This expansion represents a change in direction towards a more personalized approach to address women’s health issues.
Femtech’s growing investments and continuous innovation are opening the door for a more efficient healthcare system.
Femtech’s increasing presence in the healthcare industry predicts a future when healthcare will not only be responsive to the specific needs of women but also constantly adapting to take advantage of new possibilities and challenges.
