By Renana Ashkenazi
By Renana Ashkenazi
In recent years, researchers have conducted five times as many studies into erectile dysfunction, which affects 19% of men, then premenstrual syndrome, which affects 90% of women. But that doesn’t make any economic sense. Investors always look for that sweet spot: a huge market potential with a very large target population — that can pay. How does a market of (a bit over) half the world’s population, spending over $20 Trillion a year sound?
The days when ‘Tech’ referred only to ‘High-Tech’ are long gone: HealthTech, FinTech, AdTech, EdTech, AgTech and PropTech all became legitimate categories in recent years. It’s time to make room for a new exciting trend — FemTech, sitting at the intersection between technology and women’s health. We can see a wave of digital solutions dedicated to women’s health hitting the market. From inventions which use women’s menstrual cycle to predict fatal or chronic diseases, through revolutionizing fertility treatments to the world’s first silent wearable breast pump that fits in the bra (with no tubes, no wires and no need to mute yourself on that super important conference call you are on) — Women-dedicated technologies are the next big thing.
Generally speaking, FemTech is an all-encompassing name that defines innovations designed to support, improve and promote women’s health. The term itself was coined by Ida Tin, the founder of Clue — a period tracking app, who introduced it during her discussions with investors and almost accidentally created this new category. When Tin was presenting to (male) investors, the most frequent response she got was that they would not invest in a product they wouldn’t use themselves — it seemed to them like a niche market. I suspect you might have to be a woman to understand why tracking something that happens to you every month for over a quarter of your life isn’t niche; and indeed, Clue’s millions of users across 180 countries are a testament to this.
The Femtech scene has seen a surge of innovative solutions for women’s health problems: prescription birth control apps, tampon alternatives to wearable fertility trackers and internet-connected breast pumps. Period tracking, pregnancy and nursing care, women’s sexual wellness products, early detection of breast cancer and menopause support — the list of women’s health issues tackled with new, data-driven solutions goes on and on.
The first thing you’ll find when you Google ’Femtech‘, in different phrasings, is this: Women drive the world’s economy. Women represent 72.8% of US consumption and account for 85% of all consumer purchases. We are not just (a bit over) half of the world’s population; we are also responsible for global spending of over $20 Trillion a year (And contrary to what my darling spouse believes, it’s spent on more things than my latest pair of shoes). This huge spending, plus the fact that female health technology has until recently remained largely unexplored, means that the market is particularly ready for disruption.
Frost and Sulliven estimate Femtech products have a global market potential of $50B by 2025 and that that the global venture capital funding and investments across Femtech amounted to $1.69bn in the first half of 2019. This number is estimated to reach $9B by 2024; It’s clear that the potential in FemTech is huge, not just because of the potential to change the lives of hundreds of millions of women, but also as it opens the door to women developers and entrepreneurs, still outnumbered in the tech world: 80% of the Femtech companies that raised capital in 2019 were led by women.
While Femtech ventures initially focused primarily on solutions related to pregnancy, periods and menopause, we are now seeing an expansion to other areas of health such as chronic diseases, lifestyle and wellness. Still, a majority of funding is going to companies supporting reproductive health. Here are some of the main segments to look at today:
It can’t be sugar-coated: If you’re a founder building a Femtech company and looking for early-stage funding, you’ve got a pretty challenging task. I recommend reading this great piece on “How to secure venture capital for Femtech startups”, and of course feel free to reach out to me directly. I’d love to hear from you! feel free to email me at [email protected]. If you are looking to raise money abroad, here are a few good options:
The good news is there’s an emerging understanding that the needs are there, and where there are needs — there are endless opportunities.
