Women of Wearables (wearables, health tech & femtech)’s Post

We’re beginning to see a critical shift in the funding landscape for women's health startups… At the recent MedCity INVEST conference, industry leaders highlighted more women rising to key positions in venture capital, the support for women’s health startups is growing stronger. Joe Connolly, CEO of Visana Health Health, shared how investor conversations have transformed over the past five years. Initially, many investors were unfamiliar with conditions like endometriosis and fibroids. Today, with more women in VC roles, there's a greater understanding and willingness to invest in a wider range of women’s health issues. This change is crucial because it ensures that women’s diverse health needs are addressed and funded. We must continue to advocate for more women in venture positions as it leads to more informed decisions and investments in areas that truly matter to women. This not only promotes innovation but also ensures equitable healthcare solutions for all women. Read more ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eWHCJj46 #womeninventure #womenshealth #lifesciences #health

👀 Portfolio news: LEVY Health features in two Sifted ‘startups to watch’ lists — scoring a spot in the 'fertility' and 'b2b SaaS' rankings. 💭 For both articles, reporters asked investors to nominate startups outside of their portfolio. Frontline Ventures Partner Zoe Chambers said “Levy Health was founded by three incredible women…it equips healthcare professionals with the ability to diagnose women with frequently misdiagnosed conditions…it’s now selling into the fertility sector in the US”. Sofinnova Partners Principal Javier Nunez-Vicandi said “We are witnessing a growing use of such solutions to support clinicians”. 👩🍼 Levy Health are on a mission to close the gender health gap and help women who want to conceive. 👩⚕️Founders Caroline Mitterdorfer, Silvia Hecher and Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. Theresa Vilsmaier were among EU-Startups’ 100 most influential women in startups and VC in 2022. You can read the article’s here: https://lnkd.in/dUgdgXcb and https://lnkd.in/eTKbCFda 

The market for #female #health is greatly undervalued, yet its potential is enormous. Investing in this area isn't just a good idea – it's a necessity. I love how Halle Tecco, MPH, MBA articulates this insight and generously shares a wealth of resources for #founders. ✍🏼 "Your Guide to Starting a Women's Health Company From Someone Who Has Done It (Twice)", broken down into 3 key takeaways: 🔵 Women's health sector is ripe for innovation and crucial for global health equity, but it is historically underfunded and under-researched. 🔵 #Gender, rather than biological #sex, plays a significant role in health disparities, highlighting social justice issues. 🔵 Halley highlights a list of investors who have made *at least 5* investments in women’s health - Amboy Street Ventures, SteelSky Ventures, Supernode Ventures, Serena Ventures, Portfolia, RH Capital, The Helm, Avestria Ventures, Coyote Ventures, Able Partners, Springbank, Muse Capital, Seven Seven Six 7️⃣7️⃣6️⃣, Female Founders Fund, FemHealth Ventures, Lux Capital, Astia, Goddess Gaia Ventures, Overwater Ventures ... Written by an investor with firsthand experience founding successful women's health companies, Natalist and Cofertility. Thanks for sharing, Halley! https://lnkd.in/ecgM4xTA

Story by Linda Greub, CFA, MBA via Crunchbase A male venture capitalist once said, “I don’t want to talk about vaginas every Monday morning in my partner meeting.” Although nearly every woman has a vagina, the word itself can be enough to prevent men, the majority of decision-making investors, from investing in vagina-based innovations — or women’s health in general. Female founders received only 1.9% of all venture capital funding in 2022 and female founders of women’s health companies received even less than that. However, when it comes to innovation and improvements for women, female-led women’s health companies are poised to succeed. Thus, female-led health care companies address an otherwise overlooked market and have successful, skillful leaders at their helm. They have already started to see major successes too: Maven Health became the first digital health unicorn focused on women’s health while Elvie, Kindbody and Tia had some of the largest fundraising rounds for women’s health companies ever. While male investors may not want to say the word vagina, their historic lack of focus on and funding for women’s health has created a massive market vacuum. Female leaders, especially those of women’s health companies, can successfully capitalize on this overlooked opportunity and, in the process, improve health outcomes for women everywhere. #hormonehealth #femtech #womenshealth #healthtech #digitalhealth #healthcare #healthcareinnovation #startups #innovation #health #medtech #healthcareresearch #femalehealth #genderhealthgap #reproductivehealth #funding #investment #grants #maternalhealth #periods #menstruation #sexualhealth #sextech #menopause #fertility #pregnancy #postpartum #eggfreezing #IVF #healthequity

I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again - women’s health goes way beyond vaginal and reproductive issues (although those are clearly very important!) So new health solutions focusing on unmet needs include a much wider range of topics that deserve investment, alongside crucial innovation in vaginal and reproductive health. Femtech and women’s health tech offer opportunities to create effective solutions for customers crying out for better. (1) Many more women experience specific kinds of health issues such as thyroid conditions, auto-immune conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, digestive disorders such as IBS, incontinence, lower back pain, depression and anxiety, urinary tract infections and more. (2) Women often experience health conditions differently to men, due to physiological differences often linked to hormonal changes - for example asthma, heart conditions, autism, migraines. (3) Women can be disproportionately affected by conditions due to stigma or medical gaslighting - for example pain management and STIs. (4) Some conditions usually seen as vaginal or reproductive issues need to be reframed as they affect the whole body and mental well-being - for example, the endocrine disorder PCOS to the pain of endometriosis, or the psychological distress of vaginismus. We need a broader and shared understanding of what the phrase women’s health means, to properly reflect unmet needs and investment opportunities. #womenshealth #femtech #womenshealthmatters Brigitte West Jasmine Eskenzi Gila Tolub Hannah Wrathall Itunuoluwa Johnson-Sogbetun Dr Ann Nainan Dr Jessica Walburn Jenny Hargrave Elena Mustatea Abi Gleek Nora Bergin Fiona Bugler Jo Waters Angela Chalmers Estelle Stephenson Samantha Walker Helen Sinton Sonia Munde Morwenna Lawson Rashmi Madan Minal Bhima Charlotte Haigh Kathrin Folkendt Kathryn Coles at White Rabbit Research Clare Stafford Sue Whitehead Claire Sand Victoria Crump

Congratulations Hannah Samano and Unfabled for raising $1.6 million in funding to tackle the gender health gap 🎉   3SV is joining Morgan Stanley, Exceptional Ventures, Sequoia Capital (through Sequoia Scout), Founders Factory, Atomico Angels, SyndicateRoom, Chai Ventures and others in backing this trailblazing company: https://lnkd.in/euJGbxrK 💻 Unfabled is building an AI-powered consumer health platform that offers personalised solutions for women at every stage of their life - from first menstruation to menopause and everything in between. 📊 3SV Collective invested because of Unfabled’s ability to consolidate the highly fragmented women’s health and wellness market, as well as the potential for positive benefits to women's wellbeing through personalised solutions. Unfabled is already providing a one-stop destination for curated products and digital offerings on its platform, and we believe this investment will take the company to world domination. 💪🏻 📖 A recent McKinsey Health Institute report found that closing the gender health gap can add $1 trillion to the global economy by 2040. Companies like Unfabled can make an important contribution towards achieving this goal. #genderhealthgap #vc

Great interview with Brittany Hawkins on Marketplace by APM about founders in women's health trying to gain traction and investment. In my opinion, female founders creating female centric health solutions are fighting two issues: 1) taboos around women's bodies and health, see the #cnbc article https://lnkd.in/gautkB2p. 2) run of the mill sexism, see the TechCrunch article or hundreds of others on the same topic https://lnkd.in/g2TzAFX4 So what can we do? Break the taboo on talking about women's health. Repost articles on content you are comfortable sharing, like using AI to increase the accuracy of mammograms, nobody likes cancer, right? https://lnkd.in/g8Q_5kge. And when you're looking at medtech and healthtech conferences and events to attend, check their policies for speakers (are they all paying to speak at the event or are they invited on merit) and the diversity of topics and sponsors. Put your training funds and event budget toward events that are inclusive of women's health topics and founders. #womenshealth #femtech #investment

Investors' interest in women's health is growing, but we still have a long way to go. When I founded Visana, we were focused on conditions like endometriosis and fibroids - conditions that have impacted many women in my family. Despite impacting over 1 in 3 women, investors often had never heard of these conditions. Some investors are expanding their view of "women's health," no longer considering it a "check the box" in the portfolio, often focused on maternity. Instead, they're taking a more comprehensive approach to women's health, with multiple investments across conditions that uniquely, differently, or disproportionately impact women across all life stages. We're still in early days in women's health. Sorely needed innovation will continue to get funded, especially as we see an increase in female investors get promoted within their firms. #womenshealth #digitalhealth #virtualcare #healthtech

Have you heard about FemTech? #FemTech is subsection of the tech sector focusing on products tailored to improve women’s health and well being thanks to innovation. With companies such as Elvie and #AvaFertility, FemTech takes on issues related, for example, to #pregnancy , #postpartum, or #menopause. Nevertheless, the path to venture capital investment for FemTech startups remains difficult, despite the potential consumers (women) comprising approximately 50% of the world population. VCs tend to give FemTech startups the cold shoulder, oftentimes due to the lack of understanding of the potential client pain points and the "#taboo” status of many startup ideas, according to the Elvie founder, Tania Boler. Boler who created a smart device to treat post-partum pelvic floor prolapse initially found it difficult to communicate the potential of her product to predominantly male VCs. Other elements, such as the venture funding gender gap play a role. According to McKinsey 70% of FemTech companies have at least one female founder (in comparison to 20% other sectors). Given the strong consumer adoption of FemTech products, stable revenue growth, and immense growth potential, FemTech is here to stay. Nevertheless, the path to investment for FemTech founders remains thorny and more value to the economy could be added if more startup investment went toward FemTech. What are your thoughts? 🕵♀️ Perhaps the news surrounding #SoftBank would be different today if the technology champion diverted more investment toward FemTech instead of co-working spaces. 🤔 #genderbias #femalefounder #womenentrepreneurs #genderentrepreneurship #tech #innovation #elvie #investment #foodforthought #venturecapital https://lnkd.in/eTpgx89H