Why The Time Is Right For Femtech

Women’s health issues often face stigma and taboo and are underserved. While the male-dominated venture capital world has meant the femtech market is still at the beginning of its journey in digital health. However, the femtech market has been gaining significant momentum over the past few years with digital health solutions expanding into new areas of women’s health. Recently an Insight Partners report stated that the global femtech market is expected to grow from $12.5B in 2022 to $22.28B by 2028. While last year within the U.S. women’s health solutions received $1.4B in funding. 

Although this space has been traditionally dominated by software based solutions in the reproductive space like period and fertility tracking apps, we are seeing new plays into hardware based solutions including novel diagnostics for gynecologic disorders and pelvic floor training devices. It’s no surprise that innovations are expanding into other indications within the multidimensional field of women’s health, as when we look into the digital health space, women are 75% more likely to use digital tools to track their health. It’s also been reported that women in the workforce are spending 29% more per capita on healthcare than their male peers. Therefore it's clear there is an opportunity for digital health to provide tailored solutions to tackle challenges in womens health related to access to health services, awareness of treatment options & support, self-management, participation in research and gender inequalities.

In this week’s blog we explore three areas of women’s health that have been gaining traction over the last year. 

Menopause

Menopause is an area of women’s health that is often overlooked, however it’s a phase all women will enter at some point in their lives, with an estimated 1.1 billion women worldwide being postmenopausal by 2025. The last year has seen significant movements in this space and 

investors are seeing the potential of this large market opportunity, with many investments in menopause focused companies over the last year (Menopause focused telehealth startup Evernow, completed their $28.5M series A funding round in April, while Vira Health recieved $12M for its personalizied menopause sopport solution). 

Many women’s health solutions are expaning their offerings to include menopause care, Maven Clinic, the largest virtual care clinic for women’s and family health recently expanded its health platform to include a dedicated program for menopause and ongoing care. Their program covers almost 1 million women across 40 employers and will help women with early identification of symptoms, treatment plan advice, educational information and virtual care services with a range of providers specializing in menopausal care. 

Interestingly, pharmaceutical company Astellas who earlier this year submitted an application for a new oral drug for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS) associated with menopause, recently announced they will be launching a new digital health solution for menopausal women at HLTH2022 conference. This will be the first pharma company to deliver a digital solution within the menopause space. 

We have also seen providers expanding their offerings and partnering with digital health companies in this space. Earlier this year, Mayo Clinic partnered with Lisa Health to create an app that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and sensor technology to provide support to perimenopausal and menopausal women. The app will evaluate menopause progression and deliver personalized insights and education based on each user’s stage and symptoms. The premium version of the app will include additional AI algorithms which will allow the integration of wearable devices for advanced symptom tracking. 

Just last week, Unified Women’s Healthcare, a women’s health-management, announced its acquisition of Gennev, a menopause virtual care platform. This investment will allow Unified to provide essential care across its “2,500 affiliated women’s healthcare providers across 900 locations throughout the U.S.'' 

Fertility

In a previous HealthXL community meeting fertility was chosen as the biggest opportunity for digital health companies within the women's health space. Traditionally startups in this space have focused on ovulation and pregnancy tracking apps. However we have seen moves into other areas of fertility such as IVF treatment optimisation solutions and fertility focused virtual care clinics. Earlier this year, Alife Health, who’s AI software based clinical decision support tool allows doctors to create a personalized, data-driven treatment plan, received $22M in series A funding. 

Notably earlier this year, we saw big tech giant Apple make moves into the women’s healthcare space with the launch of their temperature sensor in the Apple watch which is specifically designed for women’s health to track ovulation. Privacy became a concern within period tracking apps in the wake of the overturning of Roe vs Wade, however, Apple has openly stated they will encrypt cycle tracking data, potentially reducing these privacy issues. Similarly, this year Flo released a new “Anonymous Mode” setting allowing users to access the app without their name and email addresses. 

In terms of D2C testing services for women, Kindbody, the women’s health and reproductive clinic launched at-home fertility tests for women and men earlier this year, which can be paired with an in-person or virtual appointment. Later this year they expanded their offerings by acquiring a leading genomics company, Phosphorus Labs which adds genetic testing and carrier screening to its end-to-end care delivery model. 

Providers have also been utilizing digital solutions to address fertility issues over the last year. Penn Medicine launched a telemedicine-drive program, ‘Fast Track to Fertility’ which was able to cut the time between when a patient reaches out for help to when they received their first treatment by half. The program also allowed more new patients to access fertility care, increasing the number by 24 percent in the year it was implemented as a standard of care at Penn Medicine. 

Pelvic Floor Conditions 

Pelvic floor pain and incontinence is another subject that is rarely talked about and largely overlooked in women’s health, however it affects many women after childbirth. Digital Health companies are now beginning to explore and disrupt this $6B worth market. Materna, one of the few companies in this space secured a $20M investment in August, their product Materna Prep is currently being studied in a clinical trial to examine whether it can help first-time mothers achieve less pelvic injury. 

We’ve also seen musculoskeletal (MSK) digital health companies entering this space over the last year. Sword Health launched their own women’s physical therapy product focused on pelvic health and pain. The solution, ‘Bloom’ comprises a hardware element which includes a sensor that measures pressure and stamina of the pelvic floor and a software element app which gives users feedback on their exercises. Hinge Health, another large MSK clinic, launched a women’s pelvic health program which will be available to Hinge’s network of customers totalling 15 million lives across 700 employers and health plans. These solutions follow on from other similar offerings in this space, like Renovia’s FDA cleared DTx for pelvic floor strengthening and treatment of urinary incontinence and Elvie’s smart connected kegel tracker. 

The Future of Femtech

Once coined a niche market, it's clear the femtech market is growing and investors are seeing the opportunities within this field of digital health. We anticipate the industry will continue to expand into underserved areas of women’s health, including reproductive issues, sexual health and gynaecological disorders.