Entrepreneur
INTERVIEW: Feminade founder announces acquisition by AI health platform Superpower
Feminade, a digital startup helping women optimise their hormone health, has announced its acquisition by Superpower, the world’s first AI concierge health platform. Femtech World finds out what’s next for its female founder.
Since its launch in 2020, Feminade claims to have helped hundreds of women, whose needs were not being met by conventional medicine, to improve their health and wellbeing.
The company was among the first to offer advanced diagnostic testing, telehealth consultations, and holistic, personalised treatment plans for women struggling with a range of hormone-related issues— from irregular cycles, mood swings and weight gain to perimenopause and menopause.
After its initial success, it received backing from the likes of Magic Fund, 305 Ventures, and prominent angel investors, including tennis superstar-turned-women’s health investor, Serena Williams.
Now Feminade has been acquired by Superpower, the San Francisco-based company behind the world-first AI concierge health platform, in a part-cash part-equity deal, the figures of which have not been publicly disclosed.
Announcing the news on Wednesday 8 January, Feminade founder, Roya Pakzad, says she is supporting the company on a contract basis with what she described as a “beautiful transition in Feminade’s journey”, but won’t be joining the Superpower team long-term.
“I couldn’t have thought of a better company to take over Feminade and I’m very happy that our community is going to be in great hands,” she tells Femtech World.
“The Feminade mission is living on through Superpower, which is very important to me.”
The Feminade mission: a “pioneer” in the hormone testing space
Pakzad, who holds an Industrial Engineering degree from UC Berkeley and previously worked at Zendesk and Intuit, launched the company after experiencing her own frustrations with the healthcare system. For over a decade she was “constantly dismissed” or offered “band aid solutions” for her hormonal symptoms.
“I saw that I wasn’t alone,” she says.
“After doing some more research I found that there are millions of women, in the US and globally, suffering from this as well.”
Pakzad began by sharing educational content on her Instagram page, before her research led to the development of Feminade, bringing on board chief medical officer and naturopathic medical practitioner, Dr Erin Rhae Biller.
Feminade’s flagship product was offering accessible dried urine hormone tests that measure hormone levels and metabolites, which would then be used to help inform a personalised treatment plan.
Although dried urine hormone testing is not widely used in mainstream healthcare—and the peer-reviewed research remains limited— it is thought to potentially be able to detect issues such as liver dysfunction and gut health imbalances, Pakzad says, getting to the ‘root cause’ of hormone-related symptoms.
“We were a pioneer in the hormone testing space,” she continues.
“Within two to three months, we started getting emails from women saying it had changed their life—their cycles were more regular, they were finally able to lose weight, their mental health was better, their relationships improved. Feminade was offering science-backed root cause care that was actually helping women.”
Angel investors and personal setbacks
But Pakzad says she received pushback from investors initially and felt she had to “work harder to prove herself” as a female founder. She bootstrapped the company until she was able to secure venture capital in 2021, going onto pitch to Williams after being put in touch through a contact at the Launch House (an early-stage venture fund and social club in Silicon Valley).
Williams launched her venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, and began investing heavily in the women’s health sector after a difficult experience during the birth of her first daughter.
“I pitched her personally— which doesn’t happen that often— and we connected,” says Pakzad.
“Serena believed in me and that really gave me the fuel to push forward.”
However, while Feminade went from strength to strength, Pakzad was facing setbacks in her personal life, losing both of her parents in the last four years. These personal tragedies have forced her to reconsider what’s best for her own future and that of the company, she says.
“The passing of my father [early last year] forced me to take a pause, to take care of my mental health and spend some time with the family,” she explains.
“I thought it best for the company, our customers and for myself, to sell… but whoever was going to take over Feminade had to have similar values, a great team and be on the same mission.”
Closing the healthcare gap
Pakzad is confident that she has found this is Superpower with synergies in their service offering, price point and mission more broadly.
Superpower offers customers comprehensive testing across all major organ systems and over 100 labs, with access to a private concierge clinical team. Like Pakzad, CEO Jacob Peters founded the company following his own health challenges with the aim of “revolutionising the healthcare system”.
It now has a waiting list of over 150,000 individuals and backing from investors including Scott and Cyan Bannister (PayPal Mafia), Arielle Zuckerberg, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Justin Mares (Kettle & Fire), and Jonathan Neman (Sweetgreen).
The Feminade acquisition is said to underscore Superpower’s commitment to closing the healthcare gap, with a shift to focus more on women’s health.
Commenting on the news, Peters said: “Healthcare today is fundamentally broken, especially for women. Feminade’s remarkable growth and deep expertise in women’s health make them the perfect partner to help us close this gap. With this acquisition, we are taking a significant step toward helping people—particularly women—achieve their peak potential through better, proactive healthcare.”
The next chapter
Pakzad isn’t making any decisions about her own next move just yet, instead she is taking some time out to focus on her own health.
“I’m excited for the next chapter for Feminade, but also for the next chapter of my life,” she says.
“I will continue to talk about women’s health, because it’s something that I’m so passionate about. I’m actually going to talk more about my own health and how it’s deteriorated in the past four years whilst building a women’s health company, which is so ironic.”
She adds: “I have to take care of myself.”
You have until Friday to nominate your femtech company of the year.
The award is one of 10 featuring at Femtech World’s third annual awards event, which attracts entries from across the UK, EU and Europe.
The Company of the Year Award is for companies that have demonstrated exceptional leadership in tackling women’s health needs through groundbreaking products, services or platforms that are shaping the future of global femtech.
If your company is driving innovation, impact and growth in this space, this award was made for you.
About the sponsor: Femovate
The category is backed by Femovate, the global femtech incubator using design to fuel innovation across every stage of a woman’s health journey, from proactive prevention through to personalised treatment.
Femovate has invested over US$2 million in design capital, working side-by-side with founding teams to bring market-ready solutions to life.
The startups it supports have collectively raised US$120 million, launched 30 products, and secured seven FDA clearances.
Why enter?
The Femtech World Awards are free to enter.
Winners and shortlisted companies receive extensive coverage across all Femtech World platforms.
Winners will also receive a trophy and the opportunity to be featured in an interview for the publication.
Find out more about the Femtech World Award and enter here by 4pm BST on Friday 17.
By Chaitra Vedullapalli, founder and president, Women in Cloud
Today’s leaders are carrying more than responsibilities.
They are carrying caregiving roles, financial pressures, legal complexities, and the quiet emotional weight of sustaining performance in unpredictable times.
And yet, most leadership forums still focus on productivity, growth, and scale, rarely addressing the human systems that enable sustained leadership.
At Women in Cloud, we believe the next generation of leadership will not be defined by endurance alone, but by discipline, preparation, and self-respect.
That is why we are proud to announce the #WICxWellness Summit 2026: The Disciplined Advantage.
This is a wellness summit focused on leadership preparedness.
Why This Summit Matters Now
Across our global community, a clear pattern has emerged.
- More professionals and executives are quietly navigating:
- Life-threatening health crises, personally or within their families
- Financial stress caused by medical, caregiving, or business shocks
- Legal and healthcare decisions with long-term consequences
- Career interruptions due to caregiving responsibilities
- Chronic exhaustion, grief, and emotional isolation
These experiences are widespread, yet rarely discussed in executive settings.
#WICxWellness 2026 brings these realities into the open with compassion, clarity, and practical guidance, so leaders can prepare, adapt, and continue forward without breaking.
This is wellness as a leadership discipline.
What We Will Explore
This year’s summit is designed to provide grounded, immediately applicable insights for founders, executives, and senior leaders.
Executive Function Under Chronic Stress
Keynote with Jennifer Brown
Focus Areas:
- Understand how chronic stress alters judgment, focus, and emotional regulation
- Identify early warning signs of cognitive overload in leadership roles
- Adaptability as a Cognitive Anchor: Navigating rapid change without compromising decision-making.
- Resilience Through Connection: Building human-centric teams to mitigate the stress of uncertainty.
- Navigating Change with Emotional Intelligence: Regulating stress responses to maintain clarity and empathy.
- Systemic Agility in High-Pressure Environments: Creating foundations of psychological safety that protect organizational function
Labs That Matter (And What to Do With Them)
Fireside Chat with Chelsey Galipeau and Chaitra Vedullapalli
Focus Areas:
- Which health tests are worth the time and investment
- Interpreting results without panic
- Preventive strategies for executive longevity
- Avoiding unnecessary medical spending
Caretaking Without Collapse
Panel With Karen Fassio, Anca Platon Trifan, Scilla Andreen, Clara Schroeder, Sheena Yap Chan
Focus Areas:
- Managing family and professional demands without burnout
- Setting humane boundaries
- Building sustainable support systems
- Ending silent sacrifice in leadership
Food as a Stability System (Not a Diet)
Fireside Chat with Nancy Watt and Meagan T. Copelin
Focus Areas:
- Nutrition for sustained energy and clarity
- Blood sugar and decision-making
- Realistic eating during travel and stress
- Food as operational resilience
Autoimmunity, Hormones & Cardiac Risk in Real Life
Fireside Chat with Dr. Linda Bing
Focus Areas:
- Managing invisible health risks
- Hormonal transitions and stamina
- Flare prevention at work
- Energy mapping for leadership performance
A Different Kind of Leadership Conversation
At Women in Cloud, we have learned something fundamental:
Performance is visible. Discipline is invisible.
Yet discipline determines whether leaders can serve, build, and lead over decades, not just quarters.
The Disciplined Advantage is about building that resilience intentionally.
Through science, lived experience, and practical frameworks, this summit equips leaders to:
- Anticipate strain instead of reacting to a crisis Design sustainable work rhythms
- Protect cognitive and emotional capital
- Lead from grounded strength
This is leadership infrastructure for the next decade.
Join Us
If you are a founder, executive, technologist, or senior professional navigating complexity and determined to lead well without sacrificing your health, clarity, or longevity, this summit is for you.
The #WICxWellness Summit 2026 is where performance meets preservation. Where ambition meets sustainability. Where leadership becomes truly durable.
We look forward to welcoming you. The Disciplined Advantage begins here.
Secure your spot: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wicxwellness-summit-2026-tickets-1981616382945?aff=oddtdtcreator
Femtech World is continuing the search for a company to be crowned Startup of the Year.
The award is one of 10 to feature at the third annual Femtech World Awards.
The Startup of the Year Award celebrates an early-stage company making a bold impact in women’s health through innovation, vision and execution.
The winning startup will have demonstrated strong potential to transform care, accessibility, or awareness in women’s health with a scalable solution.
Consideration will be given to innovation, market traction, inclusivity, impact and the ability to address unmet needs.
The award is sponsored by Future Fertility.
The company is transforming fertility care with AI-powered solutions that close critical information gaps along the IVF journey.
Its clinically validated, non-invasive tools analyse oocyte images to predict each egg’s reproductive potential, supporting decision-making across key pathways: VIOLET™ for egg freezing, MAGENTA™ for IVF-ICSI, and ROSE™ for donor programmes and egg banks.
These reports deliver personalised insights into egg quality and ploidy potential, empowering patients and clinicians to make more informed decisions regarding next steps.
Today, Future Fertility’s technology is used in more than 300 clinics across 35+ countries.
Developed with the world’s largest oocyte image dataset linked to reproductive outcomes, Future Fertility’s AI models generate quality scores that not only guide treatment planning and manage expectations, but also serve as objective, actionable KPIs for labs—driving improved outcomes and transparency in fertility care worldwide.
The awards are free to enter, with winners receiving a trophy and an interview with Femtech World.
Find out more about the awards and enter for free here.
Entrepreneur3 weeks agoFuture Fertility raises Series A financing to scale AI tools redefining fertility care worldwide
News2 weeks agoWomen’s digital health market set to reach US$5.28 billion in 2026 – report
Fertility4 weeks agoFuture Fertility partners with Japan’s leading IVF provider, Kato Ladies Clinic
Diagnosis3 weeks agoNew meta-analysis further supports low re-excisions and high placement accuracy with the Magseed marker
Mental health3 weeks agoLifting weights shows mental health and cognitive benefits in older women, study finds
News3 weeks agoResistance training has preventative effects in menopause, study finds
Pregnancy3 weeks agoNIPT or NT scan? Why the 2026 evidence supports doing Both
News4 weeks agoRelaunched women’s health strategy aims to tackle ‘medical misogyny’