Femtech by numbers – the rise of women’s health innovation

Female health has historically been underfunded and under researched, but the latest developments in femtech are aiming to restore the balance. Femtech World finds out all the figures you need to know about this booming industry…

Over the past decade or so, firms have been harnessing the power of technology to innovate in the world of female healthcare – and about time too.

Women have traditionally been overlooked when it comes to healthcare, in terms of both research and representation.

For example, around 65 per cent of healthcare employees are women, but they make up only 33 per cent of senior executives and 13 per cent of CEOs.

Male-dominated leadership, along with historical bias, has led to the overrepresentation of men in clinical trials, medical guidelines that fail to take women’s biology into account and a lack of innovation in women’s healthcare technologies.

And when we look at spending power, such male domination looks even more short-sighted; it is estimated that 90 per cent of women are the primary healthcare decision makers for their households, while also being responsible for 80 per cent of family healthcare spending. What’s more, women over age 19 also spend more per capita on healthcare than men.

Which is why the male dominated industry makes little sense, least of all financial – which is exactly the thinking behind the new generation of femtech businesses.

Let’s talk money

The femtech industry is predicted to be worth a massive $60bn by 2027, up from an already healthy $21.7m in 2020. Meanwhile, total global venture capital investments in femtech stood at $520m dollars last year.

However, the sex bias can even be seen in the world of venture capitalism. According to the Kauffman Foundation, private tech companies led by women achieve 35 per cent higher ROI than those led by men, but, in 2018, companies founded solely by women founders received only 2.2 per cent of VC funding. This could also be down to the inequality; women make up just nine per cent of venture capitalists working with start-ups.

In business

While femtech is certainly a booming field, it pales into insignificance compared to some of its tech-based peers.

The market is made up of over 200 start-ups worldwide, 92 per cent of which are founded and led by women. In comparison, there are around 12,000 fintech, or financial tech, start-ups in operation today.

However, a handful of dedicated femtech support programmes have been launched in the past two years, such as Station F in France, AXA Femtech Accelerator and the Tech4Eva accelerator in Switzerland.

What’s the focus?

In the early days of femtech, the focus was largely on periods, fertility and pregnancy, and some of the biggest names in the field, such as menstrual tracking apps Clue and Flo, are still concentrated here.

In fact, according to Emergen Research, the key field has been focused around pregnancy and nursing. In the US, pregnancy and nursing care apps are still the major shareholder of the market, holding around 40.2 per cent of it in 2019.

Unsurprisingly, given this market share, reproductive health is the recipient of the bulk of the funding too; 25 per cent of femtech investors are spending their money in this sub-sector.

However, as interest grows, femtech start-ups are broadening their horizons and investigating a variety of issues and conditions that disproportionately affect women, such as osteoporosis, breast cancer, stroke and depression.

And there are already signs that the landscape is shifting; in 2021 so far, the top funded sector has been preventative and primary care, bringing in $668m, followed by fertility support with $330m, and the pregnancy and parenthood area standing at $316m.

The biggest deals

In the 12 months to August 2021, women’s heath digital health start-ups in the US raised $1.3bn, nearly doubling 2020’s full-year total of $774m.

One of the biggest deals in that period was the $110m in Series D funding raised by Maven Clinic, a virtual women’s and family healthcare provider, which revealed it planned to use the funding to expand into new patient populations and invest in products.

In September, Tia, a healthcare company combining a virtual care with a real-life presence, announced a $100m Series B funding round.

Combining virtual and in-person care for a variety of women’s health needs, Tia provides primary, mental and gynaecological care, as well as acupuncture, for women across the US.

In a statement, the company said it plans to use the capital to expand its care model to more than 100,000 women by 2023.

In the UK, innovative femtech firm Elvie raised £97m in a Series C funding round in September. The firm, which was established in 2013, focuses on creating products that revolutionise women’s lives, such as an award-winning app-connected Kegel trainer and the world’s first silent wearable breast pump, Elvie Pump.