Entrepreneur
Is your fertility innovation award-worthy?
If you’ve been asking yourself whether your fertility innovation deserves a place among the Femtech World Awards nominees, understanding what judges value can help you see your work through their eyes.
Ultimately, the judges are seeking solutions that demonstrate genuine impact on people’s fertility journeys.
This means your innovation should address a real and significant challenge that individuals face when trying to conceive, preserve their fertility or understand their reproductive health.
Perhaps you’ve developed a diagnostic tool that catches issues earlier, created a treatment option that’s more accessible or affordable, or designed a platform that provides support during an emotionally challenging time.
The key is showing how your solution makes a meaningful difference to real people.
True Innovation Takes Many Forms
Innovation itself takes many forms, and judges appreciate this diversity.
Your entry might feature cutting-edge artificial intelligence that predicts optimal conception windows, a novel medical device that improves IVF success rates, or even a brilliantly simple approach that removes barriers to existing treatments.
What matters is that you’re doing something distinctly different or better than what currently exists. Judges want to understand not just what your innovation does, but why the traditional approach fell short and how your solution represents a genuine leap forward.
Evidence Matters
Evidence carries considerable weight in the judging process. While every innovation begins with a vision, the strongest entries demonstrate that their solution actually works.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you need years of clinical trials or thousands of users, though such data certainly strengthens your case.
Even early-stage innovations can present compelling evidence through pilot results, user testimonials, expert validation or proof-of-concept studies.
Judges are looking for innovators who’ve moved beyond theory to show real-world promise, even if your solution is still scaling.
Accessibility and Reach
Accessibility and reach matter tremendously in fertility innovation.
The judges consider whether your solution can benefit a broad population or addresses the needs of underserved communities.
Perhaps your innovation reduces the cost of fertility treatments, brings specialist care to remote areas through telemedicine or tackles male fertility issues that have historically received less attention.
Solutions that democratise access to fertility care or serve overlooked populations often stand out because they expand who can benefit from reproductive healthcare advances.
The Team Behind the Vision
The team behind the innovation also factors into judging decisions.
Strong entries come from teams that demonstrate deep understanding of the fertility landscape, combine relevant expertise and show capacity to actually deliver on their vision.
Judges want to know that you’re not just creating something interesting in isolation but that you understand the clinical, regulatory and practical realities of bringing your innovation to those who need it.
Clear Communication
Judges also value clear thinking and communication.
Your entry should articulate your innovation’s purpose, mechanism and impact in language that’s precise but accessible.
The ability to explain complex science or technology in understandable terms often reflects how well you truly grasp your own innovation and suggests you’ll be effective at bringing it to market and educating users.
Future Potential
Finally, judges consider your innovation’s future potential.
Where could this technology or approach lead? Might it inform other areas of reproductive health? Could it scale to help significantly more people?
The most exciting entries often hint at broader possibilities while remaining grounded in current achievements.
Your Innovation Deserves Recognition
If you’re reading this and recognising your own work in these criteria, you’re likely sitting on an award-worthy innovation.
The recognition, visibility and validation that come with being a nominee or winner can open doors, attract investment and ultimately help your solution reach more people who desperately need it.
Find out more about the Femtech World Awards and enter for free here.
Flora Fertility has raised US$5m in seed funding to roll out fertility insurance across the US, with plans to expand into Canada.
The round was led by ManchesterStory, with participation from Slauson & Co., TruStage Ventures, BDC Capital, Marathon Fund, Adara Venture Capital and strategic angel investors. Existing investors include Highline Beta, Everywhere Ventures and Cartography Capital.
Laura McDonald, co-founder of Flora Fertility, said: “Fertility is one of the largest uninsured financial risks people face, yet the system today only offers support once you’re already in crisis and often only if your employer provides it.
“We’re creating a new category where fertility becomes something you can proactively plan for, not just pay for when it’s too late.”
Flora says it is introducing a new InsurTech category with individually owned, portable fertility insurance designed to address a gap in healthcare cover.
The company says it wants to shift fertility from a reactive expense to a proactive, data-driven financial planning tool, using AI, personalised underwriting and risk modelling.
The platform lets people buy coverage without relying on an employer, helping it continue through job changes and different stages of life.
Flora’s policies cover a full range of fertility treatments, including diagnostics, medications, intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilisation, with entry-level pricing starting at about US$20 a month.
The company estimates that infertility affects one in six people globally, while treatment costs can range from US$30,000 to US$50,000, leaving the vast majority of patients without access to care.
Flora says its platform currently reaches more than 10 million prospective policyholders across North America.
The funding will be used to expand Flora’s underwriting capabilities, scale distribution and further develop its platform as it seeks to establish a new market within women’s health and insurance.
Nicole Gunderson, partner at ManchesterStory, said: “Flora is building something that has never existed before, affordable, portable fertility insurance that meets the next generation of women exactly where they are.
“The InsurTech opportunity here is enormous, and the Flora team has the expertise, technology, and vision to define this category.”
Dr Christy Lane, co-founder of Flora Fertility, added: “Fertility has always been treated as unpredictable and uninsurable, but the data tells a different story.
“The earlier someone can access that coverage, the better their outcomes and the lower their costs, which is what makes this model so powerful.
“We’re turning fertility from a reactive medical expense into a proactive, data-driven financial decision.”
By Women’s Health Week
When the New York Stock Exchange signs on as the Official Exchange Partner of a women’s health event, it’s worth paying attention to.
Women’s Health Week USA, taking place May 13-14 at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York City, has confirmed the NYSE as its Official Exchange Partner for 2026.
It is one of the most significant institutional endorsements the women’s health sector has seen, and it says something meaningful about where global capital markets are directing their attention.
Find out more about WHW USA 2026 here.
What the Partnership Involves
This is not simply a logo on a lanyard.
The NYSE partnership comes with a set of activations that put women’s health in front of audiences well beyond the event itself.
On the morning of May 13, Women’s Health Week will be featured in the NYSE Market Update, reaching an audience of approximately 200 million viewers across outlets including Yahoo Finance and the Financial Times.
For a sector that has historically struggled for mainstream financial visibility, that kind of reach is significant.
Women’s Health Week will also light up the North Star Billboard in Times Square for a full week around the event, placing the brand at the centre of one of the most commercially visible locations in the world.
NYSE will produce live and taped interviews with WHW leadership and keynote speakers, distributed across NYSE Live, Taking Stock, and partner platforms reaching tens of millions of viewers monthly.
A dedicated NYSE content team will be on the ground at the New York Academy of Medicine capturing the conversations and connections taking place across both days.
The NYSE’s Healthcare & Life Sciences team will also take to the stage at Women’s Health Week USA, sharing their perspective on trends shaping the sector from a capital markets standpoint.
Why It Matters
The partnership is a signal as much as it is a sponsorship.
Women’s health has spent years making the case that it is a commercially serious category.
The NYSE’s involvement makes that case in a language the broader financial world understands.
Women’s Health Week USA 2026 is themed around The Era of Scale, a deliberate framing around the idea that the sector has moved beyond early validation into the harder work of institutionalisation.
Capital is moving. M&A activity is increasing. Generalist investors are entering a space that was once left to specialists. The NYSE partnership fits neatly into that narrative.
With 600+ senior decision makers confirmed across investors, founders, multinationals, payers and policymakers, the event is already one of the most commercially concentrated gatherings in the women’s health calendar.
The NYSE’s reach extends that concentration well beyond the walls of the New York Academy of Medicine.
Find out for yourself why this partnership is so perfect and join Women’s Health Week USA. Secure your ticket here.
The Pitch Sessions
For founders and early-stage companies, Women’s Health Week USA also hosts a mainstage Pitch Session across two categories: Medical Devices & Therapeutics and Consumer & Tech. Fifteen companies will be selected to pitch in front of the full audience.
Applications close April 10.
They are free to submit, and any company working on a condition that affects women exclusively, differently, or disproportionately is eligible.
Entrepreneur
Women’s HealthX brings together leading pharma innovators advancing the future of women’s healthcare
Women’s HealthX is convening a powerful lineup of pharmaceutical and biotech leaders, uniting global organisations including AstraZeneca, Bayer, Gilead, Chiesi, Eli Lilly, Alexion, and Daré Bioscience alongside 750+ senior clinicians, hospital leaders, insurers, and policy makers shaping the future of women’s health.
As the women’s health market continues to evolve, the event provides a unique platform for pharma leaders to share how they are leveraging clinical trial data, real world evidence, and digital innovation to reduce regulatory risk, improve representation in research, and unlock new opportunities for partnership and pipeline growth.
Across seven dedicated stages covering the full lifecycle of care, attendees will gain direct insight into how industry leaders are driving measurable change in outcomes, access, and equity.
Confirmed sessions and trailblazers include:
Maternity & Maternal Care
- Empowering Mothers, Advancing Equity, and Improving Outcomes in Premature Care
Erica Smith, Vice President, Value & Market Access, US, Chiesi
Evidence, Data & Innovation
- Addressing Design Barriers: Paving the Way for Sex Specific Data Clarity
Julieta Jimenez, Executive Director, Program Management Clinical Operations, V&I, AstraZeneca
- Design Trials That Generate Clinically Meaningful Evidence for Women
Luba Soskin, Global Clinical Lead, Women’s Health, Bayer
Chronic Disease Management
- Improving Outcomes in Obesity Through Evidence Based Person Centred Care
Tracy Sims, Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, Cardiometabolic Health, Eli Lilly
- Tackling Sex Based Health Inequities by Breaking Down Barriers and Bias
Adrian Kielhorn, Senior Director, Global Head HEOR Neurology, Alexion
Sexual Health & Wellness
- The Clinical Impact of Internal Stigma in Sexual Health
Kesha O’Reilly, Director Medical Affairs, HIV Franchise, Gilead
- Explore Innovative Product Manufacturing Pathways Beyond Conventional Regulatory Models
David Friend, Chief Science Officer, Daré Bioscience
We have also just announced Endometriosis Advocate Padma Lakshmi as a keynote speaker, bringing one of the most influential voices in women’s health advocacy to the stage.
See full list of confirmed trailblazers here
Together, these leaders represent the organisations driving innovation across research, development, and commercialisation, offering practical insight into how to bring safer, more effective solutions to women worldwide.
The program moves beyond discussion into delivery, equipping attendees with the latest clinical evidence, regulatory strategies, and innovation frameworks needed to accelerate impact across the healthcare ecosystem.
With senior decision makers from across pharma, biotech, and healthcare in attendance, women’s healthX is where partnerships are formed, strategies are shaped, and the future of women’s health is defined.
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