Investor / VC

London-based biotechnology company BoobyBiome has raised £2.5m in seed funding for its infant feeding solutions. The funding round was led by specialist deep tech investor Empirical Ventures, alongside The Helm, XFactor Ventures, Lavender Ventures, Kayan Ventures, and Evenlode Investment, with influential angels including Dominic Hollamby, Lord Ara Darzi, Yael Cohen, Vanessa Colomar, and others. Founded [...]

Femtech World explores the latest business developments in women’s health. Portfolia launches women's health fund Investing fund Portfolia has launched the Women's Health Fund IV for women's health innovation. The company has stated that Fund IV's debut investment is in Gameto, a clinical-stage biotechnology company reprogramming female cells to transform fertility and hormonal care. [...]

As we all know too well, for decades, women’s health has been an overlooked corner of medicine. Research has often excluded women, leading to gaps in understanding, and funding has lagged behind other areas of healthcare. Yet in recent years, a quiet revolution has been taking shape. Startups, clinicians, and investors have begun to focus [...]

Escala Medical has secured US$4.5m in Series A funding to expand use of its FDA-cleared device for pelvic organ prolapse, bringing total funding to over US$8m. Proceeds from the funding round will support commercial expansion in the US, market entry in Europe following anticipated CE mark approval in 2026, and rollout in Southeast Asia via [...]

By Laurent van Lerberghe, Founder and Managing Partner, KELES In my years working in life sciences investment, I’ve encountered brilliant minds developing next-generation medical technologies, from AI-driven therapeutics to advanced diagnostics. We now see these going one step further, delivering even greater impact on women’s and family health by integrating design with cutting-edge, AI-enabled science [...]

By Laurent van Lerberghe, managing partner at KELES I often ask myself if technology is the solution to solving complexities in women’s health. Women’s health has been a Cinderella area of research for some time, but increasing investment and technology innovation is changing the game, creating a vibrant ecosystem of companies offering exciting and innovative [...]

A Mumbai-based fertility health-tech startup has raised US$4m in seed funding to expand its services across the city and into other parts of India. Luma Fertility will use the investment to expand its footprint in Mumbai and later scale into other cities over the next two years. The startup operates a 6,000-square-foot facility housing a [...]

Femtech World explores the latest developments in business in the world of women’s health. US$11m to accelerate breakthroughs in breast cancer research Breast cancer organisation Susan G. Komen has announced today that it is awarding US$10.8m in new research grants to help propel innovation in breast cancer research. The research grants will support 25 cutting-edge [...]

Founded by experts in genomics, reproductive medicine, and bioethics, Juniper is on a mission to help patients shorten their IVF journey by offering more clarity and confidence on the first transfer. Juniper’s proprietary platform combines whole genome and transcriptome sequencing with trio analysis, including both biological parents, to provide the most complete, clinically-relevant, and ethically [...]

By David Buller, Managing Partner at KELES The macro opportunity: women are half of the population In 2024 alone, women’s health start-ups raised a record $2.6 billion, up 55 per cent from the previous year. In addition to increasingly recognised health needs in menopause, fertility and female-specific cancers, there are conditions such as cardiovascular disease, [...]