Medtech startup Peripear has won an Innovate UK award for developing a wearable designed to prevent perineal trauma during childbirth.

The Oxford-based company is developing a hands-free warm compress device for use on the perineum during the second stage of labour.

Peripear describes its product as the world’s first automated perineal thermotherapy wearable, designed to prevent perineal trauma during childbirth.

The device is intended to reduce severe tearing and episiotomies while improving maternal comfort.

Peripear has secured an Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award and a £74,974 grant.

The funding will support further product development ahead of the company’s planned first-in-human study.

Nina van Schaick, co-founder and chief operating officer of Peripear and midwife, said: “I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to see this gap.

“I was incredibly lucky to meet my co-founder, Eviatar Natan, right as my frustration about the lack of translation of evidence into practice had peaked.

“There was a proven mechanism that could reduce injuries occurring in up to 90 per cent of vaginal births, and it was being left out of clinical pathways simply because no standardised tool existed to deliver it.

 “I’m a farmer’s granddaughter, and when I started practising over 14 years ago, I asked: where is the tool I need to implement this evidence? I looked around and realised we were still asking clinicians to improvise.

“Peripear is what happens when the person who has lived the problem, both personally and professionally, meets the person who can help her build the solution.”

The Women’s Health Innovation Summit (WHIS) has reminded startups that applications for its 2026  Innovation Showcase close on Tuesday, August 18.

The Showcase gives early and growth-stage companies the  opportunity to pitch live on stage to the most influential audience in women’s health, at a summit that convenes more than 1,000 senior decision-makers from across the ecosystem, including payers, providers, pharma, and  investors.

Now in its eighth year, WHIS takes place October 13–15, 2026 at Encore Boston Harbor.

The event has built a  reputation as the leading platform uniting the full women’s health ecosystem, from health systems and health  plans to pharmaceutical leaders and the investors funding the next wave of innovation in the space.

A Direct Line to Funding, Partnerships and Adoption

Companies selected for the Innovation Showcase will present directly to an audience with the capital, clinical  expertise and commercial relationships to move deals forward.

Past participants have gone on to secure investor  introductions, commercial partnerships and clinical collaborations that started as presentations on the WHIS stage  and turned into signed agreements.

Applications Reviewed by an Expert Selection Committee

Submissions are being reviewed by a selection committee of leading investors and industry operators, including:

• Parambir Bhangu, Executive Director, External Innovation & Emerging Science, Organon
• Elizabeth Bailey, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Foreground Capital
• Karla Loken, Founder, Loken and Associates
• Mané Mikayelyan, Associate Partner, DeciBio
• Anna Valcheva, Founder, Managing Director & CEO, Astra Ventures
• Azin Radsan van Alebeek, Co-founder & General Partner, Emmeline Ventures

WHIS is where the women’s health ecosystem comes together to get deals done,” said Poppy Howard-Wall,  Event Director of WHIS.

How to Apply

Early and growth-stage companies across digital health, therapeutics, diagnostics, med device and consumer  health are encouraged to apply before the August 18 deadline.

Full details and the application form are available  at whisusa.com/attend/start-ups.

Women’s Health Week Europe 2026 has released its fully populated speaker and session lineup ahead of the event’s return to The Emirates Stadium in London on 7–8 October, with 80+ speakers now confirmed across two dedicated stages.

The programme

The agenda runs across two dedicated stages in parallel, plus two pitch competitions across both days.

The Global Stage opens with a keynote from Merete Clausen (EIF) before moving into sessions on funding trends, AI, the gender data gap, the wearable revolution, and European policy.

Standout sessions include The Age of Digital TransformAItion featuring Nichole Young-Lin (Google), Frida Polli (MIT), and Sapna Shah (Sie Ventures); Lone Wolf or Pack Leader on collaboration versus fragmentation, with Eirini Rapti (Inne), Tatum Getty (Thena Capital), Novo Nordisk, and Jen Roberts-Woods (Borski Fund); and a live debate on whether the women’s health label helps or hinders founders. Day one closes with a keynote from Alison Cave, Chief Safety Officer at the MHRA.

The Scale Stage runs a practical playbook track in parallel, with sessions covering regulatory approval pathways, international expansion, the founder’s legal playbook, PR strategy, and implementing AI into a women’s health business.

The Reverse Pitch flips the usual format: investors and corporates pitch the room on what they are actively looking to fund, acquire, or partner on right now.

Register here and receive a 15% discount on tickets. Redeem with code FEMTECHWORLD

Pitch competitions

The WHW Europe pitch competitions are back, taking place in front of the audience across both days on the mainstage. 16 finalists will compete across two categories: Consumer & Tech on day 1 and Medical Devices & Therapeutics on day 2.

Any company treating a condition that affects women exclusively, differently, or disproportionately is eligible to apply.

Applications and close 28 August 2026.

Previous alumni include Circe, who secured £100k from Innovate UK, BoobyBiome, who closed a £2.5M seed round post-WHW Europe, and Amilis, who secured £1M at London Tech Week after winning at WHW USA 2026.

Apply to pitch