Entrepreneur
‘Years of being dismissed, ignored and belittled’: the founders reshaping gynaecological care
“Gynaecology is a neglected area of global health,” Dr Ranee Thakar, president of the UK’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, stated in an article discussing the stigma in gynaecological care globally.
The piece, although published four years ago, is relevant to this day when millions of women around the globe are still struggling to access treatment.
Despite progress in getting people talking about fertility and menopause, gynaecological health remains deeply stigmatised. It’s impossible to discuss the anatomy involved – vagina, vulva, clitoris, cervix – without disapproval and censorship.
Because of the silence, it’s likely that the true burden of gynaecological conditions is grossly underrepresented, so prioritisation of these conditions for research development and health system improvement has been low.
Gaia Salizzoni and Vittoria Brolis, who have endured years of being dismissed, ignored and belittled, know this too well.
“We were the typical examples of women who were being mistreated and misdiagnosed for years before getting a diagnosis,” says Salizzoni. “We realised we got a diagnosis not because a new product was out, but because we just met the right gynaecologist.”
The duo, now founders of the virtual clinic Hale, believe the lack of standardised care and the stigma surrounding reproductive health are responsible for the mounting waiting lists and the long diagnosis times women are facing.
“Some of the most basic things, such as STIs, UTIs, are not tackled properly simply because there are no standardised approaches,” says Salizzoni.
“Many doctors and are not trained in specific conditions, which puts women at risk. At Hale, our job is to simplify and standardise the process in order to make it shorter, cheaper and more effective.”
Hale, the winner of this year’s Femtech World OB/GYN Innovation award, aims to revolutionise patient care through a digital platform designed to guide women through their health journey.
With a focus on scientific evidence, data integration and collaboration with existing healthcare systems, the app, currently available in Italy, aims to bridge the gap in pain research and offer much-needed support to women experiencing pelvic pain.
“There are many women at the beginning of their journey, who are seeking answers,” says Salizzoni.
“For some, answers might be getting a prescription, for others, it might be getting a diagnosis. Our focus is on this this first triage, where we use technology to gather as much information as possible about someone’s medical history, symptoms and health outcomes to offer them the care they need.
“We centralise this data on our platform and we are using algorithms and tools that are helping us understand the needs of the patients and the protocols they might require. Through these protocols – online consultations, gynaecological check-ups, nutrition support – we are trying to reduce as much as possible the human factor to make it more efficient.”
Many of the gynaecological problems women are experiencing, according to Salizzoni, can be tackled without them becoming chronic, which opens the possibility of preventing them from happening in the the first place.
“We are still working on the algorithms we are developing, but we know that if we understand how to tackle these conditions, we can help prevent them.”
Hale’s biggest challenge so far has been people’s attitudes towards digital health. While the adoption of digital technologies has significantly increased over the past few years, some women are still finding it difficult to use digital tools.
“Some people are not used to doing everything online, but I think over time they will start trusting digital health and see the benefits,” says Salizzoni.
“We’ve seen this happening already with mental health. Yes, it can be hard at first, but we have to change our mindset. Things are not going to change in the traditional way.”
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Juno Bio has secured US$3.8m to expand its diagnostics platform for vaginal health and reproductive care.
The funding round was led by Ada Ventures, with participation from Artesian, Entrepreneur First and Illumina Accelerator.
The women’s health startup said the seed funding will support the launch of its first CLIA-certified sequencing laboratory in Oakland, California, and a new clinical vaginal microbiome and STI test for healthcare providers.
CLIA certification refers to US laboratory standards for testing human samples used in diagnosis, prevention or treatment decisions.
Dr Leighton Turner, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Juno Bio, said: “The vaginal microbiome is still one of the least understood systems in the body at a clinical scale.
“With our lab, we’re starting to build a measurement standard that clinicians can actually use.
“We believe the level of detail from this kind of testing can meaningfully improve how vaginal healthcare is provided.”
The company is developing precision diagnostics for vaginal health, where patients can experience recurring symptoms, inconsistent diagnoses and treatments based on trial and error.
Juno Bio said bringing testing in-house gives it greater control over the process, from sample handling to results, while allowing it to refine its technology and build what it says is one of the largest datasets focused on the vaginal microbiome.
The vaginal microbiome is the community of bacteria and fungi that naturally live in the vagina. Changes in this balance can be linked to infections, symptoms and wider reproductive health issues.
Juno Bio’s newly launched clinical test examines the wider vaginal microbiome and screens for four common sexually transmitted infections, or STIs.
Rather than looking for a single cause, the test is intended to give clinicians a broader picture of what may be contributing to symptoms.
Juno Bio says this matters because multiple infections can occur at the same time and microbiome changes may be linked to fertility, menopause or recurrent infections.
Dr Anna Powell of Johns Hopkins said: “Vaginal microbiome testing has the potential to significantly reshape how we understand and manage vaginal health, particularly for patients with recurrent or unexplained symptoms.
“While the field is still evolving, advances in sequencing and data interpretation are moving us closer to a future where more personalised, microbiome-informed care can complement existing diagnostic approaches.”
Check Warner, co-founding partner at Ada Ventures, added: “Juno Bio is setting a new standard for how vaginal health is understood and managed.
“What they’ve built at this stage, with this level of capital efficiency, is exceptional.
“We’re proud to support the team as they scale their clinical infrastructure and continue leading innovation in this critically underserved category.”
Women’s health companies raised a record $1.55 billion in disclosed equity in 2025, up 41 per cent year on year, according to W Group’s first Global Women’s Health Investment Report, The Road to the Era of Scale.
The report tracks over 500 funding stories and 164 equity rounds across 15 categories and 30+ countries.
Eighty-five companies raised equity in 2025, the highest single-year count on record. But according to the report, the headline figure isn’t the most significant one.
The bigger shift is in where that capital went and how concentrated it was at the top compared to the year before.
The report also points to a brand new investment category that didn’t exist twelve months ago.
SheMed closed a $50 million Series A this year to build a women-specific GLP-1 and metabolic health platform, the first dedicated raise of its kind.
Alongside the momentum, the report identifies one structural risk that could determine whether 2025’s growth holds: a bottleneck at Series A that’s leaving a number of promising seed-stage companies stuck.
Molly Taylor, head of content at W Group, said: “2025 was the biggest year women’s health has ever had, and the most important finding isn’t the headline number.
“It’s that the money has stopped pooling at the top.
“Capital is reaching more companies, more categories and more countries than ever before. The Era of Scale is real. It’s just not finished, and the Series A gap is where it could stall.
“Closing that gap is the highest-leverage move this ecosystem can make in 2026.”
Read the full report: https://wplatform.co/forms/womens-health-equity-funding-trends-report-2026?utm_source=advocacy&utm_medium=ext_email&utm_campaign=2026-q3-health-report-femtech-world
Onto Health has acquired Levy Health, a fertility software company providing precision diagnostics and patient intake for reproductive medicine.
The acquisition, fuelled by Onto Health’s US$20m Series A fundraise in April, supports its plan to build scalable, tech-enabled infrastructure for reproductive medicine.
Onto founder Roohi Jeelani, MD, called it the first of several moves in the company’s expansion strategy in a LinkedIn post, adding that there was “more coming soon”.
She said: “This isn’t just an acquisition, it’s proof of how we’re building Onto: physician-led, tech-enabled, and built to scale without losing the personal touch fertility patients deserve.”
Headquartered in Chicago, Onto Health combines evidence-based fertility care with artificial intelligence-driven diagnostics, clinical automation and longevity science.
AI-driven diagnostics use software to analyse patient information and support clinical decision-making, rather than replace clinicians.
Levy Health, founded in Berlin with US offices in San Francisco, helps medical providers identify endocrine disorders more quickly and helps clinics streamline fertility workups.
Endocrine disorders affect the body’s hormone system, which can influence ovulation, menstrual cycles and fertility.
Co-founder Caroline Mitterdorfer said joining Onto would expand Levy Health’s fertility care tools to more clinics and patients, helping physicians focus on patient care.
Onto opened its first clinic in Chicago in February, with plans for three more in the greater Chicago area.
The company said in April that it would use its new funding, led by Artis and Humania, to support additional operations in the US and expand into the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Gulf Cooperation Council includes six Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf.
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