Insight
How to remain successful in the tough world of FemTech
By Gloria Kolb, Co-Founder & CEO – Elitone
It is well documented that FemTech companies, often founded and run by females, face a tougher uphill battle to get investment. Sadly, there is a continuing, historical negative bias towards female-founded and female-led companies, as highlighted by female founders in Forbes last year.
Accessing investment and capital is the first hurdle, which often faces blatant sexism by male-dominant investors and VCs, market misconceptions and a stigma attached to female-led enterprises.
But, the challenge doesn’t stop when funding is secured.
Notwithstanding the fact that we are finally starting to have open, honest and supportive discussions around topics that affect women, including birth, menstruation, gynaecological issues, menopause and pelvic health, amongst others, female founders are still not experiencing the same support when starting or running businesses that their male counterparts benefit from.
Like every business, the challenge becomes about growing a company that is financially and operationally viable for the long term, whilst staying relevant to consumers.
But that can be even harder if you’re not given the same level of support needed.
Despite the FemTech sector’s huge growth in recent years, the appetite for funding is still missing.
In my experience many investors assume the market is saturated due to the number of products and struggle to understand and distinguish between the various FemTech solutions.
It’s clear that female-founded and FemTech companies do well to actually get off the ground, and thereafter it’s the way these companies navigate producing relevant, effective and desired products, whilst successfully balancing the financial accounts, that is the difference between success and failure in the long-term.
The journey Elvie has experienced is an example of the challenges faced in FemTech.
It started as one of the most well-known, trailblazing sector businesses in the UK in 2013, with its ‘taboo-busting’ pelvic floor trainer.
It later launched the Elvie Pump, a fully in-bra breast pump, in 2018, and most recently pivoted its product offering to launch a bassinet.
Elvie was initially a start-up success story; since its launch raising in excess of $186 million in investment, however, recent sales figures were declining whilst debts were rising.
The good news for the sector is that Willow, the San Francisco start-up that made its name with wearable breast pumps, is acquiring Elvie.
But the question remains, how did a first-of-its-kind FemTech company go so wrong? The investment was there, so was it a lack of financial and operating diligence that caused it to fall?
In the female pelvic floor space alone, Viveve, which raised $113M was delisted from Nasdaq in 2023 when it failed to meet its incontinence endpoints, Incontrol Medical, which was the first to bring pelvic floor health to the home, folded shortly after the pandemic, and Liberty filed for bankruptcy.
So what lessons can be learnt? Why is it so difficult for FemTech hardware companies to succeed?
Firstly, more education is needed around the issues females face that result in the development of FemTech hardware. Education is tricky in today’s society.
Things are slowly changing on the back of the conversation opening up in recent years on menstruation and menopause, but there is still a long way to go and female conditions such as incontinence and bladder leaking are still somewhat taboo, embarrassing and not spoken about often enough in mainstream or on social media.
What’s more, what I have found while developing Elitone is that the issue of incontinence, pelvic health and bladder leaks is often a secret for those that experience it.
The desire to keep it hidden, without discussing with friends, family or the medical profession, exacerbates the lack of awareness and understanding around the condition.
People are ashamed, but don’t need to be.
Elitone is on a mission to ensure women feel empowered to speak about what can become a huge affliction.
I started the company precisely because I was suffering post-partum and couldn’t find effective solutions on the market.
We work hard to evolve and grow Elitone, to ensure there will always be a reliable, effective and accessible solution for the millions of women who suffer.
The way we do this is to ensure our financial and operational management is solid and provides the basis for continued success.
At one point, start-ups were told “grow fast or die”, or scale at any cost and worry about profitability later.
That may well work for software and internet-based products, but by definition FemTech is hardware and we believe that approach doesn’t work.
Our success is based on old-fashioned common sense; we are careful about our costs, we are quick to shut down marketing efforts that don’t show returns, and everything is a test first.
We already know Femtech is harder to get funded, so every dollar counts.
So, although our growth has been slower than some others, the real secret to success is creating a product that is truly loved and works!
— Gloria Kolb is the CEO and co-founder of Elitone, the first non-invasive, FDA-cleared, wearable treatment for women with urinary incontinence.
Elitone’s accolades include winning Best New Product by My Face My Body, Sling Shot, finalist in Women Startup Challenge, and CES’ Innovation Award. As an inventor with 30+ patents and advocate for women’s health, Gloria has been featured in Forbes as a Top Scientist Driving Innovation in Women’s Health, TechRound’s Top Women in Tech, Boston’s “40 Under 40” and MIT Review’s “World’s Top Innovators under 35.”
She has engineering degrees from MIT and Stanford, and an Entrepreneurship MBA from Babson College.
Transdermal HRT best protects bone density in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea, a condition that stops periods, a review of trials has found.
The meta-analysis pooled randomised clinical trials involving 692 participants and found transdermal hormone replacement therapy and teriparatide increased bone mineral density by between 2 and 13 per cent.
Functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea can follow anorexia or intense exercise. Bone mineral density measures bone strength and the amount of mineral in bone.
Around half of women with the condition have low bone mineral density, compared with about 1 per cent of healthy women, and their fracture risk is up to seven times higher.
The research was conducted by scientists at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Professor Alexander Comninos, senior author of the study and consultant endocrinologist at the trust, said: “Bone density is lost very rapidly in FHA and so addressing bone health early is very important to reduce the lifelong risk of fractures.
“Our study provides much needed comparisons of all the available treatments from all available studies.
“Clearly the best treatment is to restore normal menstrual cycles and therefore oestrogen levels through various psychological, nutritional or exercise interventions – but that is not always possible.
“The foundation for bone health is good calcium and vitamin D intake (through diet and/or supplements) but we have additional treatments that are more effective.”
When FHA is diagnosed, clinicians first try to restore periods through lifestyle measures, including psychological and dietary support, but these can fail. Guidelines then recommend giving oestrogen, though the best form was unclear.
The team reviewed all prior randomised trials comparing therapies, including oral and transdermal oestrogen, and also assessed teriparatide, a prescription bone-building drug used for severe osteoporosis.
They found no significant benefit for oral contraceptive pills or oral hormone therapy.
A recent UK audit reported that about a quarter of women with anorexia-related FHA are prescribed the oral contraceptive pill for bone loss; the study suggests using transdermal therapy instead.
Comninos said: “Our goal is simple: to help women receive the right treatment sooner and to protect their bone health in the long-term.
“We hope this study provides clinicians with better evidence to choose transdermal oestrogen when prescribing oestrogen and so inform future practice guidelines.
“Right now, millions of women with FHA may not be receiving the best treatments for their bone health.”
An AI tool cut interval breast cancers by 12 per cent in a Swedish screening trial of more than 105,000 women.
The study also found 27 per cent fewer aggressive breast cancers detected at screening when AI was used.
Interval cancers are cancers found between routine screening appointments because they were missed at the original scan. They are often more dangerous and linked to higher death rates than cancers found at screening.
The MASAI trial is described as the first large randomised study to test whether AI can improve mammography screening, which uses low-dose X-rays to examine breast tissue for signs of cancer.
The AI tool, called Transpara Detection and developed by ScreenPoint Medical, supported radiologists in analysing mammography images.
Earlier results from the same trial showed that Transpara Detection increased cancers found by 29 per cent and reduced radiologist workload by 44 per cent compared with standard double-reading, where two radiologists independently review each scan.
The latest findings indicate higher accuracy with AI support. Sensitivity, the ability to detect cancer, was 6.7 percentage points higher in the AI group while specificity, the ability to rule out healthy cases, was maintained. Results were similar across age groups and breast density levels.
Women screened with AI had 16 per cent fewer invasive interval cancers and 21 per cent fewer large interval cancers than those in the standard screening group.
The system also helps doctors assess risk more precisely by subdividing suspicious findings into BI-RADS 4 categories A, B and C. BI-RADS (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System) is a standardised scale that guides whether a patient needs closer monitoring, further tests or treatment.
WUKA has announced a groundbreaking partnership with the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), including RYA Scotland and RYA Northern Ireland, supporting women and girls in sailing.
Building on WUKA’s growing #TackleAnything campaign – which has already reached thousands of girls across sports in the UK – this collaboration brings practical period solutions into sailing.
Together, WUKA and the RYA are committed to breaking down barriers so periods never limit confidence, participation, or performance on the water.
Ruby Raut, WUKA founder & CEO, said: “Partnering with the RYA has been incredibly important for us at WUKA.
“Sailing is an amazing way for women and girls to build confidence, and periods shouldn’t hold anyone back from enjoying the water or reaching their full potential.
“Through this partnership and our #TackleAnything campaign, we’re proud to provide practical solutions and innovative products that help female sailors feel comfortable, confident, and free to focus on learning, performing, and having fun.
“Breaking down barriers and supporting women to tackle anything — on land, at sea, and everywhere in between – has never felt more meaningful.”
WUKA, which stands for Wake-Up Kick Ass, shares the RYA’s commitment to inclusivity and empowerment.
In 2023, WUKA launched #TackleAnything, a campaign supporting women, girls and sportspeople with periods. Since its launch, the initiative has reached 3,576 girls across 46 clubs and partnered with a range of sports across the UK – from Scottish Gymnastics to Titans wheelchair basketball – helping young athletes play without limits and stay confident, comfortable, and in the game.
The brand offers period-friendly aquatic apparel and practical solutions that help women train and compete with freedom of movement and total assurance.
Through this partnership, WUKA will provide innovative period swimwear for young sailors across key RYA programmes, including the NI Sailing Team, the RYA Scotland Performance Pathway Programme, and the British Sailing Pathways Talent Academies.
By combining WUKA’s mission to challenge stigma with the RYA’s commitment to inclusion, the partnership ensures young sailors can focus on what matters most – learning, performing, and enjoying their time on the water – with confidence and comfort. RYA members will also receive a 10 per cent discount on WUKA products.
Sailing offers incredible benefits for women and girls, but time on the water can present unique challenges -particularly during menstruation.
Together, WUKA and the RYA are providing practical solutions that remove these barriers, helping young sailors participate fully and confidently in the sport.
Sara Sutcliffe, RYA CEO, said: “At the RYA, we have been making strides to break down barriers for women of all ages to help ensure they can experience the water in a supportive and positive environment.
“From education workshops and practical sessions, we want to make sure our female sailors are empowered and this partnership is another great example of how we can demonstrate possible tools to equip them to succeed”.
This partnership is part of the RYA’s wider commitment to making sailing a sport where women and girls can thrive. Alongside initiatives such as the Female Futures Group, the Women’s Race Officials Programme and all new Talent Academy Female Future’s Camps; it demonstrates a continued focus on removing barriers and creating meaningful opportunities across every stage of the sailing.
WUKA’s involvement ensures that practical solutions are available on the water, from innovative period swimwear to support resources, helping young sailors feel fully equipped and confident during training and competition.
By integrating these tools into RYA programmes, WUKA brings a new level of comfort and assurance to female athletes, allowing them to focus entirely on performance, enjoyment, and growth in the sport.
For any women and girls looking to learn more about sailing, visit www.rya.org.uk.
For more information on WUKA visit www.wuka.co.uk.
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