UK biowearable startup Emm has raised £6.8m to launch what it claims will be the world’s first smart menstrual cup with connected app.

The London-based company says its device measures flow volume and tracks cycle metrics such as duration, frequency and regularity, offering personalised health insights.

The cup uses medical-grade silicone with sensors developed over five years through thousands of design iterations.

Jenny Button, founder and chief executive, said: “Menstruation is known as the fifth vital sign, but has historically been overlooked by the wearable sector, leaving millions without the data they need to understand and advocate for their own bodies.

“We envision a future where menstrual health is measured and understood as comprehensively as cardiovascular or metabolic health, giving people access to objective, actionable insights to better manage their health and wellbeing.”

The funding will support bringing the product to market and accelerate clinical product development.

The company says the platform could help improve research, diagnosis and treatment of reproductive and menstrual health conditions.

The connected app will collate baseline data over time, helping users spot patterns and understand their biology within three cycles. The company says it is committed to user privacy.

The seed round was led by Lunar Ventures, with participation from Labcorp Venture Fund, Tiny VC, BlueLion Global and Alumni Ventures (an investor in Oura and Levels).

Angel investors included Amar Shah (co-founder of Wayve), Vivek Garipalli (founder of Clover Health and Wormhole Capital) and Harpreet Rai (former chief executive of Oura).

The company also secured non-dilutive grant funding supporting women’s health technology innovation.

Mick Halsband, partner at Lunar Ventures, said: “We’re proud to back Jenny and the Emm team as they build the foundational technology to transform women’s health and drive measurable impact in chronic diseases.

“At Lunar, we invest in founders tackling complex engineering challenges across data, materials and biological systems, and Emm exemplifies this with its world-class hardware and high-fidelity data.

“Their world-first platform has the potential to redefine standards of care and data quality in menstrual health and beyond.”

Megann Vaughn Watters, vice-president of new ventures and strategic alliances at Labcorp, added: “We see tremendous value in innovations that give people more control over their own health with actionable data and insights.

“We are excited to support Emm as they strive to bridge the gap in access to reliable menstrual health data and change the way reproductive health conditions are researched, diagnosed and discussed by both consumers and clinicians.”

Emm plans to launch to UK consumers in early 2026, with other markets to follow.

By Dominique Antiglio, Sophrologist, Wellness Entrepreneur, and Founder of BeSophro

The pace of modern life, especially for women leading in tech and innovation, can feel relentless.

We’re constantly processing, planning, problem-solving, and pushing forward. Yet behind every strategic decision and creative breakthrough often lies a hidden burden: cognitive overload.

This invisible mental strain – the accumulation of tasks, decisions, and emotional responsibilities – is something women frequently carry more heavily.

It’s the unseen work of managing details, anticipating needs, and holding it all together. And when you add the demands of entrepreneurship and leadership, the result is often a sense of chronic overwhelm that no amount of productivity hacks can fix.

I’ve seen this pattern again and again in my work as a Sophrologist. Brilliant, driven women, deeply capable and accomplished, yet quietly running on empty.

What they need isn’t another tool to optimise their schedule; it’s a way to reclaim their mental space. That’s where Sophrology comes in.

A Modern Method for a Modern Mind

Sophrology is a structured, science-informed mind-body method that combines relaxation, breathing, gentle movement, visualisation, and meditation.

Created in the 1960s by neuropsychiatrist Alfonso Caycedo – who I was fortunate to train under – it has long been used across Europe to manage stress, improve focus, support sleep, and build resilience, often prescribed alongside traditional medical solutions and reimbursed by health insurance.

Unlike traditional meditation, Sophrology is active and practical.

It doesn’t ask you to switch off your thoughts or retreat from the world, but rather to cultivate presence and balance within it.

By using simple physical and mental exercises, you learn to regulate your nervous system, release tension, and quiet the constant internal dialogue that feeds stress and distraction.

For women in fast-moving, cognitively demanding industries like tech, Sophrology offers something rare: a sustainable mental toolkit for staying centred, creative, and clear-headed amid the noise.

Releasing the Mental Load

Dominique Antiglio

Sophrology helps calm the mind and release physical and psychological tension. Through conscious breathing and guided awareness, it clears the mental clutter that builds up from multitasking and decision fatigue.

A few minutes of practice can shift your state profoundly.

By anchoring your attention in the body – feeling your breath, relaxing your shoulders, softening the jaw – you interrupt the stress response and restore a sense of clarity.

Visualisation then helps you to let go of unnecessary worries, reconnect with priorities, and approach challenges with renewed focus.

When practiced regularly, this process builds mental resilience – not by forcing yourself to do more, but by learning how to reset efficiently and recover quickly.

Self-Awareness as a Strategic Advantage

In entrepreneurship, self-awareness is often framed as emotional intelligence or leadership maturity.

In Sophrology, it’s also physiological, tuning into the body’s signals before they escalate into burnout.

Through practice, you notice signs of overload: tension in the neck, shallow breathing, fatigue, restlessness, or difficulty concentrating.

These are not inconveniences to be pushed through, they are data points. Information from your body that something needs to shift.

By responding early, taking a few moments to breathe deeply, stretch, or visualise calm, you can prevent stress from becoming chronic.

This kind of embodied self-awareness is a powerful leadership asset.

It supports better decision-making, emotional regulation, and ultimately, more sustainable performance.

From Overwhelm to Empowerment

One of the most profound effects of Sophrology is its ability to reframe mindset.

It teaches self-compassion – the recognition that your worth is not defined by productivity or output.

By reconnecting with your personal values and intuition, you gain clarity about where to focus your energy.

You start saying yes only to what aligns with your goals and no to what doesn’t serve your wellbeing or mission. You delegate more easily, prioritise more intelligently, and stop chasing the illusion of doing it all.

This is especially transformative for women in leadership, where the pressure to perform and prove oneself remains high.

Sophrology empowers you to lead from a place of grounded confidence – to remember that you are not your to-do list.

Real, Measurable Benefits

Over time, consistently practicing the modalities of Sophrology brings tangible, science-backed benefits that directly support the entrepreneurial mindset:

• Improved sleep quality: Restorative sleep fuels sharper thinking and better emotional regulation.
• Enhanced focus and concentration: A calm mind processes complex information more effectively.
• Greater emotional balance: You respond to challenges rather than react to them.
• Sustained energy: By reducing internal tension, energy is used more efficiently.
• Expanded creativity and clarity: With less noise in the mind, insights arise more naturally.

These benefits don’t just improve wellbeing — they enhance leadership capacity.

A centred, self-aware founder or executive is not only more productive, but also more visionary and empathetic.

Reclaiming Your Inner Bandwidth

In tech, we talk often about bandwidth; the capacity of systems to handle information efficiently. But human bandwidth matters too.

Without space to think, reflect, and rest, innovation stalls and burnout takes over.

Sophrology helps women reclaim that inner bandwidth, decluttering the mind, restoring focus, and building the resilience needed to thrive in high-pressure environments.

It’s not about doing less; it’s about showing up differently – grounded, present, and fully yourself.

Because the truth is, when you reclaim your mental space, you don’t just feel better – you lead better.

Try It Yourself: A 3-Minute Sophrology Reset

If you’re feeling mentally overloaded, try this short exercise to calm your mind and refocus your energy:

1. Find a comfortable position sitting. Close your eyes.
2. Scan your body from head to toe. Notice the presence of your body and your breath. Any areas of tension: Your neck? Shoulders? As you exhale, encourage releasing tightness from those areas.
3. After the body scan, stand up with your arms alongside your body and clench your fists. Now inhale, hold your breath and move your shoulders up towards your ears and back down a few times until you need to exhale. Exhale through your mouth and release your fingers, hands, arms and shoulders fully, visualising the mental load leaving your body. Repeat twice, observing your sensations.
4. Now sit back and relax in your chair and take a moment to simply feel the sensations in your body: warmth, relaxation, or anything that shows up – even tension or worries. Simply make a mental note of it without judgement.
5. Before opening your eyes, take a moment to welcome a positive word of your choice – such as “calm”, “confidence”, “joy” or “energy”.
6. Open your eyes and notice how you feel; lighter, more centred, and ready to continue with renewed focus.

About the Author

Dominique Antiglio is a world-leading sophrologist, best-selling author, and founder of BeSophro, an online sophrology platform making this transformative method accessible to English-speaking audiences worldwide.

Her clients include Silicon Valley Founders, top athletes, and leading corporate organisations.

After two years of uniting the global women’s health ecosystem to drive impact and investment, Women’s Health Week USA has announced the central theme for its 2026 summit: Women’s Health 2.0 — The Era of Scale.

Returning to New York on May 13–14, 2026, the event signals a pivotal moment for the sector. Innovators are no longer just building; they’re scaling.

Investors are increasing activity. Corporates are moving from exploration to strategic commitment. And across the industry, momentum is accelerating at a pace not seen before.

A sector entering its scale phase

This year’s theme reflects a maturing market, one where clinical validation, commercial models, reimbursement pathways and distribution strategies are now centre-stage.

Women’s Health Week USA 2026 will spotlight the organisations translating innovation into real-world adoption.

From the key program themes have just been released this week, attendees can expect:

• A sharper focus on commercialisation and growth, including reimbursement, regulatory clarity and distribution models.
• Deeper investor engagement, with expanded opportunities for targeted 1:1 meetings.
• Two expanded Innovation Showcases, highlighting the next generation of breakthrough founders driving impact at scale.
• A more global attendee base, bringing together more than 600 leaders spanning innovators, investors, corporates, and policy makers.
• New session formats designed to maximise meaningful connection and deal-making.

These developments reflect a broader shift across femtech and women’s health: the move from early innovation to adoption, acceleration and scale.

Shaping the future of women’s health

As one of the sector’s largest global gatherings, Women’s Health Week USA continues its mission to facilitate strategic partnerships that deliver both commercial growth and improved health outcomes for women worldwide.

Over the coming weeks, the organisation will release early speaker announcements, agenda themes and opportunities for innovators, investors and corporates to take part in this year’s programme.

Don’t miss out – register your interest here to receive all the updates as they’re released.