Entrepreneur
Is your fertility innovation award-worthy?
If you’ve been asking yourself whether your fertility innovation deserves a place among the Femtech World Awards nominees, understanding what judges value can help you see your work through their eyes.
Ultimately, the judges are seeking solutions that demonstrate genuine impact on people’s fertility journeys.
This means your innovation should address a real and significant challenge that individuals face when trying to conceive, preserve their fertility or understand their reproductive health.
Perhaps you’ve developed a diagnostic tool that catches issues earlier, created a treatment option that’s more accessible or affordable, or designed a platform that provides support during an emotionally challenging time.
The key is showing how your solution makes a meaningful difference to real people.
True Innovation Takes Many Forms
Innovation itself takes many forms, and judges appreciate this diversity.
Your entry might feature cutting-edge artificial intelligence that predicts optimal conception windows, a novel medical device that improves IVF success rates, or even a brilliantly simple approach that removes barriers to existing treatments.
What matters is that you’re doing something distinctly different or better than what currently exists. Judges want to understand not just what your innovation does, but why the traditional approach fell short and how your solution represents a genuine leap forward.
Evidence Matters
Evidence carries considerable weight in the judging process. While every innovation begins with a vision, the strongest entries demonstrate that their solution actually works.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you need years of clinical trials or thousands of users, though such data certainly strengthens your case.
Even early-stage innovations can present compelling evidence through pilot results, user testimonials, expert validation or proof-of-concept studies.
Judges are looking for innovators who’ve moved beyond theory to show real-world promise, even if your solution is still scaling.
Accessibility and Reach
Accessibility and reach matter tremendously in fertility innovation.
The judges consider whether your solution can benefit a broad population or addresses the needs of underserved communities.
Perhaps your innovation reduces the cost of fertility treatments, brings specialist care to remote areas through telemedicine or tackles male fertility issues that have historically received less attention.
Solutions that democratise access to fertility care or serve overlooked populations often stand out because they expand who can benefit from reproductive healthcare advances.
The Team Behind the Vision
The team behind the innovation also factors into judging decisions.
Strong entries come from teams that demonstrate deep understanding of the fertility landscape, combine relevant expertise and show capacity to actually deliver on their vision.
Judges want to know that you’re not just creating something interesting in isolation but that you understand the clinical, regulatory and practical realities of bringing your innovation to those who need it.
Clear Communication
Judges also value clear thinking and communication.
Your entry should articulate your innovation’s purpose, mechanism and impact in language that’s precise but accessible.
The ability to explain complex science or technology in understandable terms often reflects how well you truly grasp your own innovation and suggests you’ll be effective at bringing it to market and educating users.
Future Potential
Finally, judges consider your innovation’s future potential.
Where could this technology or approach lead? Might it inform other areas of reproductive health? Could it scale to help significantly more people?
The most exciting entries often hint at broader possibilities while remaining grounded in current achievements.
Your Innovation Deserves Recognition
If you’re reading this and recognising your own work in these criteria, you’re likely sitting on an award-worthy innovation.
The recognition, visibility and validation that come with being a nominee or winner can open doors, attract investment and ultimately help your solution reach more people who desperately need it.
Find out more about the Femtech World Awards and enter for free here.
GenM is taking its menopause certification to Australia with TerryWhite Chemmart, Australia’s largest pharmacy network.
The tie-up marks the first time GenM’s MTick menopause-friendly shopping symbol and certification has been rolled out at national scale outside the UK.
It is GenM’s largest international expansion to date.
The MTick certification will be introduced across more than 620 TerryWhite Chemmart pharmacies.
The rollout includes dedicated in-store menopause bays, educational signage, online hubs and product discovery tools.
Heather Jackson, chief executive and co-founder of GenM, said: “Entering the Australian market is a major milestone for GenM and powerful validation of the MTick as a globally scalable and trusted retail category.
“Australia’s national pharmacy network, trusted community healthcare model, and underserved menopausal population make it a strategically significant market for our international growth.
“Partnering with TerryWhite Chemmart allows us to roll out menopause-friendly retail at scale for the first time outside of the UK, demonstrating how the MTick can deliver value for consumers, brands and retailers, and shining a light on how menopause support can improve the wellbeing of communities globally.
“Together, we’re creating an inclusive and accessible category of retail that has the power to transform the lived experience of menopause for over 4 million Australian women.”
Menopause affects more than one billion women worldwide and more than four million in Australia.
GenM research in the UK found 87 per cent of women feel overlooked and underserved by brands and retailers, while 66 per cent struggle to find menopause-friendly products in store and online.
In-store activations will feature products designed to support one or more of the 48 recognised signs of menopause, with pharmacists receiving specialised women’s health training.
By exclusively adopting the MTick, TerryWhite Chemmart becomes the first Australian retailer to formally introduce menopause-friendly certification nationwide.
Krystel Tresillian, pharmacist and general manager of professional practice at TerryWhite Chemmart, said: “Partnering with GenM enables us to respond to a clear and growing customer need.
“Rolling out the MTick across our national network of community pharmacies strengthens our commitment to inclusive healthcare and reinforces our role as a trusted health partner for women at every stage of life.”
Matresa has raised £315k in pre-seed funding to build a maternal health platform offering personalised screening and support in the UK.
The funding comes as maternal deaths in the UK are at their highest level in more than 20 years, according to the company.
Founded by former nurse Mari-Carmen Sanchez-Morris, Matresa is developing a platform that combines clinical expertise, behavioural science and AI insights to support women through matrescence, the transition from pregnancy into early parenthood.
Sanchez-Morris launched the company after working in a paediatric intensive care unit, where she saw gaps in support for mothers before and after birth.
Sanchez-Morris said: “Poor maternal healthcare isn’t just happening in a vacuum: it affects other areas of healthcare, and stunts women’s career growth, which in turn impacts businesses and the wider economy.
“Tailored care isn’t a privilege – it’s a right. Women and mothers deserve to feel safe and supported, and we need to do more to tackle this crisis.”
One in five women experience maternal mental health disorders or serious complications after childbirth, according to the company.
It says earlier intervention could prevent many of these outcomes, yet gaps in services persist. Preventable maternal health issues are estimated to cost the economy between £13bn and £15bn a year.
The platform also targets employers by offering visibility and insight during maternity leave. Currently, one in three mothers leave the workforce within a year of childbirth, with replacement costs for skilled employees ranging from £30k to £150k.
The pre-seed round was led by SFC Capital.
Edward Stevenson, fund principal at SFC Capital, said: “SFC Capital was delighted to lead this investment round in Matresa.
“We made this investment given the talent and strength of Mari-Carmen and the growing problem that the company is solving. She has demonstrated to us tenacity and determination in all our interactions, all of which suggest to us that she is 100 per cent committed to improving maternal health for women everywhere.”
Matresa is set to launch this summer.
Kindbody has launched a fertility platform integrating AI with clinical care and patient support for employers and health plans.
The platform will enter a pilot with select Kindbody employer clients in 2026, covering over three million lives, ahead of wider availability in 2027.
Building on the company’s clinical model, the platform aims to improve outcomes and cost efficiency across family-building journeys. It connects Kindbody-owned clinics, partner clinics and an integrated clinical app.
The app offers virtual care across conception, pregnancy and reproductive health, extending through the menopause transition.
Launch features include updates in medication management, third-party reproduction, adoption, pregnancy, men’s health and global programme design.
David Stern, chief executive of Kindbody, said: “With our next-generation fertility platform, Kindbody is redefining what comprehensive, intelligent and affordable family-building care looks like for employers, health plans and patients.
“By unifying best-in-class clinical care, AI-driven intelligence and whole-person support, we are making it easier and more cost-effective for more people to build the families they envision.”
Kindbody has expanded access via its national network of IVF centres, including IVIRMA, Inception Fertility and Ivy Fertility.
A new Fertility Medication Portal is designed to streamline authorisations so medicines can be dispensed on time, giving patients visibility from prescription to coverage, pharmacy fulfilment and delivery tracking.
Through KindMan, men’s health education, digital resources and integrated clinical care are expanding, including hormone management programmes.
Services cover andropause (age-related testosterone decline), erectile dysfunction, low testosterone and other male reproductive conditions.
Specialist fertility care includes semen analysis, diagnostic testing, male hormone panels, genetic testing, surgical sperm extraction and sperm cryopreservation.
Launching in the second quarter, a pregnancy support app will act as a digital companion for expecting and new parents, with resources, interactive tools and clinical assessments to identify social drivers of health and mental health needs during pregnancy and beyond.
Kindbody’s physician-led menopause programme provides consultations with board-certified obstetricians and gynaecologists to diagnose, treat and manage menopausal symptoms, including hormone replacement therapy where appropriate, with support from nutritionists, mental health therapists and pelvic floor specialists.
AI and analytics will be embedded across the care journey. An AI care navigator will guide employees from benefit activation through intake, triage and scheduling.
Tools will track benefits and treatment plans, showing coverage and expected out-of-pocket costs at each step.
AI-supported scribing will assist clinicians with documentation, and a predictor tool will estimate a patient’s likelihood of having a baby across different treatment paths.
In 2027, Kindbody plans a savings model for eligible large employers that it says will guarantee lower total fertility spend while improving clinical efficiency and patient experience.
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