Entrepreneur
The Future of femtech: Rebuilding the investment landscape
By Melissa Wallace, co-founder, Fierce Foundry
For decades, women’s health was treated as an afterthought, underfunded, under-researched, and often dismissed as “niche.”
Yet the irony is staggering: women make up 51 per cent of the population and drive nearly 80 per cent of consumer purchasing decisions.
The gap is rarely about market potential, because we know it is huge! It comes down to who holds the capital, who sets the governance, and whose lived experiences shape investment decisions.
Many of us see this as an opportunity, and now a growing wave of organisations are working to rebuild the investment landscape with women at the centre. Fierce Foundry, How Women Invest, The Fourth Effect, Female Founders Fund, All Raise, and countless grassroots angel networks are proving that women at the table means change.
The organisations are creating new pathways for women to become investors, supporting founders with more transparent funding relationships, and shifting the narrative on what it means to scale a business.
THIS is what is laying the foundation for the next generation of femtech innovation.
More Women Investors Changes Everything
People invest in what they understand and relate to.
When a woman develops a breakthrough medical device for PCOS patients, a male investor may not immediately recognise its value, even if the numbers are strong.
That’s not about blame, it’s about perspective.
When women step into investment roles, the impact is measurable:
Backing overlooked markets.
Female investors have been early champions of companies once ignored by traditional VCs.
Female Founders Fund backed Maven Clinic when “women’s health” wasn’t on Sand Hill Road’s radar.
Elvie, a pioneer in connected breast pumps and pelvic floor trainers, scaled globally because women investors recognised the scale of the problem and the purchasing power of women.
Without women at the table, these companies may have never broken through.
Bringing a wider lens of critical thinking.
Women tend to evaluate opportunities across multiple dimensions: returns, customer well-being, and long-term sustainability.
This broader perspective surfaces both risks and opportunities that can otherwise be missed. It’s not “soft” thinking; it’s smart investing.
Melissa Wallace
Delivering results through leadership.
Data shows that women-led companies outperform their leadership counterparts.
A BCG study found startups founded and co-founded by women generate 10 per cent more cumulative revenue over a five-year period, despite raising less capital.
Women investors see that performance potential early and help accelerate it.
This isn’t about charity. It’s about smarter bets and the numbers back it up.
The Blueprint for Change
The question isn’t whether FemTech will thrive. It’s what needs to shift for it to thrive faster. From my perspective, three things are critical:
- Pathways for Women to Become Investors. We need more women with capital, and that means more exits for women founders, broader education on accredited investing, and new models that democratise access to wealth.
- A Redesign of Venture Structures. Traditional VC models were never built with women in mind. They reward hypergrowth at any cost, punish flexibility, and replicate outdated power dynamics. At Fierce Foundry, we’re experimenting with venture studio models that align with how women actually lead; embedding shared services, designing with empathy, and even considering how work cycles could align with women’s hormonal cycles for exceptional performance.
- A Culture of Networks, Not Gatekeepers. Fundraising is rarely about one pitch; it’s about the introductions that compound over time. By building “networks of networks,” grounded in transparency and reciprocity, we ensure women founders gain access to capital where it has historically been blocked.
Lessons From the Frontlines
For FemTech founders, the challenge isn’t just finding any investor, it’s finding the right investor.
The wrong money can derail a company just as quickly as no money.
The most successful women founders I know focus on three things:
- Invest in aligned capital. Before taking money, research who your investors are, what they’ve funded, and how they show up for founders. The best partnerships are 10-year marriages, you need conviction on both sides.
- Build with transparency. Women founders are often asked tougher questions, but the best defense is clarity. Own your numbers, your risks, and your strategy. The right investors will respect honesty over spin.
- Leverage networks strategically. Don’t just network for introductions, network for champions. Each “no” can lead to two or three more conversations if you leave the door open. The founders who excel are the ones who convert networks into ecosystems of support.
At Fierce Foundry, I’ve seen this firsthand.
The women we work with not only find capital, but they also attract investors who believe in them as much as in the product.
That’s when the flywheel starts: funded women lead to exits, which lead to new women investors, which fuels the next generation of founders.
A Future Worth Building
If the investment landscape reached true gender balance, FemTech wouldn’t be a “category”, instead, it would simply be part of the mainstream.
We would see more women founders funded, more exits leading to more women investors, and workplaces redesigned to reflect how people actually thrive.
That future is not hypothetical.
I see glimpses of it every day at Fierce Foundry, where women are co-building companies with us from idea to exit.
The more we expand pathways for women investors, reimagine venture models, and build networks of networks, the faster we get there.
The next decade could be the tipping point for FemTech if we choose to rebuild the system with women at its core.
And when we do, the industry won’t just thrive. It will redefine what innovation looks like for everyone.
Entrepreneur
Last chance to save on Women’s Health Week and Women’s Sport Summit: Early Bird pricing ends 11 September
Early bird pricing for W Group’s two flagship October summits – Women’s Health Week Europe 2026 and Women’s Sport Summit Europe 2026 – closes on 11 September.
Both events take place at Emirates Stadium, London, bringing together founders, investors, corporates, and industry leaders shaping the future of women’s health and sport.
Women’s Health Week Europe 2026
7-8 October | Emirates Stadium, London
This year’s edition will be Women’s Health Week Europe biggest one yet: with 700+ attendees, 80+ speakers, and 20+ sponsors, it will also feature two stages – a Global Stage covering market trends and policy, and a Scale Stage focused on company-level growth and commercialisation. WHW takes place across two days of content, business matchmaking, and dealmaking.
Agenda highlights include:
- Where Capital Flows: Funding Trends in Women’s Health – with Merete Clausen (EIF), Ekaterina Gianelli (Calm/Storm), Henriette Hessen (Verdane), Jemma Day (British Business Bank), Ravit Warsha Dor (Telus Global Ventures), Tim Davis (LSEG)
- Six Feet Under-funded: Surviving the Valley of Death in Women’s Health – with Patric Stenberg (Gesynta Pharma), Valentina Milanova (Daye), Amber Vodegel (28x)
- The Women’s Health Label – Gift or Curse? · Live Debate – with Juan Camilo Arjona Ferreira (organon), Marissa Fayer (DeepLook Medical), Christian Lautner (Heal Capital), Annie Theriault (CBIV), Ida Tin (Clue)
- Passport to Scale: Taking Your Women’s Health Business Global – with Vanessa Carpenter (Femtech Across Borders), Annie Theriault (CBIV), Victorine Lançon (Daya Ventures), Dr Mridula Pore (Peppy)
Early bird pricing (ends 11 September):
| Ticket type | Early bird | Standard |
| Startups, Scaleups, Investors, Non-Profits, Government | £599 + VAT | £699 + VAT |
| Corporates, Payors & Providers | £1,799 + VAT | £1,999 + VAT |
| Service Providers & Consultants | £3,299 + VAT | £3,499 + VAT |
Register for Women’s Health Week Europe | See the full agenda for WHW
Women’s Sport Summit Europe 2026
6 October | Emirates Stadium, London
The first-ever Women’s Sport Summit expands W Group’s expertise in connecting key decision-makers to the sports industry.
WSS brings together rights holders, brands, investors, athletes, and media to accelerate commercial growth across the sector.
Agenda highlights include:
- From capital to crowd: the women’s sport cycle at scale – with Omar Shaikh (Arsenal FC), Nicole McWilliams (Google), Kerstin Lutz (Mercury13), Jo Currie (BBC Sport)
- Women’s sport through the investor lens: what gets funded – and why – Hugo Sever (APEX Capital)
- Rethinking ROI: what are we measuring that doesn’t actually matter? – Fi Watherston (Metro Bank), Silvia Keiser (Billie Jean King Cup), Gabriel Akin-Odujobi (Crux Football), Tammy Parlour (WST)
- Beyond the 90 minutes: matchday as a commercial product, not just a fixture – Maggie Murphy (Aston Villa Women FC), Sam Feasey (Diageo/Guinness), Molly Miller (OneFootball), Megan Feringa (The Athletic/The New York Times)
Early bird pricing (ends 11 September):
| Ticket type | Early bird | Standard |
| General Pass | £299 + VAT | £399 + VAT |
| Service Providers & Consultants | £1,799 + VAT | £1,999 + VAT |
Register for Women’s Sport Summit Europe | See the full agenda for WSS
Attending both events?
For group tickets or to attend both summits this October, contact Callum, W Group’s Client Success Lead, at [email protected].
KOVE Medical has raised €1.7 million to support first-in-human studies of an implantable device designed to reduce preterm birth risk after foetal surgery.
The University of Zurich spin-off is developing a device designed to close defects left by surgical instruments following fetoscopy, a minimally invasive procedure performed inside the womb.
Fetoscopies can treat life-threatening conditions before birth but require surgical instruments to pass through the uterine wall and amniotic sac.
This can weaken the protective membrane, causing fluid leakage or rupture and often leading to preterm birth.
KOVE Medical said in a statement on LinkedIn: “This is a crucial step forward for our company, and we are incredibly grateful for the strong support and trust from our syndicate of visionary angel investors.”
KOVE Medical says its device closes the defect at the end of the procedure, stabilising the membrane and preventing complications. The aim is to make in-utero interventions safe enough to become a standard method of care.
The company plans to use the seed funding to reach first-in-human studies, a key milestone for a medical device seeking regulatory approval.
The CHF1.6m round was backed by a syndicate of angel investors.
The Women’s Health Innovation Summit (WHIS), the event uniting the global women’s health ecosystem, has just announced 18 new speakers joining the agenda for its 2026 summit, taking place October 13–15 at Encore Boston Harbor.
The latest additions bring further depth across pharma, clinical research, health systems, venture, and policy, reinforcing WHIS’s role as the only platform where the full women’s health ecosystem convenes under one roof.
Newly confirmed speakers include:
- Kelle Moley, MD – VP, Women’s Health Early Phase Clinical Development, Cardiometabolic Research, Eli Lilly & Company
- Justine Levin-Allerhand – Executive Partner, Chief Corporate Development Officer & COO, Flagship Labs, Flagship Pioneering
- Sebnem Yildirimoglu, MD, PMP – Executive Director, Women’s Health Strategy, Premier Research
- Terri Stewart – Head of Global Healthcare & Government Affairs, EMD Serono
- Dr. Morag Grassie – Executive Director, Blavatnik Fund for Innovation, Yale
- Sandra Butler – Director, Design Impact, Mass General Brigham
- Zhenya Lindgardt – Chief Executive Officer, Sera Prognostics
- Sadie Morahan – Head of US Revenue, Withings Health Solutions
- Angela Drew, PhD – Vice President, Regulatory Strategy, Premier Research
- Dr. Stephanie Lahr – CMIO, Aqurio
- Michelle Andrews – Contributing Writer, KFF Health News
- Charlotte Williams – CEO, My Bump Hub
- Clint Dart, MS – Director, NIH Women’s Health Data Coordinating Center, Premier Research
- Cass Sanford – US Venture Advisor, FemTech Lab
- Megan Mukuria – Founder & CEO, ZanaAfrica
- Tiffany Inglis, MD, FACOG – Chief Medical Officer, Sera Prognostics
- Angelean Hendrix, PhD – Vice President, Pharmacometrics and MIDD, Premier Research
- Amanda Ducach – CEO & Co-founder, EmaEQ
“WHIS is where the women’s health industry comes together to take action,” said Poppy Howard-Wall, Event Director at WHIS.
“This latest wave of speakers reflects exactly the kind of cross-sector expertise our attendees expect – from global pharma and clinical research leadership to venture, health systems, and grassroots innovation.
“It’s this breadth that makes WHIS the room where things actually move forward.”
Bringing the Full Ecosystem Together
These additions join a growing 2026 agenda spanning four content tracks that reflect the full lifecycle of healthcare innovation, from early-stage research and development through to patient delivery, system transformation, and commercial scale.
Attendees can expect over 1,000 senior decision-makers, 120+ expert speakers, four dedicated stages, and more than 10 hours of curated 1:1 meetings.
Full speaker and agenda details are available at whisusa.com/speakers-2026.
About WHIS
The Women’s Health Innovation Summit is the only platform uniting the full women’s health ecosystem – providers, payers, employers, pharma leaders, investors, and innovators -to increase deal flow, expand reimbursement, improve access, and deliver better outcomes for women at every stage of life.
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