Special
WATCH NOW: Femtech Roundtable 2022 Can we bridge the gender health gap?
The femtech market is expected to reach US$50bn by 2025, but health inequalities remain.
In our first FemTech World x HealthTech World roundtable, five leading experts from around the world come together to discuss the opportunities and barriers in the growing femtech sector to find the answer to one pressing question – can we bridge the gender health gap?
Speakers:
Cindy Moy Carr, Vorsdatter Limited
Cindy Moy Carr founder and CEO of Vorsdatter Limited in Newcastle, which developed mySysters, an app for women in perimenopause and menopause, and myGauge, an app for men in andropause.
Cindy is an attorney, journalist and author of several books, including the ABA’s Guide to Healthcare Law.
Eran Eshed, Fairtility
Eran Eshed is the CEO and co-founder of Fairtility, the transparent AI innovator powering in vitro fertilization (IVF) for improved outcomes. He is a multidisciplinary business executive and serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience spanning numerous product and business domains.
Eran was a co-founder and chief business officer of Altair Semiconductor, a wireless chipset innovator acquired by Sony in 2016. He holds a BsCEE in electronics engineering from Tel Aviv University.
Keren Leshem, OCON Healthcare
Keren Leshem is the CEO and Board Director at OCON Healthcare – a leading women’s health BioTech company with a mission to introduce innovative intrauterine drug-delivery technology for an array of conditions and diseases to improve and impact women’s health and quality of life.
Prior to OCON Ms. Leshem headed the Corporate Development team at the European pharma company VISUfarma. She was a board member of a BioLight (TASE: BOLT) company: ViSci (which she previously headed as CEO) and an Open University lecturer in marketing and business english.
She was featured in FORBES and Entrepreneur magazine and sits on FemTech Lab’s admissions and advisory board. Keren makes sure to lead with passion, integrity and donate her time and her earnings to and with women entrepreneurs that are starting out their career path and those whom have made choices that require mentoring.
Christy Prada, Future Fertility
Christy Prada has over a decade of experience as a builder, from creating and guiding high-performing teams across a range of fields, to developing and scaling new models for commercial growth at start-ups.
With this experience and expertise combined with her passion for finding innovative solutions to the world’s toughest healthcare challenges, Christy leads the Future Fertility team in its mission to empower fertility doctors, specialists, and patients with advanced AI-driven insights globally.
Petronela Sandulache, CorDiFio Health
Petronela is the founder of CorDiFio Health a Switzerland-based digital health platform with the social mission to raise awareness and prevent heart diseases in women.
With 10 years of consulting experience in innovation, venture building, and startups, she is determined to empower every woman to be in control of her own health. Advancing health equity is her mission. One heart at a time.
Jyoti Sharma, TaraCares
Jyoti Sharma is the founder of TaraCares, a global health tech start-up focused on menopause and winner of Innovate UK Fast Start award, 2022. She brings more than 20 years of international entrepreneurial experience as a global growth execution leader for large-scale human-centred digital transformations working with EY, SAP, and Microsoft.
An SAP Press bestselling author and international speaker on digital transformation, she has worked across industry verticals and specialises in life sciences. Her client portfolio includes companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, Grifols, Pfizer, GSK among others.
Fashion, beauty and lifestyle retailers have joined the American Heart Association to raise awareness of heart disease in women.
The Go Red. Shop with Heart. campaign launched at the New York Stock Exchange on 30 January.
Retailers will ask for donations at checkout in February or donate a percentage of proceeds from selected items.
More than four in 10 women in the US have some form of cardiovascular disease, a term for heart and blood vessel conditions such as heart disease and stroke.
Heart disease and stroke kill more women in the US each year than all forms of cancer combined.
Brands taking part include Away, Commando, Lafayette 148, Michael Kors, Reebok, ShopSimon.com, Summersalt, Torrid and White & Warren.
More than 40 other nationwide retailers are also inviting customers to support the organisation this February through its Life Is Why campaign.
Nancy Brown is chief executive officer of the American Heart Association.
She said: “Nearly 1 in 3 women die from cardiovascular disease each year, yet women are still profoundly under-represented in the clinical research, science and medicine that could save their lives.
“Retailers and consumers are uniquely positioned to turn everyday moments into meaningful change through Go Red. Shop with Heart.”
According to the American Heart Association 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US and stroke is the number four cause of death.
The organisation projects that at least six in 10 US adults will have cardiovascular disease within the next 30 years and related costs are expected to triple.
However, approximately 80 per cent of cardiovascular disease is preventable through lifestyle changes.
Mindy Grossman is a volunteer board member at the American Heart Association and partner and vice chair of Consello.
Grossman said: “Retail has always been a powerful connector.
“Shop with Heart gives our industry a shared platform to lead with purpose and unite consumers in support of heart health.”
Milken Institute has launched the Women’s Health Network digital platform with Velir x Brooklyn Data to speed collaboration and investment across research, care and technology.
The new website creates a hub for members to share content, connect and coordinate projects, with branding and the first public Drupal build delivered by Velir x Brooklyn Data. A launch video premiered on 4 November 2025 at the inaugural steering committee and member luncheon in Washington DC, then featured at the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit.
Phase two is scheduled for February 2026, adding member log-ins for networking and content exchange. Phase three in April 2026 will add advanced collaboration tools and expanded community features.
“This launch represents the type of mission-driven, cross-sector digital work we are incredibly proud to support,” said Eliza Pare, vice-president of client services at Velir. “The Women’s Health Network is poised to transform collaboration in women’s health, and we’re honoured to help build the digital infrastructure that will make that possible.”
Chaired by former first lady Dr Jill Biden, the Women’s Health Network brings together leaders from industry, startups, investors, health systems, patient groups, academia and philanthropy. More than 100 members have joined, with a steering group that includes organisations such as the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Amgen, Deloitte, GE Healthcare, Merck, Microsoft, Northwell Health, Organon and others.
Innovate UK has opened the Women in Innovation Awards for 2025 to 2026, with grants of up to £75,000 for as many as 60 winners.
HealthTech winners in 2024 included a tampon that prevents bacterial infections, an AI audio device for visually impaired people, and an app for gynaecological conditions.
The awards target female founders of late-stage start-ups with a minimum viable product, early user traction or revenue, growing teams and plans to raise significant capital within 12 to 24 months.
Liz Kendall, science secretary, said: “The Women in Innovation Awards are unlocking the UK’s untapped potential within our community of women innovators; if men and women started and scaled businesses at the same rate this could be worth as much as £250 billion for the UK economy.
“This record £4.5 million investment will empower ambitious women founders to scale their businesses, drive economic growth, and inspire the next generation of innovators.”
Applicants must operate in advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, or life sciences, three of the high growth sectors identified in the UK’s Industrial Strategy. Winners receive up to £75,000 plus training, networking and role-modelling opportunities, with tailored support also offered to highly commended applicants.
The competition opened on 26 November 2025 and closes on 4 February 2026.
Since 2016, Innovate UK has invested more than £11m in 200 women innovators through these awards, with up to 60 more to be funded this year.
Last year’s programme drew criticism after Innovate UK initially said it would fund 50 women, then announced only 25 awards at £75,000 each. Following a campaign led by Emma Jarvis, founder of Dearbump, and the ‘Let’s Fund More Women’ group of more than 400 supporters, Innovate UK reversed the decision and confirmed all 50 awards and £4m, saying it was “a mistake and we prioritised wrongly”.
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