FemTech: Fully Explained
From menstrual health to fertility and menopause, there haven’t been many discussions about women’s health issues in the past. These days, however, the femtech revolution has brought these issues out into the open.
Femtech refers to tech solutions addressing women’s health. These could be applications, products, services, or other technological tools that provide solutions to women’s health concerns. Many products and services now exist in this field, proving that much progress has been made recently.
As the femtech industry is rising fast, we will help you understand what it is, its benefits and effects, and the opportunities that exist within the industry.
What is Femtech?
Femtech refers to the tools, products, and services that use technology to address women’s health issues. These health issues encompass everything from menopause to menstrual, reproductive, and maternal health.
Femtech companies provide products that care for and address health issues that either only affects women or that affect more women than men.
Where Did Femtech Originate From?
“Femtech” was first coined by Danish entrepreneur and co-founder of a period tracking app, Clue, Ida Tin. The idea came to her while attending TechCrunch Disrupt – a startup conference in San Francisco.
She noticed that industries had dedicated names, such as Greentech and Fintech. But there was none to describe companies like hers providing female health solutions. She then suggested that these companies refer to themselves as “Femtech,” which is short for female technology.
This was to ensure that they took them seriously in their field. Thus, femtech was born and helped to define the market. Ruth Shaber, the founder of Tara Health Foundation and Co-founder of Board chair of Rhia Ventures, pointed out the importance of having women’s healthcare singled out within the healthcare industry.
She observed that there had been a significant lack of attention and funding given to women’s health. Crying out by giving it the name femtech would help the industry carve out a niche for itself.
Opportunities in Femtech
The Femtech industry offers many opportunities for women’s healthcare now and in the future. The total addressable femtech market spreads across many multibillion-dollar industries.
In 2022, the global femtech market size accounted for $40.2 billion. According to Statista, adopting new technologies, avenues, and business models have given this industry a projected growth of 13.3% between 2020 and 2025, reaching at least $75.1 billion.
Within the femtech industry, there is a growing interest in venture capitalist companies and angel investors. In 2021, funding for femtech startups reached $2.5 billion by early December.
There is a concentration of femtech companies around maternal health patient support, menstrual products, gynecological devices, and fertility solutions. These companies are filling the gaps not yet addressed by other healthcare companies. There are many more areas where femtech can have an impact. We are just seeing the beginning of what femtech can do.
Possible Effects of Femtech
The Femtech industry is breaking barriers within the tech industry. They could disrupt the healthcare sector in several ways:
Promoting self-care
Companies like Bloomlife and Modern Fertility produce trackers, wearables, and in-house diagnostics tools that enable women to solve their issues.
Improving care delivery
Women can access more convenient, customer-focused care through physical and virtual clinics and prescription delivery services.
Improving diagnosis
Femtech products have made it such that diagnoses are now more accurate. This is because of clinical diagnosis. Femtech companies are constantly pushing the boundaries to come up with top-rate technology.
Address untested areas
Femtech companies address areas other tech companies do not. Verging into the women’s health field is a largely untried area. They keep developing products to manage and provide solutions for these areas.
Addressing stigmatized areas
Topics such as menstrual cycles or sexual health have developed a certain stigma surrounding them. Femtech companies have opened up the conversations addressing these topics and are providing products to address these topics.
Femtech has also enabled the delivery of tailored and culture-sensitive solutions for subpopulations. For instance, Health in Her HUE provides solutions for Black women, Kasha for women in the middle- and low-income countries, and FOLX Health is tailored for the LGBTQ+ community.
As more femtech startups scale up and begin to expand, their effects will be felt across more areas, evolving, overlapping, and redefining themselves as a result. There is also a potential for partnerships between femtech businesses and traditional legacy players.
Stakeholders within and outside the healthcare sector can provide additional momentum as the femtech revolution continues to gain traction and alter the competitive landscape. They can then catalyze positive social changes beyond healthcare into other industries.
Considering the effects of menopause on women in leading positions across various industries, tech solutions addressing it can also improve the quality of women’s experiences across organizations.
Femtech is powered, to a far greater extent, by female entrepreneurs who can help raise more women founders, inventors, investors, and physicians working to bring health solutions for women and men alike.
Since women not only consume healthcare but are often the key healthcare decision-makers for their families, better outcomes in women’s healthcare can lead to better healthcare outcomes for society.
What Other Role Does Femtech Play in Society?
Femtech has become very relevant in the healthcare sector and continues to lend a voice to women in many other ways. It provides a more inclusive environment for women in the tech space. According to research, women make up 29% of STEM-related workers. However, the reverse is the case in femtech, as fewer people working here are men. Femtech has managed to reverse that statistic.
It normalizes conversations about the female body and health. In the past, these conversations were considered taboo. In recent times, while discussions around the female body are not received well, femtech has made it so that the conversations have started and are no longer uncomfortable.
It creates a safe space for women. Many of these femtech products, like the app SAFEUP, are created by women for women. Neta Schreiber created SAFEUP to protect women in cases of sexual assault and also harassment threats.
It encourages the understanding of the female body and wellness. These companies have made it so that there is more information about the human body and general wellness. Moreover, now females understand more about their bodies, and even males have a deeper understanding of the female body.
Femtech Products That Have Revolutionized the Healthcare Industry
The healthcare industry is constantly evolving, and new technologies are always emerging. One area that has seen a lot of innovation in recent years is femtech – products designed specifically for women’s health.
There is now a range of femtech products on the market that can help with everything from contraception to fertility tracking, and they’re also having a big impact on women’s health. We’ll look at some of the most innovative femtech products out there and how they’re revolutionizing healthcare for women.
Ava fertility bracelet
This smart fertility bracelet caters to women trying to conceive. It provides support in the form of information and data. Also, it tracks five physiological signs and can accurately predict the moment of ovulation. It gives daily timing and is updated during the five-day fertility window.
Bloomlife
This is a remote prenatal care platform. It uses technology and data science to provide the best care for expecting mothers. Furthermore, the women wear a rentable wearable device that allows the doctor and the patient to predict and manage any possible complications during the pregnancy.
Apricity
This has been stylized as “the next generation fertility clinic.” Apricity is a virtual fertility clinic. It uses technology to increase fertility chances for women who have struggled with this in the past. Also, this is possible through the use of artificial intelligence.
Apricity enables its users to be a good match with Apricity advisers, who can then discuss their health background and fertility history. If the need arises, a user can also go and make appointments at clinics affiliated with Apricity.
Coroflo
This device does wonders for breastfeeding mothers. It is a breastfeeding monitor that tracks how much milk the baby is consuming. Moreover, it connects to your phone to give you the information and accurately track how much milk babies of similar ages consume.
Elvie pump
This breast pump creates ease for lactating mothers. It is a wearable breast pump that allows mothers to pump anywhere discreetly. Women can still observe their busy schedules while they are pumping. In addition, this product has revolutionized the process of making breast pumps.
Caria
This app simplifies the menopause experience. It provides an enabling community and an emotional support system for women undergoing hormonal changes. It gives women all the information they need to understand menopause and manage their symptoms.
Clue
This menstrual health app is the number one period and ovulation checker app recommended by doctors. It provides enough information to help women understand their menstrual cycle and handle possible symptoms.
Conclusion
Women make up half or even more of our population. Yet, only a handful of tech companies cater to their particular health needs. Recently, there’s been an increase in digital products focusing on women’s healthcare, from menstrual cycle trackers to birth control and sexual health.
As women’s health research becomes increasingly prioritized, femtech startups match capital and talent to address the challenge. From health-related data, it’s clear that femtech has shown massive wins already within this short time. And there could be even more disruption ahead.
Femtech is creating more awareness about women’s health issues’ historical, systemic, and social segregation. It’s also showcasing research gaps while encouraging and empowering women to improve their health by caring for their bodies.
