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As women鈥檚 health takes center stage for the first time in听history, Leeds alumni and students see massive potential in this听subsector's future.

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Ten years ago, 鈥渕enopause鈥� wasn鈥檛 mentioned in mixed company. There weren鈥檛 conversations at the water cooler about infertility. Women didn鈥檛 ask their doctors about pelvic health.

At work, you鈥檇 have been shocked to find perimenopause support, fertility care and maternity benefits offered by the largest employers in the U.S.

That鈥檚 because historically, the health-care industry has largely overlooked the complex biology of women, leaving them to struggle with the underdiagnosis of medical conditions, untrained doctors, fragmentation of care and inadequate representation in clinical trials.

But within the last decade, technological advances and evolving societal attitudes toward women鈥檚 health have started shifting the paradigm:听The medical community is recognizing women鈥檚 health needs, employers are offering more benefits, and investors are听realizing the vast potential in women鈥檚 health innovation.

What is FemTech?

The gradual awakening to inequities in health care has spawned a sector of technology designed to address health issues suffered solely, differently or disproportionately by women鈥攆rom menstrual tracking apps and sexual wellness products to cardiovascular medical devices and mental health therapies.

The term 鈥淔emTech鈥� has been around since 2016, when the co-founder of one of the first period-tracking apps, Ida Tin, coined it. She wanted a way to encapsulate technology-driven solutions in the women鈥檚 health space, including products, diagnostics, medical devices, digital therapies, consumer applications and services.

Leeds graduate Kristin Apple (MBA鈥�08), president of an innovation strategy consultancy called LINUS, focused on helping health organizations grow, takes issue听with the term 鈥淔emTech.鈥� She explained that the industry is much more than technological products and services鈥攊t鈥檚 about women鈥檚 health.

鈥淎ll health care today is enabled by technology鈥攖hat鈥檚 a given. It鈥檚 not about the technology; it鈥檚 about how tech is enabling us to get better results by gaining insights into the diagnosis and treatment of conditions that affect a women鈥檚 physical and emotional well-being.鈥�

She pointed out that the 2023 initiative passed by the Biden administration to increase research on women鈥檚 health is an example of the movement toward acknowledging the need for health care tailored to women.

鈥淭his is about the growth and destigmatization of women鈥檚 health. It鈥檚 about the broader picture of women鈥檚 health,鈥� she said.

Opportunities and obstacles

Today, the FemTech market has an estimated value of $50 to $60 billion. By 2027, it is estimated to be worth $1 trillion, according to forecasts by the nonprofit organization FemTech Focus.

A 2022 study by McKinsey鈥檚 Health-care Systems & Services Practice revealed what the estimates show: that the women鈥檚 health sector is growing at an incredible rate. Public awareness, company formation and funding are surging. The opportunities for听multiple stakeholders, including investors, researchers, health care providers, employers, insurers, and pharmaceutical and medical-device companies are undeniable.

Entrepreneurs are seizing these opportunities in droves. More than 60% of FemTech startups were founded between 2017 and 2022, and there has been a 1,000% increase in the number of companies over the last 10 years, according to FemHealth Insights research.

Eighty percent of those startups were founded by women. However, many have met obstacles in gaining funding鈥攁 well-known discrepancy in the startup world. A study in 2022 showed that women entrepreneurs are 63% less likely to get VC funding than men (PitchBook).

Another challenge is that investors in tech are mostly men, and for some, there鈥檚 a lack of knowledge or comfort in understanding women鈥檚 biology鈥攁nd stigmas still abound.

The seers and believers

Nonetheless, it鈥檚 hard to dispute that the market potential is huge; FemTech is an underserved market that鈥檚 ripe for growth and investment. As a demographic, women spend an estimated $500 billion a year on medical expenses (PitchBook). Modern technologies for this population are not only transformative but lucrative.

A growing syndicate of venture capitalists, made up mostly of women, are making a substantial impact in the space. And the next generation of FemTech investors is gearing up to do the same.

鈥淚 think people are beginning to see the power of investing in FemTech and it鈥檚 really exciting.鈥�

Gwyneth Brass (Ent, Fin鈥�26)

Zoe Cope, a Leeds sophomore studying finance and accounting, has been interested in FemTech since high school, when she and her friends started using the menstrual tracking app Flo. She explained that it gave them a sense of control through knowledge.

As a Leeds Scholar and member of the Business and Engineering Women in Tech (BEWiT) program, she fine-tuned her vision for making an impact. 鈥淚 see myself as contributing to the industry through working in听finance.

鈥淲omen are solving issues for听women that health care providers have ignored,鈥� said Cope. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I want to enter private markets鈥攖o improve the lives of many through investments.鈥�

Cope has an idea of where to start: 鈥淔emTech is being driven by female entrepreneurs鈥攂ut funding doesn鈥檛 come easily for them鈥攚e need to see female entrepreneurs dominate this market.鈥�

Birth of the first unicorn

Worth about $1.35 billion and widely considered the first U.S. unicorn dedicated to women鈥檚 and family health, according to Fortune, Maven Clinic is the world鈥檚 largest virtual clinic that serves some of the biggest employers, including Microsoft and AT&T.

Its founder, CEO Kate Ryder, not only convinced employers to provide better benefits for women, but she helped prove to investors that women鈥檚 health had massive potential as a business. To make her point, she argued that the lack of medical attention to menopause was not only harmful to women but was a lost opportunity worth $600 billion.

Angie Golden Henry (Mktg鈥�11) is a Leeds alum and senior brand designer at Maven. 鈥淚鈥檓 energized by the opportunity to build a brand that users can trust and the challenge for our brand to stand out among very established health care brands.鈥�

When she first started in 2018, she noted there were few tech companies focused on women鈥檚 health care. 鈥淲hen I came across Maven, their entire product and mission felt very unique and important, and I wanted to be a part of it,鈥� she said. 鈥淪eeing the product make such an impact on users is incredibly rewarding.鈥�

Having recently had her first baby, she has a new appreciation and inspiration for the work she鈥檚 doing. 鈥淭he health care system in America can be so hard to navigate, especially when building a family, and companies like Maven make health care more accessible and work better for more people,鈥� she said.

Better health means better growth

A wave of inventive companies has emerged to address menopause, IVF, endometriosis, fertility, hormone health, childbirth, osteoporosis, cancer diagnosis and more.

As women鈥檚 health improves, so does the sector鈥檚 success. The following companies are rolling out life-changing innovations that dramatically improve women鈥檚 health outcomes and propel the industry forward.

• NextGen Jane, a company that uses tampons to tell women about their reproductive health, recently raised $9 million in new funding.
• London-based Elvie, a wearable breast pump and a pelvic exercise trainer and app, raised $42 million in Series B funding.
• Midi Health, a virtual health care provider for perimenopause and menopause, reported that 91% of its patients experienced improvement in their symptoms after just two months of care. The company successfully raised $60 million in a Series B funding round this year, increasing the company鈥檚 total funding to $100 million.
• Oula, a modern maternity clinic combining obstetrics and midwifery, boasts a 26% better C-section rate and a 61% lower preterm birth rate than New York City benchmarks. It has raised more than $50 million in funding.
• Progyny, which manages fertility benefits for employers, went public in 2019 at a valuation of over $1 billion; its recent market capitalization was about $4 billion.

鈥淭his is about听the growth and听destigmatization of听women鈥檚 health.鈥�

Kristin Apple (MBA鈥�08), President, LINUS

When women succeed economies flourish

Nurturing innovation within the FemTech space doesn鈥檛 help just women and investors鈥攊t has the potential to help the world. According to the nonprofit Women鈥檚 Health Access Matters, a $300 million investment into improving women鈥檚 health could generate around $13 billion for the global economy.

It also helps improve global productivity. When women leave the workforce at the peak of their careers due to the side effects of perimenopause and menopause鈥攇lobal productivity losses can add up to more than $150 billion a year (Ultra Violet Futures). But deploying technological and consumer-centric health solutions can enable the success of women leaders and companies.

The impact on global economies, especially those in poor countries, has not escaped Cope, who explained, 鈥淲hen听women have more freedom over their reproductive cycle, they鈥檙e able to extend their education and have careers, allowing them to be more successful. This will eventually and inevitably lead to economic progress in third-world countries.鈥�

When countries empower women to feel better and live longer, their economic potential soars. That鈥檚 because women are not just consumers but the primary health care decision-makers for their families; better health outcomes for women can lead to better outcomes for society.

A glimpse of the future

As women-led companies grow and consumer demand for personalized health solutions rises, a more inclusive, gender-aware health care system could help the next generation of women become inventors and founders.

Take Gwenyth Brass (Ent, Fin鈥�26), a junior in entrepreneurship and finance at Leeds. When she learned that women generally have low expectations of the health care system, she wanted to find a way to make women more comfortable鈥攕tarting with gynecologist visits.

鈥淲omen aren鈥檛 fully empowered and informed; they need to know how the procedures work. And there needs to be more trust between women and doctors,鈥� said Brass. 鈥淚t involves transparency and getting to know who the doctor is as a person.鈥�

This past summer, she began developing her idea with fellow students in her New Venture Class and was surprised to learn that 鈥渕ost of the men had no idea about the anxiety of going to the gynecologist.鈥� Like other founders before her, she successfully helped them understand a problem they had never personally dealt with.

鈥淢ale investors are getting their heads turned by the impact. I think people are beginning to see the power of investing in FemTech, and it鈥檚 really exciting . . . It鈥檚 time for a change to improve women鈥檚 lives.鈥�