Issue 34: $13.5m for Heranova to tackle endometriosis | Nixi Body's 'gamechanging' AI | Flo Health free for 1bn |
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health innovation and FemTech news
Hi! A very Happy New Year and welcome to issue #34 of FutureFemHealth (w/c 1 January 2024).
I hope you’ve had a restful and relaxing couple of weeks. It was a bittersweet Christmas for me - full of joy thanks to my 3-year-old and one-year-old, yet the first without my own mum who passed away earlier in 2023. My thoughts with anyone for whom this time of year is also tough.
🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:
🏆 A boost for endometriosis sufferers with $13.5m for Heranova Lifesciences
👩🏽💻 Nixi Body’s ‘gamechanging’ customer service
🩸 Flo Health goes completely free for 1 billion users
🛑 Beware the menopause exploitation
Got news to share from the world of FemTech and women’s health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
🔥 But first… what to expect for FutureFemHealth in 2024
I’m excited to grow FutureFemHealth in 2024 with a mission to raise the visibility of innovation in women’s health and FemTech so that it can have even more impact.
Expect to see even more news, stories and insights all in one place, my thoughts on trends, plus our jobs board for new opportunities.
A few updates to share with that in mind:
🌟 Our website is now live at futurefemhealth.com ! This means that as well as your weekly newsletter I’ll be adding more original content to the website on substack in the coming weeks and months, and I can now accept guest posts and stories too.
🌟 Sponsor applications are now open (details here). Do you know any brands that may be a good fit for our community of founders, investors, job seekers and executives? Let me know! Sponsorships will support my work and help the newsletter to grow in 2024.
🌟 Paid subscriptions are coming soon. I’ll be launching a membership that will give you access to monthly deep dives and more original content. If you have valued reading the newsletter over the past eight months or so and want to help it to grow please do consider becoming a paid subscriber when doors open.
Thank you for your support and I can’t wait to see what we can all achieve for women’s health in 2024!
🏆 Heranova Lifesciences launches with $13.5m funding
A welcome boost for endometriosis sufferers to kick off the new year with the launch of this new global women’s health company and $13.5m of seed and seed+ funding.
The Boston-based startup has said it will bring to market non-invasive diagnostic tests for endometriosis as well as two therapeutic programs for endometriosis and bacterial vaginosis.
As you may know, endometriosis is a common and debilitating disease which typically takes up to 8-12 years to diagnose. There is no cure, and treatment only reduces severity of symptoms. An estimated 176 million endometriosis patients worldwide suffer from excessive pain, abnormal menstrual bleeding and infertility.
Heranova aims to introduce innovative solutions to address this care gap.
“The diagnostic products developed by our R&D team have received endorsement from global leading KOLs (key opinion leaders) as they may help to significantly shorten the time from disease onset to diagnosis and subsequent treatment,” said Heranova’s Chief Diagnostic Medical Officer Dr Farideh Bischoff.
Investors included Pivotal bioVenture Partners China, Sinovation Ventures and Emerging Technology Partners.
Continue reading the full story on our website: FutureFemHealth
📌 Nixi Body adds conversational AI to transform customer experience
How do you go about helping potential customers who have LOTS of questions about period underwear?
And what about helping people who are too embarrassed to ask?
Well Nixi Body co-founders Kelly Newton and Coni Longden-Jefferson recently added conversational AI to their website to answer customer enquiries with great results - 1,316 questions answered in 7 months alone.
I tried it myself and was seriously impressed.
See for yourself and continue reading the full story on our website: : FutureFemHealth
🌟 More news from this week
📌 GLOBAL: Flo Health offers its premium version completely free for 1 billion women worldwide. Well done to the period tracking app which is now available free in 66 countries globally. The ‘pass it on project’ aims to increase access to safe and credible health information, free from period shame. (Source: Flo Health)
📌 UK: Hanx latest to get censored online. A new year but the same old story for women’s health censorship. Menopause, libido and vagina were three of the words that led to sexual wellness company Hanx getting restricted by Meta and their ads account temporarily banned. While this not only harms small business operations, as Hanx wrote on LinkedIn: “the bigger issue still stands: our bodies, and the natural life stages we hit, aren't dirty words. It's time for Meta moderation to stop stigmatising them.” (Source: Hanx on LinkedIn)
📌 UK: Fertifa and Peppy named in Wired’s top 10 hottest startups in London for 2024. Both Fertifa and Peppy provide healthcare via employer benefits and help address underserved areas of health such as menopause and fertility. (Source: Wired)
📌 GLOBAL: The growth of FemTech: separating hype from facts. Is there enough evidence to prove that women’s healthtech is skyrocketing? Forbes Council member Alexandr Khomich argues not - and that while our sector has seen growth, he’s taken a closer look and sees a more nuanced picture. This pedantic and slightly patronising piece concludes what most of us are well aware of - FemTech has a long road ahead. (Source: Forbes)
📌 UK: Menopause supplement brands are ‘exploiting’ women with price rises. Dr Catriona Anderson, a women’s health specialist, has said that while some supplements can help with symptoms, the most popular or expensive are not necessarily the best - they just have the largest marketing budgets. Happy Mammoth, MPowder and Biocare are three brands called out. (Source: i news)
📌 CANADA: Beware menopause marketing - not all the products claiming to ease your symptoms are harmless. In a similar vein, many brands are being accused of ‘cashing in’ on the interest in menopause without being backed by evidence. Praised instead is emerging Canadian start-up Nyah Health - a virtual healthcare platform that can connect women to trained health professionals. (Source: Toronto Star)
📌 UK: The expensive business of menopause in the workplace. Menopause is fast becoming an economic issue. At last count the overall lack of menopause awareness and support has drained the UK economy of almost £10m. (Source: Medscape UK)
🩸 Research and women’s health news
📌 US: National Institutes of Health (NIH) publishes report on all its women’s health research during 2021-22. A newly-released collation (205 pages!) of all the NIH’s research activities related to women’s health across a two-year period. It also includes useful outlines of future priorities. One to bookmark! (Source: NIH)
📌 The biggest breakthrough in longevity may start with menopause. A raft of start-ups and researchers are exploring ovarian ageing and how we may be able to extend fertility and delay menopause. A truly fascinating read, and featuring Gameto and Oviva Therapeutics. (Source: Bloomberg)
📄 Govt & policy news
📌 USA: Department of Health and Human Servies (HHS) announces the ‘Transforming Maternal Health (TMAH) initiative. A welcome effort to begin to tackle the USA’s poor maternal health outcomes. This new 10-year program invites 15 state Medicaid agencies to apply for up to $17m in funding to develop a whole-person approach to pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care - including extending post-birth care coverage to 12 months. The goal is to reduce disparities in access and treatment. (Source: CMS.gov)
📌 CANADA: Free period products now available for employees in federally regulated workplaces. From 15 December a new law is in place in federally regulated workplaces thanks to the Canada Labour Code. And it mandates period products in ALL bathrooms for employees within those workplace (which is important for these reasons). (Source: CBC
✅ Jobs
I’ve had lots of feedback that you’d like the newsletter to include a jobs section, so this will be a regular fixture for 2024! Here’s what I’ve spotted as we kick off the new year…
📌 Head of Digital Suppression Program - Center for Intimacy Justice (Global / remote). An incredible opportunity to shape a new role spearheading the Center’s work to change Big Tech’s censorship of sexual, reproductive and breast health online. Recruitment is in very early stages (no job description or further info yet) and start date would be March/June 2024. If interested, send your CV/resume to careers@intimacyjustice.org to find out more (and please let them know FutureFemHealth sent you!).
📌 Consultant(s) - Irise International (Global/remote). An exciting, temporary contract to help lead the creation of the first Global Status of Menstrual Justice Report and a framework for action. Deadline 22 Jan to apply.
📌 Head of GenM partner collective - GenM (UK / flexible working). Join the menopause partner for brands helping build equity in its ‘MTick.’
📌 Creative Director - Flo Health (London / Hybrid). Lead and grow the marketing creative studio for the health app that has 55m+ monthly users.
📌 Community Manager - Elvie (London or Bristol / remote hybrid, UK). Join one of the original FemTech companies to help drive engagement in their communities.
📌 Senior CRM Consultant - Hertility (London, UK). A contract role for this fast-growing reproductive healthcare company.
📌 OBGYN - Ovum Health (United States / remote). Part-time and flexi opportunities for OBGYNs to work in telehealth for this fertility start-up.
📌 Senior Clinical Trials Specialist - AOA Dx (Denver, US). Help take forward a mission to improve early ovarian cancer detection. Other roles available too on the website.
Good luck!
Have a great week and see you next time,
Anna