💌 Issue 110: €1.6M boost for PCOS care | Progyny x ŌURA | Bayer's regulatory approval
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health innovation and FemTech news
Hi! Welcome to issue #110 of FutureFemHealth (w/c July 14 2025).
A busy few weeks here at FutureFemHealth! My son finishes his first year of school on Friday, I’ll be at the Nexus / Barclays ‘100 female founders’ event in London next Tuesday, and then it’s holiday time the next day. I hope you all have exciting holiday plans too!
🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:
💰 Solence raises €1.6M to rethink PCOS care
❤️ The Blue Box raises €3M to advance AI-powered, urine-based breast cancer test
✅ Progyny partners with ŌURA to bring wearable health insights into reproductive care
💊 Bayer’s hormone-free menopause drug approved
Got news to share from the world of FemTech and women’s health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
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👎 Are social media platforms actively suppressing women's health content?
Results of a new experiment this week indicates they might be.
In the experiment, two creators — husband and wife duo Justin and Aly — each posted health-focused content on their Instagram accounts.
Justin (@alldadstalk) shared posts about sex and testosterone.
Aly (@allmumstalk) shared posts about sex and menopause.
The result? Justin’s post saw only a slight dip in non-follower reach compared to his usual content. But Aly’s was seen by 66% fewer non-followers — despite similar formats and content themes to her husband’s.
(You can read the full story in The Mirror)
So why does this matter?
This experiment, although small, suggests that platforms may be disproportionately (and worse, perhaps actively) limiting the reach of women’s health conversations — particularly those related to taboo or stigmatized topics like menopause, periods, or sexual health.
If true, that’s a serious barrier to both public health education and anyone in the women’s health ecosystem attempting to communicate using social media.
“Women and girls must be able to access information and advice about critical health topics on social media,” says Kate Prince of Essity, a global hygiene and health company.
“And they should be able to hear about and engage with the experiences of others.”
Now it’s over to you. Want to help do something about this?
👩🏽💻 Share your experiences with social media censorship and digital suppression in CensHERship’s ongoing survey.
📑 Download CensHERship’s recent white paper ‘Censorship Revealed’ to learn more.
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 FRANCE: Solence raises €1.6M Seed to rethink PCOS care. Up to 20 per cent of women globally suffer from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), but some 85 per cent don't receive the support they need. Amid rising misinformation and unaffordable care, Solence delivers a science-backed, personalised app to support the hormonal and metabolic health of women worldwide. This seed funding round included Impact Shakers Ventures and angel investors. (Continue reading: Tech.Eu)
📌 SPAIN: The Blue Box raises €3M to advance AI-powered, urine-based breast cancer test. It’s scientifically proven that breast cancer leaves a trace in urine - but it’s not about a single biomarker, there’s a complex pattern of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to evaluate. The Blue Box’s €3 million in funding will now fuel its clinical trial phase and plans to achieve CE marking by the end of 2026. Uncoventional Ventures led the round. (Continue reading: Tech.eu)
📌 US: Daré Bioscience receives $6M grant installment as smart contraceptive device eyes expansion into obesity and diabetes. Daré Bioscience is developing a long-lasting, wireless contraceptive implant that’s controlled by your smartphone. Originally dreamed up at MIT, the device called ‘DARE-LARC1’ is still in the preclinical phase but has big ambitions. Daré says it hopes to use the same smart drug-delivery tech to treat chronic conditions like obesity, diabetes and hormone-related disorders. Strategic partnerships are on the table as Daré looks to scale the platform beyond women’s health. This latest $6m grant installment means Daré has now received $37.8M of an original $49M commitment. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 GLOBAL: What happens when public capital steps back? The new risk equation in women’s health investing. Strategist and investor Maryann Umoren Selfe argues that in theory, innovation funding is a relay. Where public dollars de-risk early science. Philanthropy or angel capital picks up traction. Venture capital drives scale. And then institutional money sustains. But now, the baton has been dropped. And in women’s health, the gap isn’t just financial. It’s cultural. (Continue reading: Institutional Investor)
🌟 Industry news from this week
📌 GLOBAL: Progyny partners with ŌURA to bring wearable health insights into reproductive care — from preconception to menopause. It seems wearables are fast becoming the value multiplier in women’s health. Just weeks after Maven inked its own deal with with ŌURA, Progyny has followed suit, integrating smart ring data into its reproductive and hormonal care pathways. The company says the integration will help identify risks earlier and support goals like optimizing conception attempts or managing lifestyle changes across life stages. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 US: Winona launches new menopause support app to strengthen community and care. Chat groups, wellness courses, live doctor Q&As, and location-based events are on offer to help women connect during the menopause transition. This new app builds on Winona’s successful Facebook group and aims to foster real-world connections and break isolation by making local events more accessible. Medical Director Dr Cat Brown notes that strong social bonds during menopause can “make all the difference in their physical, mental, and emotional health.” With approximately 1.3 million women entering menopause each year in the US, the app adds a much‑needed layer of community support to traditional hormone therapy and fits into the growing trend of community-driven tools in midlife care. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 UK: Clue and Ovum partner to bring affordable fertility tools to UK consumers. For a supplement brand, especially in the fertility space, building trust is everything. Cue a dream strategic partnership for UK wellness startup Ovum from the much-loved cycle tracking app Clue. Ovum has become the exclusive distributor of Clue Plus in the UK within the fertility supplements and pregnancy testing category. The collaboration will extend beyond app subscriptions too. Joint marketing efforts, retail partnerships, and bundled offerings through select fertility clinics (where Ovum is expanding fast) are planned. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 UK: Bayer scores first approval for hormone-free menopause drug Lynkuet (elinzanetant) in UK. Two years after Astellas hit the market with a non-hormonal therapy for menopause, Bayer has followed suit, scoring its first worldwide nod for a similar hormone-free treatment. Lynkuet is an oral therapy to relieve moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats) that accompany menopause. Currently, these vasomotor symptoms are said to affect up to 80% of women during menopause, yet only about a third of them receive treatment (Continue reading: Fierce Pharma)
📄 Govt & policy news
📌 UK: £500m Government investment to boost growth and opportunity for underrepresented entrepreneurs. Research shows just 2p of every £1 invested in venture capital funding in the UK goes to female-founded businesses and only 13% of senior individuals on UK venture capital investment teams are women. This welcome initiative comprises a £400m package to back investment fund managers from underrepresented backgrounds and an additional £50 million for female-led VC funds - doubling the British Business Bank’s commitment to £100m and supporting the Invest in Women Taskforce. (Continue reading: Gov.UK)
📌 U.S: ‘A national movement’: More than a dozen states consider laws around menopause care and training for doctors. From New York to California, lawmakers are weighing whether to support more menopause training for clinicians or mandate comprehensive insurance coverage for menopause treatment. Latest data shows that at least two dozen bills have been introduced across 15 states this year. And while not all will become laws, advocates of such legislation argue that these changes could improve access to care and reduce the risk that menopause symptoms will be dismissed by providers. (Continue reading: CNN)
📌 NETHERLANDS: Health Minister launches €27.5 million strategy to improve women’s health research. This five-year strategy is aimed at expanding knowledge about women’s health conditions and improving how that knowledge is shared throughout the Netherlands. (Continue reading: NL Times)
📆 Time to apply?
Planning to attend HLTH 2025? Applications are now open through July 31 for the Digital Health Awards at HLTH and Women’s Health is already shaping up to be one of the most competitive and high-impact categories this year. Last year’s winners included companies like Oura, Eli Health, Aspivix, and Origin. With 12 categories spanning the digital health ecosystem, this is your opportunity to showcase your innovation, gain industry recognition, and connect with top leaders and investors. The winners will be announced October 20th at HLTH 2025 in Las Vegas. ➡️ Apply here for the awards.
Calling all U.S.-based early-stage female founders. Fierce Foundry is hosting a high-impact, 5-week Investment Readiness Bootcamp designed to help you prepare for your first institutional raise in the next 6–18 months. Work closely with fundraising experts, financial strategists, brand builders, and active investors to sharpen your pitch, financials, and growth plan. Only 10 spots available and they are filling up already! Applications are open now through August 22, so apply now to secure yours. ➡️ Apply here for the bootcamp.
✅ Jobs
📌 CANADA: International Sales and Business Development Lead, Granville Biomedical
📌 UK: Corporate Partnerships Manager, Coppa Feel
📌 U.S: Vice President, Member Acquisition and Enrollment, Cayaba Care
📌 U.S: Marketing Coordinator, Teal Health
📌 U.S: Senior Social Media Manager, Maven
📌 U.S: Machine Learning Data Scientist, Women’s Health, Oura
That’s all for this week! See you next time. If you’ve missed any previous newsletter issues catch them all at futurefemhealth.com and do make sure to follow us on LinkedIn.
PS. Before you go: would you like to sponsor the newsletter and reach our audience? I’m now booking slots for September 2025 onwards. For more info and a copy of our media pack drop me a line: anna@futurefemhealth.com