đ Issue 83: 2025 predictions | $10m for Twentyeight Health | Apricity team 'heartbroken' | FDA report on tampons
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health and FemTech news
Hi! Welcome to issue #83 of FutureFemHealth (w/c 6 January 2025). Weâre back with our first issue of 2025 after a restful few weeks with family and friends. And thereâs already so much news to catch you up on!
đ Coming up today weâve got:
đŽ 11 experts predict whatâs in store for FemTech in 2025.
đ° $10m for Twentyeight Health to expand digital-first reproductive and sexual care.
â¤ď¸ Apricity team âheartbrokenâ as the UK fertility start-up confirms closure.
â Tampons âcontinue to be safeâ says FDA in first report since *that* metals study
Got news to share from the world of FemTech and womenâs health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
âđť Now open for applicationsâŚ
The VOA Futures Fund Community Health Incubator powered by SEED SPOT is now accepting applications. This fully funded Incubator, running from May 7 to August 26, 2025, comes with $15k in non-diluted grants for each participant, with an additional $10k available for pilot programs with VOA Affiliates, and the potential of $200k in follow-on investment.
This Incubator provides business training and coaching to selected founders tackling community health disparities. Business solutions can range from age tech, apps that provide culturally sensitive medical advice, to a meal service for vulnerable populations. To be eligible for this Incubator solutions must have demonstrated traction. Both for profit and nonprofit enterprises are supported through this program.
Applications to the Community Health Incubator are now open and the final deadline to apply is March 3, 2025.
đŽ 11 experts predict whatâs in store for FemTech in 2025
Will voice AI revolutionize female health diagnostics and disrupt the at-home hormone testing market? What does âintimate longevityâ mean for the future of womenâs sexual health? And which taboos will womenâs health help to smash in 2025?
Dive into our roundup of the predictions from leading industry insiders in FemTech including Unfabled CEO Hannah Samano, Author and FemHealth Insights founder Dr Brittany Barreto, FemTech India Founder Navneet Kaur and Investor Valerie Evans.
One things for sure - innovation in womenâs health wonât be standing still.
Continue reading for all 11 predictions: FutureFemHealth
đ° Funding, deals and investment news
đ US: Twentyeight Health secures $10m Series A to expand digital-first reproductive and sexual care. Nearly half of American women seeking reproductive health services like birth control or the morning after pill face significant challenges accessing this care. Twentyeight Health is making this care more accessible and now covers 93% of American women and accepts almost every commercial insurance and Medicaid plan. This Series A was led by Seae Ventures. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
đ US: Ema, the AI platform for women's health, brings total funding to over $3m. Ema supports enterprise clients like PatientsLikeMe and Willow with AI chat functionalityâbuilt on a proprietary dataset of 10million interactions between women and physicians discussing health. This funding round, which was undisclosed, was led by Emmeline Ventures and brings to a close a round and total funding of over $3m. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
đ GLOBAL: Meet XX Combinator- the new small grant fund backing the future giants of FemTech. Now preparing for launch, in its first fund, XX Combinator will award equity-free grants of between $10,000 - $50,000 to 10-20 pre-seed and seed stage start-ups innovating in womenâs health and FemTech. Corporate organisations and angel investors are currently being invited to donate to the fund to reach its goal of $500,000. âWe see small-ticket grants as a "small-but-mighty" pivotal step to unlocking new traction and new growth in the industryâ says co-founder Lauren Walker. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
đ GLOBAL: Why VCs will bet big on womenâs health in 2024. Rather than deterring investors, this piece by Geri Stengel argues that recent challenges may have actually spurred greater interest and capital deployment into the FemTech sector. Scalable business models, significant biotech advancements and expansions of telehealth and remote care solutions are further reasons why FemTech is now an increasingly recognised market. (Continue reading: Forbes)
đ Q&A: Womenâs health funding in 2025. Foreground Capitalâs Alice Zheng describes the opportunity and exciting growth in womenâs health investment. This includes a shift away from the definition of womenâs health as purely reproductive health. (Continue reading: MobiHealth News)
đ Industry news from this week
đ UK: Apricity Fertility team âheartbrokenâ as the start-up confirms closure. Founded in 2018, Apricity Fertility was the UKâs first virtual fertility clinic and used tech and AI to maximise success while also reducing anxiety for patients thanks to a well-regarded support app. After raising an estimated $23.7m in investment during its time in operation, Apricity has confirmed in a statement that âfinancial challengesâ have led to its shuttering. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
đ US: FDA-cleared tampons continue to be âsafe optionâ says FDA. Remember that study last year by UC Berkeley and Columbia Uni that found small amounts of more than a dozen metals including lead and arsenic in 14 worldwide brands? The FDA since begun its own review, with initial results from a literature evaluation announced this week finding that thereâs no cause for concern. A second, more significant part of the review is now underway â an independent lab study to determine if metals from tampons are actually released or absorbed in the body. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
đ GLOBAL: WHOOP unlocks new womenâs health biomarker. Wearables maker WHOOP discovered links between womenâs heart rate fluctuations through the monthly and reproductive health. The insights could be an early warning system for irregularities in fertility without invasive testing. (Continue reading: Fitt Insider)
đ GLOBAL: Meta announces it will âdramatically reduce censorshipâ on Facebook and Instagram - but could health misinformation soar? Whatever the agenda behind Zuckerbergâs overhaul of Metaâs content moderation announced this week, there may be positive implications for womenâs health content which still routinely suffers from suppression on social media. Community reporting will replace the routine use of content filters, which Meta admits currently make too many mistakes. However, Meta has also confirmed that fact-checkingâwhich is vital for minimising misinformationâwill also end. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
đ GLOBAL: 25 facts about the gender health gap for 2025. A handy cheat sheet next time someone dares to ask âso is the gender health gap still a thing?â (Continue reading: Forbes)
đ US: This founder is combating medical gaslighting in womenâs health. For women, the complexity of the healthcare system is often compounded by medical gaslightingâa phenomenon where healthcare professionals trivialize or misinterpret patient complaints. Enter independent patient advocates such as Nicoletta Sozansky of Healthcare Redefined, who provide a âconcierge serviceâ to help navigate through the misinformation, lack of support and financial strain. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
đ US: This stick tests your hormones using your phone and saliva. The âHormometerâ is an at-home test that lets you measure cortisol and progesterone levels. Whatâs. more, the Eli Health tests donât require users to mail in samples - instead results are available via a phone app. Beta access begins this month in the US and Canada. (Continue reading: The Verge)
𩸠Research and womenâs health news
đ GLOBAL: The recommended womenâs health screening that rarely happens. Nearly every global society governing womenâs health recommends screening adult women for incontinence. But it seldom happens. However, with 62% of adult women in the US living with bladder and/or bowel leaks, there needs to be improved screening for this treatable disorder. Not least because untreated incontinence is associated with profoundly negative health consequences that impact womenâs social, financial, physical, and emotional well-being. (Continue reading: Stat News)
đ US: Study reveals permanent contraception use increased in US young adults following Dobbs. Many survey respondents in the study by Milken Institute School of Public Health mentioned they were seeking permanent contraception because of concerns about losing abortion access or bodily autonomy. (Continue reaading: Contemporary Obgyn)
đ Save the date
SiS New York 2025: May 14-16, 2025 | Scaling Innovation in Womenâs Health
Join SiS this May for the unmissable event in women's health. Explore valuable case studies, tackle growth challenges, and connect with industry-shaping innovators, investors, and multinationals. Featuring top speakers and pre-scheduled meetings, get the actionable insights you need to succeed.
Check out the full agenda today!
Thatâs all for this week. If youâve 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 support FutureFemHealth through sponsorship and get your brand in front of nearly 8,000 professionals, founders and investors in womenâs health? Iâm taking bookings from February onwards. For more info and a copy of our media pack drop me a line: anna@futurefemhealth.com
I love your newsletters and look forward to your updates every week! Also, this year we have big plans at Wisdom Medicine, would love to share our updates with you.