Issue 25: $20m for Pollin Fertility | Talking heart health | Menopause AI | Clue co-CEO departs
Issue 25: $20m for Pollin Fertility | Talking heart health | Menopause AI | Clue co-CEO departs
+ more in your weekly round-up of FemTech news and women's health innovation
Hi! Welcome to issue #25 of FutureFemHealth, here to bring you your weekly news about women’s health innovation and FemTech (w/c 9 October 2023).
🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:
❤️ We need to talk about heart health
💰 $20m for Pollin Fertility
👩🏽💻 Behind the scenes of the menopause AI test
🌎 Clue’s co-CEO announces departure
🔥 FemTech business advice - from a VC
Got news to share from the world of FemTech and women’s health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
Why don’t we talk more about heart health?
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the US and one of the top causes of death here in the UK.
Women in America die from heart attacks at twice the rate of men.
It’s an issue that epitomises the gender health gap:
Women who visit emergency rooms in the US with heart attack symptoms wait 29% longer than men.
Women who go to the doctors with symptoms are twice as likely as men to be sent home without treatment - and to be misdiagnosed with mental health problems.
Doctor’s lack training on women’s heart health.
Women’s heart health suffers from a lack of research and investment.
Enough of the stats, I think you get the picture.
No wonder then, cardiovascular disease has been chosen as the theme of this year’s World Menopause Day (coming up next Wednesday 18 October).
Midlife is a great time to reflect and review on our lifestyles, especially because there is evidence that post-menopausal women lose the protective effect of the hormone oestrogen on their heart health.
Professor Cynthia Stuenkel, a founding member and past President of the North American Menopause Society says:
“Cardiovascular risk represents a lifetime of choices and experiences, but menopause offers the opportunity of a single point in time to step back, take stock and do all you can toward promoting future cardiovascular health for the rest of your life.”
Quite simple lifestyle changes are beneficial for preventing heart disease - stopping smoking, reducing high blood pressure, maintaining good blood sugar levels.
But awareness of the importance of taking care of our heart health is really low.
The International Menopause Society’s white paper produced for this year’s World Menopause Day says that in 2019, versus a decade earlier, women were 74% less likely to identify heart disease as a leading cause of death.
They were also twice as likely (16.5% versus 7.9%) to identify breast cancer versus heart disease as the leading cause (when actually deaths from heart disease are 13 times the rate of breast cancer).
We just don’t talk about it enough for women to know how much of a risk heart disease poses.
The FemTech start-ups tackling women’s heart health
One FemTech start-up making a change is Cordifio, a social enterprise tackling the public awareness piece around heart health. It provides a digital health platform that empowers women to have informed conversations with their doctors and accelerate the decision-making process.
Another is Devyn Health. It too is looking at the education gap around women’s heart health. They say: “We can help you decode why [certain symptoms] matter and connect you with expert care so you can get to heart health that lasts a lifetime.
You also have Hello Heart (remember that name, we’ll come back to them later), an app to help you track and manage your heart health and get real-time tips.
And finally is Bloomer Bra - a smart bra that embeds tech into the garment and then gathers real-time data on pulse rates, breath, heart rhythms and more. Founder Alicia Chong Rodriguez has amassed nearly 2 million views on YouTube for her TED talk introducing the bra!
Yet even with these brilliant solutions we still need women to care about their heart health before they start to encounter symptoms.
We need to know more.
We’ve waited long enough for change
So we’ve covered the inequity and issues with women’s heart health. We’ve covered the health tech. But how do we now raise even more awareness and make this an issue that’s part of the mainstream narrative about health?
Enter… the women with big enough platforms to make loud noise….
Last weekend a coalition of 209 supporters co-signed an open letter published on page eight of the New York Times magazine calling for change in the US when it comes to women’s heart health.
The signatories included big names from the world of business, sports and health: Thrive Global’s Ariana Huffington, TikTok star ‘Corporate Natalie’ and sports stars including volleyball’s Asija O’Neal and the NBA’s Jermaine O’Neal.
The letter highlights the inequity surrounding women’s heart health and says that ‘the time for being a “patient” patient is over’
“We’ve read the horror stories, or experienced it ourselves. The stories of women being gaslighted in doctor’s offices. The stories of women with heart attack symptoms being told: Wait your turn. Don’t make a fuss. It’s probably just anxiety.”
The campaign, organised by healthtech start-up Hello Heart (told you that name would come up again) is now inviting anyone to sign the letter too. (You can do that here)
They highlight even more of the underpinning reasons why heart disease is still such a killer of women: the lack of funding and research; the lack of healthcare worker education; and the lack of public awareness about women’s heart disease.
So where to next?
If I’ve learnt anything from the drivers of change in the menopause narrative it’s that when celebrities and high-profile women begin to speak out and lend their voice to an issue we start to see traction in awareness and destigmatisation.
Pioneering FemTech start-ups like Cordifio, Devyn Health, Hello Heart, and Bloomer Bra are taking great strides to also bridge the awareness gap and empower women in their heart health journeys.
But, like so much of women’s health, making real change to the number of deaths from heart disease also needs change through research, funding, education and more.
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 $20m for Pollin Fertility to transform fertility care in Canada. In one of the largest investments in a Canadian fertility clinic and technology company to date, Pollin looks set to be a major player in the reproductive healthcare space. Its first flagship clinic opens in Toronto this week. Osmington Inc (a private investment firm) led the Series A round. (Source: Newswire)
📌 $34m for Diana Health to scale maternity care across US. Diana Health wants to help tackle the US maternal health crisis. It’s a network of modern women’s health practices that partner with hospitals to deliver maternity care. This Series B round was led by Norwest Venture Partners. (Source: Fierce Healthcare).
🌟 More news from this week
📌 What is FemTech and where is it going? A new report from Lek Consulting explores the landscape of FemTech. I particularly like its exploration of the drivers of change and progress in FemTech. (Source: Lek Consulting)
📌 The AI model purpose-built for women’s health. A ‘behind-the-scenes’ with doctors Nihar Ganju MD and Heather Hirsch MD as they use real questions about menopause from real patients to evaluate just how accurate their purpose-built AI model might be in providing answers. The findings have now been presented to The Menopause Society Annual Meeting. You can check out their slides too! (Source: Nihar Ganju on Medium)
📌 Clue’s co-CEO announces departure. After four years at the period tracking app, Carrie Walter leaves to spend more time with her young family. Audrey Tsang will continue as CEO. (Source: Clue website)
📌 Evelyn Health launches ‘Health Hub’. Ahead of launching their PMS supplement in 2024, new start-up Evelyn Health has launched a dedicated educational hub, to help people better understand their bodies and menstrual cycles. Content includes information on all aspects of PMS and PMDD - and all content is clinically reviewed too. (Source: Evelyn Health on LinkedIn)
📌 How digital is helping to put people in charge of their fertility. A look at how three start-ups help at each stage of the fertility journey - to diagnose issues before treatment (Hertility), use AI to support decision-making (CHLOE by Fairtility) and provide support during the treatment process (Embie app). (Source: Digital Health)
📌 The urgent need for a revolution in US healthcare: Peli Health’s Kerstin Recker Alexandre makes the case for three ways leaders in the healthcare industry can address systemic gender bias. Kerstin argues that we need more awareness that investment in women’s health benefits society and the economy; more female scientists and physicians in leadership positions; and more collaboration between healthcare organisations and innovative companies. (Source: Fast Company)
📌 Astellas launches first branded advertisement for its Veozah menopause treatment. Veozah created much discussion earlier this year when it got FDA-approval as a non-hormonal way to treat hot flushes (or flashes if you’re in the US!). Its new campaign is ‘This is a not flash’. (Source: Endpoints News)
🌟 Latest resources
Business advice for FemTech - from a VC. Gail Armstrong is founder of Lavender VC, a firm that invests specifically in FemTech start-ups. This month, Gail has published two helpful articles for founders:
🩸 Research and women’s health news
📌 We need to rethink body mass index (BMI) requirements for egg freezing and donation. A person’s weight may mean they are refused egg freezing or donation. Instead, this piece by Halle Tecco argues, we need to look at health more holistically. (Source: Halle Tecco)
That’s all for this week, thanks for reading!
Anna