Issue 42: $3.3m for Elektra Health | Football Association & female health | Jill Biden's $100m for research
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health innovation and FemTech news
Hi! Welcome to issue #42 of FutureFemHealth, here to bring you your weekly news about women’s health innovation and FemTech (w/c 26 February 2024).
🌟 Coming up today:
🔥 We’re all fired up to end CensHERship
🏆 $3.3m for Elektra Health menopause platform
⚽️ Football Association mandates female-specific health training
💰Jill Biden announces $100m for women’s health research
Got news to share from the world of FemTech and women’s health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
We’re on a mission to end CensHERship
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for our new campaign ‘CensHERship’
Launched just four weeks ago in partnership with Clio Wood of &Breathe, our campaign has now been featured in The Times (wow!!), Daily Mail, Daily Express, Glamour Magazine and more.
We revealed the shocking stats from our initial study which took in the views of more than 50 brands, medical professionals, creators and campaigners:
9 in 10 respondents have experienced censorship on social media
4 in 10 have experienced more than 10 issues in the last 12 months
Content censored includes advice on how to identify symptoms of cancer, breast exam tips, facts about menstruation and information about a period pant product.
One respondent revealed that a breast cancer awareness campaign resorted to showing a male nipple instead of a female one to avoid censorship.
Last Friday we also held a roundtable in London with representatives from Hanx, Flutter, SheSpot, Bloody Good Period, Smilemakers as well as campaigners and creators.
The roundtable uncovered even more than we expected - examples of censorship happening on email platforms too and even insurers refusing to work with sexual wellness brands.
All in all it’s left us - and those that joined us - fired up and even more passionate about ending this unnecessary barrier for women’s health and FemTech.
Likewise, the response on social media to our posts has been phenomenal and we know we’re not alone in our strength of feeling about this issue.
Want to get involved?
Share your experience through our survey or add your email address to be kept up to date.
Email me at anna@futurefemhealth.com - especially if you can help connect us to social media platforms or if you’re able to offer more hands-on help with the campaign.
Thank you!
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 US: $3.3m for Elektra Health menopause platform. Just 20% of OB/GYN residency programs offer menopause training, resulting in a care gap for those facing the physical and emotional toll of symptoms. Elektra’s platform offers evidenced-based education, care and community and 92% of study respondent say they experienced an improvement in knowledge, awareness and access to experts. Founded in 2019 by Alessandra Henderson and Jannine Versi, this investment round was led by UPMC Enterprises and brings total funding to $7.6m. (Source: Elektra)
📌 US: $2m for She Matters - the platform to support Black mothers. How do we improve Black maternal mortality rates? She Matters is dedicated to this goal and is building a symptom tracker app to help monitor for complications such as preeclampsia, eclampsia and HELLP syndrome. Latest funding will also support expansion of a ‘Cultural Competence’ certification program for health providers. The good news is that medical schools and hospitals nationally are already adopting the program. This latest investment includes backing from the American Heart Association and brings total funding to $3.5m. (Source: Black Enterprise)
📌 UK: £1.8m for Samphire Neuroscience - the wearable for period pain. A third of women can’t peform regular daily activities due to menstrual symptoms. Samphire’s flagship product is ‘Nettle’ a headband using low-current electrical pulses to target areas of the brain responsible for pain and mood regulation. Funding from firms including SOSV. (Source: UK Tech News)
📌 US: $2m for Ema, conversational AI for women’s health. Ema is founded on the principle that women’s health deserves personalised, empathetic and evidence-based support. Its AI assistant is trained by licensed health professional and can handle a range of health, mental health and parenting issues. Funding from firms such as Kubera Ventures will help with expansion, especially in the employee benefits space. (Source: EI News)
🌟 More news from this week
📌 UK: Football Association mandates female-specific health training. Women’s sport needs to work hand-in-hand with the latest female health research - the havoc caused by ACL injuries during the World Cup is a testament to that. Now, the FA has become the first national governing body to mandate training on female health, with Women’s Super League and Championship clubs set to benefit from a new league-wide support plan. Partnering with The Well HQ on the initiative, there will be new courses and best practice guidelines on pregnancy, the menstrual cycle and pelvic health (Source: The Athletic)
📌 UK: 7 things I learnt running a startup pregnant. The Lowdown’s Alice Pelton shares her experience running a fast-growing health platform. ‘Don’t expect your life to change when the baby arrives, for me it completely changed the day I found out I was pregnant’ (Source: Alice Pelton on Substack)
🌟 Latest resources
📌 Highly recommended: How to get press coverage for you or your brand. Want to discover the secrets to successfully cold pitching news stories and press releases to journalists? The brilliant and award-winning journalist Rosie Taylor (who wrote all about the CensHERship campaign) is running a couple of webinars to help explain how. Rosie specialises in health and consumer affairs too. Recordings are available if you can’t watch live - and tickets are just £15 (usually £45). Find out more
📄 Govt & policy news
📌 US: $100m in federal funding announced for research and development into women’s health. Remember the White House Initiative on women’s health research announced late last year? Momentum is building as Jill Biden has announced the first major deliverable from that work - and it’s a big one. “We will build a healthcare system that puts women and their lived experiences at its centre,” she said. (Source: arpa-h.gov)
📌 UK: Employers must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for women going through menopause. 10% of women have left their jobs due to the symptoms of menopause. New guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) now says that menopause may be considered a disability and that employers have a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments. However, some have cautioned that classing menopause as ‘disability discrimination’ is not accurate for what is a natural phase of life and might put employers off hiring women in midlife. (Source: The Guardian)
📌 UK: Government launches baby loss certificate scheme. Many people affected by early pregnancy loss can feel like their experience is discounted or minimised because there’s nothing to show for it. Now, for the first time, those who’ve lost a baby before 24 weeks’ gestation can apply to receive a certificate acknowledging - and validating - their lost baby. (Source: gov.uk)
✅ Jobs
📌 US: Director of Product for Nurx, Thirty Madison’s women’s health brand (Remote)
📌 UK: Content creator, Hertility (remote)
📌 UK: Customer care specialist (weekends & mondays) (remote)
📌 US: Lead Product Manager, Him & Hers (remote)
📌 UK: Marketing intern (paid), Unfabled (London)
That’s all for this week! See you next time,
Anna