💌 Issue 97: Cofertility raises $7.25m for zero-cost egg freezing | Singapore's Moom Health raises $2.7m | Tackling egg quality | Pouch Health's new app
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health innovation and FemTech news
Hello and welcome to issue #97 of FutureFemHealth (w/c April 14 2025).
🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:
❤️ Cofertility raises $7.25M to expand zero-cost egg freezing model
💊 Singapore’s Moom Health raises $2.7m for women’s health supplements
🔥 New research partnership to tackle egg quality and infertility
🤰🏼 Pouch Health launches app to end the fragmented pregnancy care experience
Got news to share with our 8,000 global readers who are working in women’s health and FemTech? Or would you like to sponsor the newsletter and reach our audience? Reply to this email or let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 U.S: Cofertility raises $7.25m to expand zero-cost egg freezing model. Fertility care remains financially out of reach for many - especially egg freezing. Cofertility has led the way since being founded in 2021 with its alternative model: women freeze their eggs for free by donating half to those in need, tackling both cost and the lack of donor diversity. Now with $7.25M in Series A funding (bringing its total to $16M), the company plans to scale its Split program, grow its team, expand provider partnerships, and invest in advocacy efforts like the Level the Playing Field campaign with Maria Sharapova. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 SINGAPORE: Moom Health raises SGP$3.5m ($2.7m USD) for women’s health supplements. Despite a booming global wellness market, many supplements aren’t personalized to the specific needs of Asian women. Regional based Moom Health is addressing this gap. Founded in 2021 it has quickly expanded through Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. New funding will support product innovation, supply chain strengthening and market expansion. This pre-Series A round was led by Wipro Consumer Care Ventures. (Continue reading: Business Times)
🌟 Industry news from this week
📌 UK: Tackling egg quality and infertility - Care Fertility and U-Ploid Biotechnologies launch new research. As more people delay parenthood, age-related infertility is becoming one of the biggest challenges in reproductive health. One key factor at the heart of this? Egg quality - which could be described as the ‘holy grail’ of fertility science. Now, Care Fertility is partnering with biotech startup U-Ploid to investigate how egg quality declines with age. The collaboration is in early preclinical stages, but aims to unlock new understanding of the cellular and molecular changes that drive infertility - and importantly could lay the groundwork for future novel therapies. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 UK: Pouch Health launches pregnancy app to tackle fragmented care journey. The pregnancy experience often involves lots of health information scattered across emails, printouts, patient portals, and the patient’s own memory. Pouch Health, which emerged from the team’s hands-on experience at the London Pregnancy Clinic, aims to bring everything together into a secure, user-friendly single space. Initially aimed at individuals and private clinics, the app has also set its sights on broader NHS integration over time. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 EUROPE: Womed’s fertility-preserving innovation expands across 14 countries. Intrauterine adhesions (IUAs) - scar tissue that forms inside the uterus after procedures like D&Cs or fibroid removals - affect up to 45% of such cases, which can lead to infertility or chronic pain. Addressing this overlooked issue, French medtech company Womed has developed the Womed Leaf®, a soft, dissolvable barrier inserted post-procedure to prevent uterine walls from sticking together. Following successful clinical trials, the device is now set to roll out across 14 European countries through partnerships with Kebomed Europe and Saesco Medical - a crucial first step in a global rollout and ambition to be the gold standard in intrauterine adhesion prevention. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 CANADA: Femtech Canada and Sun Life partner to accelerate women’s health innovation. Since launching in January 2024, Femtech Canada has grown into a network of 160+ companies that have commercialized 110 years of research, created 1,260+ jobs, and attracted over $250M in private investment. Now, with support from Sun Life, it’s set to scale further in a global market projected to surpass $130B by 2034. The partnership will offer mentorship, business support, and access to networks to help femtech founders in Canada navigate barriers like limited funding, ad restrictions, and talent shortages. (Continue reading: FemTech Canada)
📌 U.S: World’s first baby born by IVF done almost entirely by a machine. A baby has been born after being conceived via IVF performed by a machine, with a medical professional overseeing the process. Behind the innovation is biotech company Conceivable Life Sciences which secured an $18m Series A back in January. Larger studies are now needed to establish if this can lead to higher birth rates. And for now, automated IVF is still unlikely to be widely used due to the high costs. (Continue reading: New Scientist)
📌 AUSTRALIA: A startup space where women’s representation is growing: digital health. The gender gap in startups is huge - both in terms of companies founded and the amount of investment secured. But one space is bucking the trend in Australia: digital health. There, a total of 44% of digital health companies are founded by women, compared to 27% across the general startup space. (Continue reading: Womens Agenda)
📌 SOUTHEAST ASIA: FemTech market map now live. Interested in the startup space in Asia? This new guide from FemTech Association Asia outlines the growth, diversification and innovation happening in the region. (Continue reading: via Lindsay Davis on LinkedIn)
🩸 Research and women’s health news
📌 GLOBAL: An ‘unfinished agenda’: Maternal deaths fell 40% globally, as aid cuts threaten progress. A mixed picture as new data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that since the year 2000 maternal mortality has declined by 40% - although it’s still well behind the global target to reach just 71 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. Experts now call for fewer cuts to international aid by countries including the UK and US, and more sustained investment in maternal healthcare to prevent these avoidable deaths and continue much-needed progress. (Continue reading: Healio)
📌 U.S: Value-based care gains traction in maternal health. With still-high maternal mortality rates and OB-GYNs facing burnout, value-based care is emerging as a promising solution in the U.S. The model - which is already used in other areas of healthcare - pays for healthier outcomes rather than the number of appointments or procedures. It aims to improve patient outcomes, reduce unnecessary interventions, and provide fair compensation for providers. But making the switch isn’t simple - many clinics don’t have the systems or funding to adopt it, and the U.S. healthcare system is highly fragmented. Still, early adopters report enhanced patient satisfaction, better health outcomes, and more sustainable practice models. (Continue reading: Medical Economics)
📌 Spain: New study reveals high prevalence of menstrual discomfort among women in Spain. The gender pain gap is truly global. In this example it’s Spain, where despite 71% of women experiencing regular menstrual discomfort, 1 in 5 have never seen a gynecologist - and fewer than half have annual visits. Published in Frontiers in Public Health, the study highlights symptoms like pain, bloating, and heavy bleeding, and lack of care delays diagnoses like endometriosis. Researchers are calling for better medical training, awareness campaigns, and structural reforms. (Continue reading: News Medical)
📄 Govt & policy news
📌 U.S: Menopause care gains momentum in state legislatures. There’s growing recognition of the challenges women face during menopause, with over 20 bills introduced across at least 13 U. S states so far in 2025 to enhance menopause care. They aim to improve access to affordable treatments, bolster workplace support, and increase medical training for healthcare providers. (Continue reading: Axios)
📌 U.S: How DOGE cuts will change women’s health. The Trump administration has terminated 1,700+ public health research grants and issued mass HHS layoffs - moves that experts say will severely impact women’s health. Among the losses: a major maternal health equity project in New York, shut down without warning. With U.S. maternal mortality already the highest in the developed world, researchers warn this setback will stall life-saving progress. (Continue reading: Politico)
🎧 This week’s FemTech Focus podcast
Law, AI, and Endometriosis with Akifa Khattak, co-founder of Her Health AI.
In this episode, Dr Brittany Barreto speaks with the brilliant and multi-talented Akifa Khattak - healthcare attorney, biotech expert, policy advocate, and Miss North Orlando 2025. After facing a rare and severe case of endometriosis—including three surgeries, medical menopause, and fertility preservation - Akifa co-founded Her Health AI, a femtech company using AI to revolutionize endometriosis diagnostics.
The episode dives into:
🤖 How AI is being trained to map endometriosis non-invasively
📜 The ethical, privacy, and regulatory issues at play
🌎 Why Brazil is ahead in personalized endo care
🏛 Akifa’s advocacy for the Find It Early Act + ADA accommodations
📊 How your data and story can drive meaningful innovation
🎧 Tune in for an empowering conversation that blends personal strength with technological possibility. Find FemTech Focus on your favourite streaming platform or watch on YouTube.
✅ Jobs
📌 U.S: Head of Engineering, Evvy
📌 CANADA: Strategic Account Manager, Somedays
📌 UK: Social Media Officer, Bliss (charity)
📌 UK: Operations Associate - Menopause Care, Manual
📌 UK: Brand Manager (OTC Consumer Healthcare), Maxwellia
📌 UK: Digital Communications Officer, Wellbeing of Women
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.
