Issue 57: Elvie's new app | Movano & MIT study | What will a new UK Government do for women's health?
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health innovation and FemTech news
Hello and welcome to issue #57 of FutureFemHealth, here to bring you your weekly news about women’s health innovation and FemTech (w/c 17 June 2024).
It’s been a notably quiet week for funding news in women’s health - although after the last six weeks in which we saw well over $200m+ invested into Natural Cycles ($55m), May Health ($25m) Midi Health ($60m) and Amber Therapeutics ($100m) among others, perhaps that’s to be expected!
🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:
❤️ Initiatives bridging the VC funding gap for female founders
✅ Elvie releases a free pelvic health training app
👩🏽💻 Movano’s Evie smart ring selected for MIT study
📈 UK election manifesto special - what do the major parties promise on women’s health?
Got news to share from the world of FemTech and women’s health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
❤️ These initiatives are bridging the VC funding gap
There are emerging efforts to bridge the venture capital funding gap, where in the EU still just 1.8% of VC funding goes to female-founded companies.
In Greece, the situation is even more pressing. Currently 0% of VC funding goes to businesses solely founded by women.
And that was the driving force behind Blossom Ventures/Syndicates - a newly-launched female angel investors club.
Founder Maria Koletsou wants to encourage more Greek women into angel investing (in Greece 90% are male). Blossom consolidates these smaller investments into a single entry on a cap table, focused on scale-up ventures across Europe and the UK.
“While the usual narrative focuses on empowering female ventures, we prefer to highlight the untapped opportunities that result from this oversight,” Maria told FutureFemHealth.
Blossom’s first investment is in UK-based supplement start-up The Better Menopause, led by nutritional therapist Joanna Lyall. (You can read the full story of Blossom Ventures and The Better Menopause here).
Over in the US, another example of bridging the gap I’ve seen this week comes Nurse Capital and its inaugural Nurse Founders Fund.
It’s a super-targeted VC firm that invests purely in nurse-led enterprises providing solutions in healthcare.
And considering 90% of nurses are female, that’s another positive proofpoint of an intentional focus on getting capital into the hands of women.
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 No other investment news to share this week!
🌟 News in brief
📌 Elvie releases new pelvic health app - and it’s free to use. FemTech leader Elvie already offers a pelvic floor training device as part of its portfolio. But with 60% of UK women reporting at least one symptom of poor pelvic health, and the topic finally getting destigmatised and talked about more openly, support needs to be as accessible as possible. Elvie’s brand new free app ‘Elvie Strong’ provides training, tracking and educational resources. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 Movano’s Evie ring selected for MIT study. A ‘vote of confidence’ for the data set and capabilities of Movano’s female-focused Evie smart ring in a new partnership with The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Evie’s continuous health monitoring will inform a study on Long Covid and chronic Lyme disease, all aimed at unlocking one important question: who is likely to develop chronic symptoms after infection and why? (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 OURA ring users no longer mostly men. Oura’s intentional focus on adding female-focused features to its smart ring is paying off. Up until a year ago Oura ring was primarily used by males. But, after adding extras such as cycle insights and pregnancy insights - its member demographics have shifted to 59% female. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
🩸 Research and women’s health news
📌 Lifestyle makes a difference when it comes to brain health. A phase 2 clinical trial has shown that intensive lifestyle interventions without drugs may significantly improve cognition and function in many patients with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. Think whole food diet, very regular exercise and stress management. While larger-scale studies are needed, the researchers have said they are ‘cautiously optimistic’ and encourage patients to make these changes which ‘don’t cost anything.’ (Continue reading: MedPageToday)
📌 CHINA: Could a malaria drug treat PCOS? A small preliminary study in China found the drug - artesmisinin - improved hormone levels and regulated menstrual cycles. Since the drug is already known to be safe for malaria, it could quickly be turned into a new treatment for PCOS if full randomised trials are a success. (Continue reading: New Scientist)
📌 UK: Why are women’s careers still derailed by the menopause penalty? All signs point to something being fundamentally wrong with the knowledge, availability and accessibility of menopause treatments. And combined with employer inactivity towards supporting menopausal women, this has resulted in the ‘menopause penalty’. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📄 Govt & policy news
📌 UK: ”Never again will women’s health be neglected” - Labour’s bold promise in its election manifesto. With less than three weeks to go until the UK election, I’ve analysed the manifestos of the main political parties to see what we can expect from a new Government when it comes to their promises on women’s health. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 JAPAN: Government calls on companies to consider women’s health. Menstrual health issues, endometriosis and menopause all affect women during the peak of their careers. Now a new white paper from the Japanese Government has said women need support to build their career without reluctantly leaving their jobs. (Continue reading: Japan Times)
That’s all for this week! If you have found this week’s issue valuable and want to support our continued work the best way you can do that is by becoming a paid subscriber (it’s just £50/year or £5/month). You can use the link below to manage your subscription.
See you next time,
Anna