Issue 51: FemTech sustainability | $60m for Midi Health | Clue X Apryl Fertility | Wonder Woman Collective
Issue 51: FemTech sustainability | $60m for Midi Health | Clue X Apryl Fertility | Wonder Woman Collective
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health and FemTech news
Hello and welcome to issue #51 of FutureFemHealth, here to bring you your weekly news about women’s health innovation and FemTech (w/c 29 April 2024).
🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:
🌎 How sustainable is FemTech?
📈 Midi Health lands $60m for menopause
👩🏽💻 Clue app in the workplace via Apryl Fertility
🔥 ’The Wonder Woman Collective’ launches
Got news to share from the world of FemTech and women’s health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
📌 How sustainable is the FemTech sector?
From eco-friendly menstrual products to recyclable pregnancy tests, recent innovation in women’s health has transformed the sustainability of many day-to-day products.
But how sustainable is the FemTech sector overall?
A new report from the Sustainable FemTech Network surveyed 108 founders and professionals worldwide on this topic. It found that while there is a definite commitment to sustainability, nearly three-quarters (72.2%) think improvements are needed to make the industry even more sustainable.
And as founders do their best to be sustainable, significant barriers mean it can be hard to do more: a lack of funding, high costs, and a lack of expertise were all cited in the report.
But these issues will need to be addressed. Customer demand (and increasingly investor demand) coupled with founders’ own values mean that sustainability is intertwined with the future of FemTech.
So while this report provides lots of optimism for the future impact of FemTech, it also leaves a question - how sustainable is FemTech sustainability without more outside support?
Find out more and download the report here.
🏆 Virtual menopause clinic Midi Health raises $60m in Series B funding - what’s the significance for women’s health?
In the USA just 1 in 5 OB/GYNs and even fewer primary care physicians receive specialised menopause education or training.
In that context it’s no surprise that menopause specialist clinics - both virtual and bricks and mortar - are flourishing.
Midi Health, founded just three years ago in 2021, now bills itself as the ‘fastest-growing virtual clinic focused on perimenopause and menopause’.
In just the last year alone the company has cared for tens of thousands of patients, expanded to all 50 states, added Fortune 100 employers offering Midi as a workplace benefit, and launched partnerships with major healthcare systems such as Memorial Hermann and benefits platforms such as Progyny and Cleo.
"We started Midi with just one specific focus: helping women access world-class, expert perimenopause and menopause care, covered by insurance, and we have been at the forefront of delivering on that promise," said Joanna Strober, CEO and Co-founder of Midi Health.
In the last week, Midi Health has announced a whopping $60m Series B funding round.
Although not the highest raise on record (that stays with Kindbody’s $191.2m), it well exceeds the average $10.4m raise per women’s health company seen in 2023 (which was in itself a record high).
Commenting on the news, Rachel Braun Scherl, Managing Partner and Co-founder of SPARK Solutions for Growth told me:
“This fundraise which brings Midi’s total to $100MM is another important milestone in the decades long efforts to put women’s health on the map.
“The financial and societal impact of menopause on workplaces and families – is finally spreading like wildfire.”
Menopause really is spreading like wildfire. According to FemHealth Insights research 75% of start-ups focused on menopause were founded in the last five years. While Midi is one of the most recent, it follows other successful companies such as Evernow (2019), Gennev (2015) and Maven (2014) among others.
So what next for Midi?
This new funding will allow Midi to expand insurance coverage (already established nationwide), hire and upskill an additional 150 clinicians by end of year, diversify service lines, amplify the conversation around midlife women's healthcare, and scale to care for an incredible 1 million+ women per year by 2029.
Joanna continued:
“What we have also learned is that addressing the health concerns of women in midlife is more complex than simply treating hot flashes and prescribing hormone replacement therapy.
“Our goal now is to expand services and scope to continue this comprehensive, personalised care far beyond menopause."
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 US: PinkDX launches with $40m funding to develop diagnostics for gynaecological cancers. In the US, each year an estimated 1.5m women each year present with general symptoms including bloating, pelvic pain and abnormal bleeding for which the cause is not clear. While around 100,000 are ultimately diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer, PinkDX wants to develop solutions to replace invasive and painful diagnostic procedures and speed up the time to get answers. Financing was co-led by Catalio Capital Management, LP, and the Production Board. (Source: FutureFemHealth)
📌 UK: Elvie raises £9.6m in new, unannounced funding. Elvie - home of a range of breast pumps and pelvic floor trainers - is now Europe’s best funded FemTech start-up, securing $136m since 2013. There was no formal announcement for this round, instead it was described as a ‘small internal raise’ which came from existing invesotrs such as BlackRock, Octopus Ventures. (Source: Sifted)
📌 Germany/ UK: €4.8m for Ovom Care. AI could hold major promise for improving IVF outcomes. Start-up Ovom Care is aiming to take success rates up to 50% from the current average of 32% (for women under 35). It will do that through more personalisation of treatment pathways, using a combination of generative AI and computer vision. The female-founded team have just landed a seed round from investors including Alpha Intelligence Capital to take forward their vision. (Source: Sifted)
🌟 More news from this week
📌 Europe: Apryl Fertility brings Clue into the workplace. Employers don’t want to have to deal with lots and lots of health benefit providers. Workplace fertility benefits provider Apryl recognised this, teaming up with period tracking app Clue to help its members access more comprehensive cycle insights on their fertility journey. Apryl members now get discounts on Clue subscriptions. It’s a win-win for both start-ups as Apryl members get more holistic support (reducing the need for employers to go elsewhere), while Clue is able to reach a corporate employee base of users that may be new to its app. (Source: Apryl)
📌 US: Five women’s health start-ups collaborate to improve holistic outcomes. "Women deserve specialised and tailored healthcare solutions to address their unique needs - and no one company can do it all.” That’s the vision behind the ‘Wonder Woman Collective’ formed of start-ups Paloma Health, Neura Health, LEVY Health, Seven Starling and Origin. Together they now act as a one-stop shop for conditions including migraine, PCOS and pelvic floor dysfunction. (Source: FutureFemHealth)
📌 US: Thirty Madison partners with Talkspace for mental health care for women. Thirty Madison found that 60% of its migraine patients also report anxiety and 50% report depression. Now it’s broadening access to specialist support by bringing in Talkspace therapy to its women’s health start-up Nurx and virtual migraine clinic Cove. Talkspace patients can likewise benefit from the women’s health offer and migraine support that Nurx and Cove offer. (Source: Thirty Madison)
📌 US: Women’s health company Tia restructures. While I don’t usually share job moves, co-founder Carolyn Witte’s email sent to her employees (and posted on LinkedIn) about why she’s transitioning from CEO to Chair of Tia is well worth a read. It’s a brilliantly explained acknowledgement of knowing when is the right time to move out of the CEO role to allow for the bigger growth of your company. (Source: Fierce Healthcare)
📌 Insurance refused you cover? Global insurer Tokio Marine Kiln is investigating the barriers that FemTech companies face when trying to get insured. From flat out refusal to inflated prices or unreasonable exclusions they want to hear from you so that they can raise awareness of this important issue. Complete this two-minute survey with your view by 8 May.
✅ Jobs
📌 US: Junior Content Marketing Specialist, MIM Fertility
📌 Bulgaria: Customer Care Associate, Daye
📌 Geneva: Data Scientist, Natural Cycles
That’s all for this week! If you got this far - thank you!
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