💌 Issue 104: Flo Health to face jury trial | Everlywell settles $5m privacy lawsuit | Samphire Neuroscience raises $5m | 'Biology-based productivity'
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health innovation and FemTech news
Hello and welcome to issue #104 of FutureFemHealth (w/c June 2 2025).
🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:
⚖️ Flo Health to face jury trial over alleged mishandling of sensitive health data
💰 Everlywell and Natalist settle $5 Million privacy lawsuit over data sharing
🏠 Samphire Neuroscience raises $5 million seed round for wearable women's health neurotech
📱 New app Phase launches to reshape productivity for women
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
📌 Femtech faces fresh legal scrutiny over data sharing
There’s now a long history of sensitive data being inappropriately shared or sold in women’s health.
And sadly, when trust is broken by a few, everyone working in this space feels the impact - reputationally, legally and commercially.
This week, I’m sharing updates on two developments that are important reads for anyone building in this space.
The key takeaway? Data privacy needs to be baked into your values, your product, your marketing - and above all, your relationship with users.
Because that ‘harmless’ tracking pixel helping your marketing? Not so harmless.
Flo Health to face jury trial over alleged mishandling of sensitive health data
First up, Flo Health, the world’s most downloaded period tracking app, will face a jury trial over claims it shared sensitive health data with third parties. You can read the full story here.
While the underlying allegations aren’t ‘new’ (Flo Health reached a settlement with the FTC way back in 2021 and has put in a lot of effort since then to repair trust), what is new here is that a class action is now heading to trial and a jury will decide whether Flo Health did enough to protect users’ data and communicate clearly.
Flo Health ‘firmly deny all allegations.’
Everlywell and Natalist settle $5 million privacy lawsuit over data sharing
Next, Everlywell and its subsidiary, the reproductive health brand Natalist, have agreed to a $5 million settlement after claims they shared user data with platforms like Meta and Google without proper consent. Central to this is that data was info about purchases of STI and fertility tests. You can read our full story here.
What’s striking here is that while most of the data privacy scrutiny in the last decade has been on period tracking apps, the Everlywell/Natalist case shows that ecommerce can be just as exposed - especially when tracking pixels and health data mix. Coincidentally in March this year, Natalist quietly shut down its direct-to-consumer online shop — a move that has not been publicly linked to the lawsuit.
For the record, Everlywell did not respond to my request for comment.
*Please note this article was edited on 5 June to include a response provided by Flo Health - the full comment provided by Flo Health is included in the article here.
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 UK: Samphire Neuroscience raises $5 million seed round for wearable women's health neurotech. Samphire’s flagship product Nettle™, is the first Class IIa CE-certified neuromodulation device specifically designed to treat menstrual-related mental and physical symptoms. It’s a safe, drug-free and hormone free wearable that’s already sold out twice in pre-launch across Europe and the UK. This funding round, co-led by Fortify Ventures and Inventure will support expanded distribution, clinical partnerships and research, and expansion into the US. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
🌟 Industry news from this week
📌 UK: 'Working with, not against': new app Phase launches to reshape productivity for women. After founder Maggie McDaris experienced her own career burnout, she created a tool to help women manage their work and schedules in line with the changing strengths of their menstrual cycle. Integrating with workplace tools such as Google Calendar, Office 365 and Chrome, the app - which has launched this week on iOS - provides insights to guide better ways of working and ‘biology-based productivity’. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 U.S: Women’s telehealth company Wisp expands into diagnostics with at-home STI testing. Already serving more than 1.5 million customers across the country, the new Wisp At-Home Testing & Follow-Up Care service will provide patients with at-home test kits for various health conditions, enabling them to collect samples and receive results without needing to visit a clinic in person. The expansion begins with at-home STI testing which will also include a free consultation to plan follow-up care. At-home kits for hormonal health and in-home blood draw services will follow later this year as Wisp aims to be a one-stop shop for women’s sexual and reproductive health needs. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 U.S: HerMD launches specialized virtual care platform. Founder Dr Somi Javaid is back at the helm of HerMD this week as the women’s health company debuts its new virtual care platform focused on menopause and sexual health. The relaunch follows HerMD’s decision to close all its physical locations in March this year, before announcing a return as a virtual-only platform. (Continue reading: Hit consultant)
📌 U.S: Evvy enters supplement market with 3-in-1 probiotic backed by clinical data. Evvy is best known for its at-home vaginal microbiome test. Last year it added prescriptions. And now it adds supplements to its offering too. “At Evvy, our research across over 50,000 women has shown just how deeply interconnected the gut, urinary, and vaginal microbiomes are — yet most products continue to treat them in isolation,” said Pita Navarro, Co-founder and Chief Science Officer. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 UK: Clementine and Bodyform partner to address sleep disruption linked to menstrual health. A 2024 survey by Bodyform found that 80% of women+ report sleep disturbances linked to their menstrual cycle, with common causes including pain, anxiety and mood changes. This partnership sees four dedicated hypnotherapy sessions added to mental wellness app Clementine, tailored to address different phases of hormonal change, from PMS to perimenopause. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 UK: Toxic pesticide levels found in tampons. There’s renewed calls for more regulation in menstrual care as new research finds that some supermarket tampons contain toxic pesticide levels 40 times higher than the legal limit for drinking water. It is thought that traces of glyphosate – a pesticide classified by the WHO as "probably carcinogenic" – made their way into tampons because weedkillers are used to grow cotton. As with previous studies which found heavy metals in tampons, it’s not known how much of the pesticide might be absorbed into the body. (Continue reading: The Guardian)
🩸 Research and women’s health news
📌 U.S: Menopause drug may help prevent invasive breast cancer, clinical trial finds. A drug already approved by the FDA to treat menopause symptoms may also help prevent invasive breast cancer, according to new findings from a multi-center phase 2 clinical trial led by Northwestern Medicine. Unlike other breast cancer prevention drugs, which can cause difficult side effects and lead patients to say no to continuing medication, Duavee was well tolerated by trial participants. A larger study with longer term follow-up will be the next step for the research. (Continue reading: Northwestern)
📆 Save the date
Reimagining women’s healthcare together: a discussion and workshop: London (London Bridge), Friday 13 June, 6-8pm
Ever been told your fatigue is “probably just stress”? Or that your painful periods are nothing to worry about? If navigating your health has felt anything but straightforward, you’re not alone.
Join women’s health start-up NEXUS in London next week in collaboration with non-profit Hormonally for a space dedicated to a discussion on health journeys.
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.
