Issue 36: Movano's Evie out for delivery | Funding for Vi menopause | Vivoo's at-home UTI test
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health innovation and FemTech news
Hi and welcome to issue #36 of FutureFemHealth, here to bring you your weekly news about women’s health innovation and FemTech (w/c 15 January 2024).
After two huge events over the last week (JPM Healthcare Conference and CES) there’s been a raft of new launches and announcements (particularly wearables) to share. And while women’s health seems to have featured more at these events than in previous years, there’s still room to make these events more inclusive (JPM, we’re looking at you).
🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:
💍 Evie’s finally here - the smart ring designed for women
🛑 Dutch-based Vi secures funding for its menopause platform for working women
🚽 Vivoo launches at-home UTI test
📈 Flo Health contributes groundbreaking research on stress and pain
Got news to share from the world of FemTech and women’s health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
⚡️But first…
Two quick newsflashes to share:
📈 Ultraviolet, the only trend forecaster in FemTech, has just announced that its trend reports are now completely FREE to download on its website. Take a look at the goldmine of insights right here.
📅 Applications for The FemTech Lab spring accelerator close soon! The deadline of 28 Jan is fast-approaching for a chance to be part of the next cohort of start-ups. Apply here.
💍 Evie’s finally here - the smart ring designed for women
After two years of development, Movano Health’s long-awaited Evie smart ring is finally ready for delivery this month.
First announced in 2022, the Evie ring is different because it’s the first ‘women-focused health ring’, thanks to its female-centred design and functionality.
This includes features such as a small gap in the ring to allow for daily fluctuations if your finger swells, and measurement sensors that are specially optimised to female finger size and variations in blood flow.
The wearable, which will track wearer’s sleep, menstrual cycles, activity, mood, respiration and heart rate and more, is also set to be medical-grade - on the basis that it has filed for FDA clearance as a medical device on its pulse oximeter.
If cleared, that is just one aspect that may give Evie the edge over its competitors, such as the Oura ring. In the last year in particular, Oura itself has worked hard for the female consumer demographic - partnering with Natural Cycles (itself FDA cleared) last year for birth control.
It’s positive signs for Movano though. The Evie Ring has already secured $1million in advance sales in its Black Friday pre-order sales alone. And it has been one of the standouts at CES receiving an innovation award.
Evie’s launch comes as part of a growth in smart ring popularity, as consumers look to downsize from smartwatches. Movano has picked the perfect time to launch, as some analysts say 2024 could be ‘the year of the smart ring.’
John Mastrototaro, CEO of Movano Health said:
"The Evie Ring is much more than a fitness tracker. It's essentially a health coach with medical-grade functionality, from the sensors we use to collect vital sign data to the fact that it's built in a medical device manufacturing facility that meets FDA standards."
"Add the focus on the nuances of women's physiology, and it's truly a game changer in the wearable space."
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 THE NETHERLANDS: Funding for Vi - the start-up supporting working women through menopause. There are 1.8m working women in the Netherlands - and up to 90% say they don’t know where to go for support. In the workplace, it’s estimated just 2% of employers in The Netherlands have menopause policies in place. This was the opportunity that Rotterdam-based Vi identified. It has built an app to connect women with symptom information and qualified experts. The start-up was founded by Marleen ten Damme in August 2023 and backed by NN Ventures, a corporate venture builder. Owners the NN Group are now investing in Vi (amount undisclosed) and taking a minority stake as co-founder. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
🌟 More news from this week
📌 US: Vivoo launches at-home UTI test. Vivoo’s at-home test uses your phone camera to analyse the colour of your urine test strips to then give advice about possible UTIs in a free app. UTIs affect 150m people globally each year, and in the US 60% of sufferers are women. Announced during CES, Vivoo is well placed to scale this launch - with an existing portfolio of at-home tests, an established partnership with Target and a global distribution network. (Source: Tech Crunch)
📌 US: Amira launches AI-powered wearable cooling device for menopause. ‘The Terra System’ includes a wearable bracelet to predict hot flushes before they occur and a cooling mattress pad to help mitigate the flush. Launched at CES, it’s available from March. (Source: MedCityNews)
📌 Garmin unveils a heart rate monitor for women. Handily clipping directly onto the bottom band of a sports bra, the HRM-Fit spares the need for a chest strap and is therefore a first-of-its kind monitor designed specifically for women. (Source: Garmin)
📌 Garmin updates its Lily smartwatch. The new Lily 2, with features specifically designed for women, was - you guessed it - unveiled at CES. While the Lily 2 adds more sports profiles, this new version is more about an aesthetic update than additional functionality. (Source: Toms guide)
📌 INDIA: The story of Papaya. Co-founder Shagun Maheshwari tells her five-year journey from mechanical engineer to creating a plastic-free, compostable menstrual pad. (Source: FemTech India)
📌 IRELAND: First winners of femtech innovation call announced. Ireland has a burgeoning femtech scene. Health Innovation Hub Ireland wants to support growth, and has now selected the first 11 start-ups working on menopause, fertility and bladder health to help develop their products. (Source: Irish Times)
🩸 Research and women’s health news
📌 Flo Health contributes groundbreaking research about stress and pain. Nature Portfolio Journal has published Flo Health’s study into the effects of acute stress on pain perception among females during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. With women’s stress and pain historically dismissed, and previous research of this kind only studied in a lab setting, Flo Health is the first to unravel this issue in a real-world setting thanks to women using Flo. (Source: Flo Health)
📌 Hologic launches its 3rd annual global women’s health index. See how women’s health measures up around the world, featuring 147,000 women and men from 143 countries. As well as the index, just one of the shocking findings is that nearly a billion women say they spent a lot of the previous day in physical pain. (Continue reading: Hologic)
📌 Why we need to invest in healthcare to see women’s sports flourish. Women’s sport is now seen as one of the hottest value investment opportunities, but to take it to the next level needs investment in women’s health research. Assia Grazioli-Venier, a co-founding partner at Muse Capital (which has invested in Midi Health, Eli Health and Cofertility among others), says that there is now both a societal and commercial dependence linking the women’s health and sports markets. An excellent read. (Source: Sports Business Journal)
📌 Breaking the menstruation taboo to make fieldwork more inclusive. Students are missing out on field trips because of the lack of an open conversation about how to manage periods in challenging field conditions. Some smart but simple recommendations for breaking down the taboo. (Source: Nature)
📌 Huge rise in women drinking themselves to death. There’s been a surge in alcohol-related deaths - 37% in five years - particularly from liver disease. (Source: The independent)
📌 WHAM has a new president. The non-profit Women’s Health Access Matters, established in the US in 2019 to lead innovations in women’s health research, has appointed Dr Lori Frank as its new President. (Source: WHAM)
📄 Govt & policy news
📌 CANADA: At-home tests for cervical cancer screening launched. British Columbia is aiming to eliminate cervical cancer in the province with the launch of Canada's first at-home self-screening program. Premier David Eby announced the initiative will phase out the in-clinic pap test for screening. (Source: CTV News)
✅ Jobs
A selection of roles we’ve spotted in the UK and internationally in FemTech and women’s health. Want to get your job here on the board? Email me at anna@futurefemhealth.com
📌 Paid interns (community building, content, networking), FemVed (India). FemVed creates personalised wellness plans from menstruation to menopause.
📌 B2B Marketing specialist, Mira Fertility (remote).
📌 Senior Media and Communications Officer, Wellbeing of Women (UK)
📌 Performance Marketing Executive, Daye (Bulgaria)
📌 Senior Software Engineer, Gaia Fertility (London, UK)
📌 Trade Marketing Manager, &SISTERS, (London, UK)
📌 Medical Advisor - AI, Flo Health (EU / Lithuania / Remote / UK)
📌 Executive Assistant, Flo Health (UK)
That’s all for now, thanks for reading!
Anna