💌 Issue 79: Ove's new teen period app | $2.7m to tackle postpartum hemorrhage | Menopause start-up Alloy raises $16m
+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health and FemTech news
Hi! Welcome to issue #79 of FutureFemHealth, here to bring you your weekly news about women’s health innovation and FemTech (w/c 25 November 2024).
A very Happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating this week!
🌟 Coming up today:
🩸 The new period app - just for teens
✅ Insud Pharma’s $2.7m grant to tackle postpartum hemorrhage
💰 Menopause startup Alloy raises $16m
👩🏼 New AI chatbot for breast pump company Willow
Got news to share from the world of FemTech and women’s health innovation? Let me know at anna@futurefemhealth.com
Now open for applications…
The VOA Futures Fund Community Health Incubator powered by SEED SPOT is now accepting applications. This fully funded Incubator, running from May 7 to August 26, 2025, comes with $15k in non-diluted grants for each participant, with an additional $10k available for pilot programs with VOA Affiliates, and the potential of 200k in follow-on investment.
This Incubator provides business training and coaching to selected founders tackling community health disparities. Business solutions can range from age tech, apps that provide culturally sensitive medical advice, to a meal service for vulnerable populations. To be eligible for this Incubator solutions must have demonstrated traction. Both for profit and nonprofit enterprises are supported through this program.
Applications to the Community Health Incubator are now open and the final deadline to apply is March 3, 2025.
🩸A period app - just for teens
Most period apps are designed for adult women and include features too mature or irrelevant for younger users under 16-years-old.
Ovulation tracking, pregnancy mode, perimenopause mode and even Flo Health’s ‘Unlock your orgasm’ program are all examples.
This gap in the market inspired 22-year-old founder Libby Tanswell-Gidney to create Ove - an app specifically tailored for young girls aged 9-18 years old through their first period and the changes that come with puberty.
“Young girls and teenagers need access to trusted, evidence-based information about puberty and menstruation,” she says. “But when I first explored what was available, I was shocked to find that much of the content was either overly-sexualized or hidden behind paywalls.”
“I developed Ove to offer free, accessible and age-appropriate information that young girls can trust throughout this critical phase of their lives.”
The teen menstruation education gap
Teen menstruation is an underserved area of female health. Many women today did not receive adequate period education or emotional support growing up. A recent study revealed that over one-third of women feel misinformed about their bodies and periods, with 74% experiencing negative emotions when starting their first period.
Existing apps include the teen health and wellbeing app Luna and the US-based app Teena. And retailers are recognising the need for dedicated support - CVS has launched a first period box recently for example.
Ove too plans to monetise through its shop feature, initially offering period starter packs and then a monthly subscription box, tailored to each user’s cycle.
Vision for the future
With the launch of Ove, Libby envisions a future where every girl feels empowered and informed. She continued:
“Every woman remembers how challenging starting their first period was. That’s why my goal for Ove is for every girl to have the support she needs, right at her fingertips.”
💰 Funding, deals and investment news
📌 SPAIN: $2.7m grant for Insud Pharma to tackle postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). Severe bleeding after childbirth - or PPH - affects approximately 14 million women a year and causes around 70,000 deaths, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. It’s the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide. Insud Pharma is working on an oxytocin tablet which can be placed under the tongue to help prevent PPH. The tablet would vastly improve the current injectable oxytocin because it doesn’t need to be refrigerated, requires little training to administer and is suitable for areas with limited medical care access. Funding came from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)
📌 US: Menopause startup Alloy raises $16m. The Alloy platform offers asynchronous treatment by doctors, with a $50 annual fee and prescriptions starting at $40 a month. Founders Monica Molennar and Anne Fulenwider decided not to accept insurance, aiming for ease of access and price transparency instead. Commenting on this funding round, the founders say noted more investor interest in the estimated $17 billion menopause category compared to four years ago, despite a still-difficult fundraising landscape. This Series A was led by Kairos HQ with participation from Amboy Street Ventures and Emmeline Ventures among others. Alloy will now expand its offering into more wellness categories across midlife. (Continue reading: Fortune)
📌 ISRAEL: Fertilai raises $4.5m for AI in IVF. Fertilai already claims its AI tools can help deliver a 5-8% pregnancy rate increase on frozen embryo transfers. This works by using AI-driven patient insights to aide clinical-decision making and optimise clinic workflows. This investment round was co-led by Longevity Venture Partners and Redseed.(Continue reading: Startups magazine)
📌 US: Natural wellness brand Foria acquires Ned, maker of sleep and stress remedies. Now in its tenth year, Foria is known for its focus on intimate health and period care. It now wants to broaden its offering to be more holistic, including the two essential aspects of health - sleep and stress. (Continue reading: Sleep review magazine)
📌 US: Boston Scientific closes $3.7 billion Axonics deal after lengthy review. Axonics makes neuromodulation devices to restore normal communication between the brain and bladder and bowel and treat urinary and bowel dysfunction - it says 92% of women are cured or improved at 12 months. This acquisition process has taken a long 10 month and means Axonics can finally contribute to Boston Scientific’s existing urology business. (Continue reading: Medtech Dive)
🌟 Industry news from this week
📌 US: Breast pump company Willow integrates conversational AI into app. Unlike generic search engines or AI platforms, Willow’s new app feature ‘Ema’ draws on a database of expert-backed content to offer trustworthy guidance on a wide range of maternal health topics within its own app. Ema (a third-party tech) tailors responses to each user and prioritises empathy too. Willow is best known for its breast pumps, including hands-free hospital-grade wearables. (Continue reading: HIT consultant)
📌 US: PatientsLikeMe launches AI assistant focused on women’s health. Also built using the ‘Ema’ AI tech, PatientsLikeMe’s AI assistant acts as a personal health assistant, helping women to manage their health and well-being through personalised, evidence-based guidance. PatientLikeMe is an online platform and support network for people to share their patient data and help speed up pace of research. (Continue reading: MobiHealthNews)
📌 UK: SimplyHealth launches GP service targeting women’s health needs. A total of 96% of SimplyHealth’s female policyholders said they’d prefer to see a women’s health-focused GP for future concerns. A partnership with HealthHero is now making that possible, at no extra cost to users. SimplyHealth say they’re the first UK health plan provider to offer a virtual GP option specifically focused on women’s health. (Continue reading: Corporate adviser)
🩸 Research and women’s health news
📌 US: Research team finds postpartum depression diagnoses have doubled in a decade. While about 1 in every 10 new moms (9.4%) suffered postpartum depression in 2010, that number rose to almost 1 in every 5 (19%) by 2021, reports a team from Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Better detection and reporting could be playing a big role, the researchers said. There is also a correlation with higher obesity rates in pregnant US women over the last decade. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises screening for postpartum despression at month 1-2, 4 and 6 - although one source estimates that less than 50% of mothers are screened nationally. (Continue reading: Medical Express)
📆 Save the date
📆 LINKEDIN LIVE: Keen to learn about ‘AI in women’s health?’ Join this LinkedIn Live on 3 December at 1pm EST with Dr Brittany Barreto, Jaycee Morgan, Research Scientist at Klick and Alfred Whitehead, EVP Applied Sciences at Klick to learn more. Find out more and sign-up to attend here.
✏️ Add your voice
👩🏽💻 CENSHERSHIP SURVEY: Are you a women’s health start-up operating in the EU? If you’ve suffered from censorship of your content on social media, please add your voice to CensHERship’s new research study, in conjunction with The Case For Her. We need your experiences to continue to advocate for change! Complete the survey here.
✅ Jobs
📌 UK / LITHUANIA: Various roles including Creative Strategist, Motion Design Lead, Project Manager and Senior Copywriter, Flo Health
📌 US / REMOTE: Social media and content associate, Mira Health
📌 US: Director, Health Course, Babylist
Thanks for reading and 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.
PS. Before you go: Would you like to support FutureFemHealth through sponsorship and get your brand in front of thousands of professionals, founders and investors in women’s health? I’m taking bookings from January onwards. For more info and a copy of our media pack drop me a line: anna@futurefemhealth.com
How I have not crossed paths with you before is beyond me. I eat this type of information up! I'll subscribe from my primary account. I'm so deep into my perimenopause Substack world that I sometimes forget to come up for air (WHC365 is my second Substack). It's very interesting what Alloy is doing. I keep an eye on them for other reasons. Best, Shelby