💌 Issue 100: Valerie raises £514k for perimenopause wellness | Zenith's closing pregnancy info gap | Boots adds menopause zones | Oxford Uni endometriosis study

+ lots more in your weekly round-up of women's health innovation and FemTech news

May 07, 2025

Hi! Welcome to issue #100(!) of FutureFemHealth (w/c May 5 2025).

🌟 Coming up today we’ve got:

💰A £514k pre-seed round for perimenopause wellness brand Valerie.
🤰🏼 Zenith Health launches platform to turn pregnancy experiences into evidence-based care.
📈 UK pharmacy chain Boots adds ‘menopause zones’ in 150 stores.
❤️ Oxford University study uncovers genetic link between endometriosis and immune diseases.

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

But first…it’s our birthday!

woman covering face with assorted ballons — Photo by Lidya Nada on Unsplash

Today I’m celebrating 100 issues of the FutureFemHealth newsletter. What started as a creative project to follow my curiosity in women’s health has opened up more opportunities, impact and new relationships than I could have ever imagined.

There’s now over 8,000 of you in 96 countries around the world subscribed to read this newsletter and I continue to enjoy the process of writing it each week as much as I did when I started.

Whether you joined at issue #1 or #91, thank you for being here.

I’ve always intended FutureFemHealth to be more than a newsletter. At its core (even if I sometimes struggle to articulate the exact mission), I want it to be a platform for sense-making - helping us all better understand this fast-evolving, often fragmented women’s health landscape, which remains overlooked and underestimated by so many. My goal is to support the ecosystem by connecting dots, highlighting meaningful progress, celebrating wins, and offering thoughtful analysis that helps founders, funders, professionals, clinicians, researchers and advocates navigate the complexity. I truly believe we go further, faster - together.

Now as we look ahead, I’d love to know: what would make this space even more valuable for you? Hit reply and let me know!

Anna

P.S. Thanks for indulging me a moment of celebration - now, onto the news!….

💰 Funding, deals and investment news

Image: Valerie co-founders Olly Johnson and Wizz Selvey

📌 UK: Perimenopause wellness brand Valerie raises £514k pre-seed funding. Google searches for perimenopause products and support have surged 106% in the last five years, growing 4x faster than menopause-related terms, reflecting a sharp rise in awareness. Valerie’s flagship supplement ‘Daily Essential’ uses patent-pending lipsomal nanotechnology to improve nutrient absorption and support mood, energy and focus. Angel investors led this round. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)

🌟 Industry news from this week

📌 U.S: Zenith Health launches platform to turn pregnancy experiences into evidence-based care. Health decisions during pregnancy can often feel like a high-stakes guessing game. Zenith Health aims to change that with a new platform that combines real-world experiences with clinical evidence. Its two core features — Ask Pearl, a personalised tool informed by peer-reviewed research and clinical guidelines, and the Pregnancy Evidence Project, a patient-powered research registry — work together to close data gaps while continuously improving the support offered to those navigating pregnancy. (Continue reading: FutureFemHealth)

📌 UK: Boots launches ‘menopause zones’ in 150 stores. UK retailers are stepping up when it comes to menopause support - with Tesco and Morrison leading the charge with dedicated menopause products and/or areas. And now, the largest pharmacy chain in the UK is making it easier for their customers to find relevant products too. Additionally, 35 new menopause products have been added to their range, with brands like Canesmeno, Balance Activ and Luna Daily. (Continue reading: Pharmacy Magazine)

🌟 Latest resources

📌 A founder’s guide to financing your women’s health startup. Is your women’s health business venture-backable? How do you game plan your women’s health venture raise? And what about kickstarting your women’s health business without VC? If you haven’t checked out this super three-part series from Carolyn Witte (Founding CEO of Tia) and Leslie Shrock (investor and advisor), bookmark and save this one! (Continue reading: A founder’s guide to financing your women’s health startup - part one, part two, and part three (all on Substack))

🩸 Research and women’s health news

📌 U.K: Oxford study uncovers genetic link between endometriosis and immune diseases. Women with endometriosis face a 30–80% higher risk of developing immune-related conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and coeliac disease, according to a large-scale genetic study from the University of Oxford. Researchers identified a genetic connection between endometriosis and several autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, suggesting a common biological basis. The discovery of this genetic connection could pave the way for earlier diagnoses and more effective treatments for both endometriosis and related autoimmune diseases. (Continue reading: University of Oxford)

📌 U.S: Milken Institute launches new Women’s Health Network - former first lady Jill Biden joins as its chair. Big names spearhead this new initiative which will drive innovation by providing resources and promoting collaboration among key stakeholders in women’s health. Coming up this year is a digital platform for knowledge sharing, a pooled Investment Fund and other proof-of-concept activities and projects. (Continue reading: The Milken Institute)

📌 GLOBAL: Flu Shot tied to brief menstrual cycle disruptions too. As more women track their cycles, attention is growing around how immune responses — including vaccines — may temporarily affect menstruation. A new study of over 1,500 women found that the flu shot, alone or with a COVID-19 vaccine, was linked to slightly longer menstrual cycles (by less than 1 day on average), particularly when given before ovulation. Researchers stress these shifts were short-lived and aren’t clinically concerning - but that they highlight the importance of including menstrual health in vaccine research. (Continue reading: MedPage Today)

📌 UK: FIFA funds study into menstrual cycle and ACL injury risk in women’s football. With ACL injuries sidelining top players, FIFA is backing a new study at Kingston University to explore whether hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle increase injury risk. Researchers will track estrogen and progesterone levels in elite and grassroots players, to examine links between hormone shifts, ligament laxity, and neuromuscular control. The goal is to inform tailored injury prevention strategies in women’s football. (Continue reading: ESPN)

📆 Save the date

Menopause 2.0: Virtual, May 14 2025: MENOPAUSE 2.0 is a global virtual conference covering menopause as a societal, economic, workplace and healthcare issue. Join Women of Wearables for a day of insightful talks, educational panels, thought-provoking discussions, groundbreaking research and a showcase of best practices and innovations. The conference will be dedicated to keynote talks, fireside chats, and panel discussions featuring some of the most innovative and well-known industry brands, experts, scientists, and entrepreneurs.

Use code FUTUREFEMHEALTH for a free ticket (but hurry, limited free tickets available using this code!)! Register here.

✅ Jobs

📌 U.S: Build your own job description, Zenith Health

📌 U.S: Multiple roles including Head of Finance, Director Clinic Partnerships and Marketing Manager, Cofertility

📌 UK: Menopause Doctor, Manual

📌 UK: Head of B2B Sales, Daye

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.