FutureFemHealth

Earlier this month we submitted evidence to the UK Government's Women and Equalities Select Committee call for evidence on female entrepreneurship. Our evidence on the challenges facing women in business has now been published online (read it below). As part of our evidence we shared our CensHERship research which shows the barriers that women's health businesses in particular face when accessing essential business services (such as banking, insurance, payment providers and more), and the censorship challenges these businesses face when trying to build and grow their businesses. In our submission we now call upon Government to: 📌 Break down stigma, bias among the decision-makers - very often male-led VC firms, male investors and males with budget control. This is the way to get more funding into the hands of women. 📌 Introduce new legislation similar to the EU’s Digital Services Act to help try to make sure Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) such as Google, Meta and Amazon ensure fair and equal access for all and non-discriminatory moderation policies. 📌 Review the SIC code categorisation to make sure it is more modern and includes in-demand female-founded sectors such as women’s health and sexual wellbeing. Otherwise these businesss are being incorrectly classified, which creates problems when applying for various services and the industry as a whole cannot be accurately tracked. 📌 Create more initiatives to support more women to become angel investors. This will help support more funding to reach female-founded businesses too. 📌 Review education and curriculum in schools to build in entrepreneurship and investing education at an earlier age for all genders. What do you think? What would you add to help reduce barriers for female entrepreneurship in the UK, particularly in the women's health sector? Read our full submission here: https://lnkd.in/eTMRHXEC

🔥 Here’s your catch-up on everything women’s health innovation and FemTech from the last week.⁣ ⁣ All of these stories are free to read in our weekly newsletter - www.futurefemhealth.com ⁣ 📌 New female-led medtech fund THENA Capital closes first £27m | Pamela Walker Geddes Esther Reynal de St Michel Richardot Tatum Getty ⁣ 📌 Sprout Family raises CAD$1.7m pre-seed round to make fertility benefits more accessible 📌 Daye Samphire Neuroscience and JanamApp selected for prestigious three-year NHS innovation Accelerator 📌 Aldi becomes first UK supermarket to provide free in-store period products 📌 Illume Fertility announces partnership with Sunfish to help make the journey to parenthood more affordable ⁣ 📌 Wisp partners with Origin on pelvic health in-person and virtual care 📌 Manchester City Women announce snuggs as official period underwear partner ⁣ 📌 Unveiling the German FemTech landscape map created by FemTech Germany 📌 New AI found to diagnose endometrial cancer with near perfect accuracy ⁣ 📌 Australian Government invests $5.3m to reduce premature births 📌 Jobs! ⁣ And even more! Come and join 7,900 subscribers to the free, weekly FutureFemHealth newsletter - www.futurefemhealth.com 🥳

Congratulations to Daye, JanamApp and Samphire Neuroscience who have been selected for a prestigious three-year programme with the NHS. “Our programme is designed to provide Fellows with the knowledge, connections, visibility and confidence they need to overcome challenges and support the NHS, the healthcare ecosystem and the wider UK economy.” Mindy Simon, co-director of the NHS Innovation Accelerator. A total of 28 health and social care innovators have been selected for the programme this year. Full story: https://lnkd.in/eEaX37fh Valentina Milanova 🇺🇦 Emilė R. Angie Doshani

“We are the first specialized early-stage VC fund in the UK, founded by an all-female team with relevant operating experience. If you can't see it, you can't be it." Tatum Getty, THENA Capital. THENA Capital aims to raise a total of £50m - with a quarter of its investments earmarked for women's health. Founded by industry veterans Pamela Walker Geddes, Esther Reynal de St Michel Richardot and Tatum Getty, THENA Capital has just closed its initial £27m - with British Business Bank: Investment and Finance News contributing a cornerstone commitment. Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/eXcdYKcU

🔥 Here’s your catch-up on everything women’s health innovation and FemTech from the last week.⁣ ⁣ All of these stories are free to read in our weekly newsletter www.futurefemhealth.com ⁣ 📌 Pelva Health secures $500k to make intimacy pain-free | Kelley Satoski, Doug Satoski ⁣ 📌 Evvy adds fertility insights to at-home vaginal microbiome test | Kate McLean MD, MPH, FACOG, Priyanka Jain ⁣ 📌 CVS Health becomes first company in the U.S. to earn menopause-friendly accreditation | Joanne Armstrong, April Haberman WHC 📌 Can an app help prevent postpartum depression? This new study suggests it might. 📌 Aspira Women's Health secures $1.37 million in a private deal with investors ⁣ 📌 Menstrual health start-up FemiSafe secures ₹3 crores (approx $345k) in seeding funding | Noureen Aysha, Naseef Nazar 📌 Not all cancer patients need chemo - Ataraxis AI raises $20m to personalize treatment | Jan Witowski MD PhD ⁣ 📌 Women's health clinic Tia adds Nabla AI assistant for clinician note-taking | Felicity Yost, Delphine Groll 📌 Femasys Inc. secures CE mark certification for female permanent birth control ⁣ 📌 Philips and Ingeborg Initiatives partner to improve maternal and infant health in Arkansas ⁣ 📌 Stamford Health and Oula partner to bring collaborative, midwife-led maternity and gynecology care to Connecticut | Adrianne Nickerson 📌 Promising new research shows potential to cure recurrent urinary tract infections 📌 Events! ⁣ And even more! Read all of these stories in full at www.futurefemhealth.com 🥳 ⁣

“The connection between the vaginal microbiome and fertility is one of the most exciting frontiers in reproductive health.” Kate McLean MD, MPH, FACOG, Chief Medical Officer, Evvy. Evvy's home test for vaginal health is being expanded to include fertility-related insights, providing scientific insights into the role of vaginal bacteria in reproductive health. Studies show that imbalance in the vaginal microbiome can increase inflammation and the risk of infection in the reproductive tract, creating a less hospitable environment for conception. On the other hand, a microbiome dominated by protective bacteria, such as Lactobacillus crispatus, has been associated with improved fertility, successful implantation, and improved pregnancy outcomes. Full story: https://lnkd.in/eYmqK9yh

For the first time ever, there are more female than male doctors in the UK. 📈 A huge milestone for women and AFAB folks – and for healthcare as a whole: 🩺 50.04% of licensed doctors are women 👩🏼🎓 60% of UK medical students are women, rising to 72% in Northern Ireland 🌍 More doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds now work in the UK than white doctors More women in medicine means better representation, more diverse perspectives and improved healthcare for everyone. But while this progress is worth celebrating, gender disparities still persist: ➡️ Surgery remains 83% male-dominated  ➡️ Women are still more likely to specialise in obs & gynae (63%) and paediatrics (60.8%) ➡️ Nearly 1 in 10 female doctors report sexual harassment at work – rising to 1 in 5 during their first year of training As Dr Latifa Patel, Chair of the BMA, puts it: 💬 “Retaining women doctors in the workplace, in the NHS, and happy and fulfilled in their roles, MUST be a priority.” To make that happen, we need: ✅ 0 tolerance policies on sexism and gender discrimination ✅ More support for working mothers  ✅ More opportunities for women to lead and progress professionally Women’s presence in leadership, research and clinical settings directly impacts the care we receive. When women thrive in medicine, we all do. This milestone is just the beginning. Read more in the full article below. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dYcF7AVM #WomensHealth #GenderEquity #Healthcare

After a two-month pilot reducing clinical note submission time by 50%, women's health clinic Tia is rolling out Nabla’s AI assistant across all its locations to free up providers for patient care. “We want our providers to feel inspired by their work and deeply connected to their patients and not buried in administrative tasks. Nabla has given them back that time, allowing us to stay true to our values of gender equity and patient-centered care.” Felicity Yost, co-founder and CEO, Tia Full story: https://lnkd.in/ezdeiqAT

New data shows that U.S women spent $8.8 billion – or 30% – more than men on out-of-pocket prescription costs in 2024. A new report from GoodRx, ‘The Prescription Drug Gender Divide’, details how women shoulder a significantly greater out-of-pocket cost burden than men. Higher healthcare utilization, higher rates of chronic conditions, and spending on female-specific conditions like women’s fertility and menopause contribute to this imbalance. https://lnkd.in/eWfBMvgs

🔥 Here’s your catch-up on everything women’s health innovation and FemTech from the last week.⁣ ⁣ All of these stories are free to read in our weekly newsletter www.futurefemhealth.com ⁣ 📌 It’s time to uncensor women’s health: the CensHERship and The Case for Her fight against big tech as we lodge six complaints under the EU's Digital Services Act with HANX Geen Aquafit Intimate Béa Fertility LactApp and Daye ⁣ 📌 The $100 billion opportunity in women’s health says Boston Consulting Group (BCG) ⁣ 📌 Boram introduces at-home postpartum care 📌 Sidekick Health moves into menopause - and begins clinical study for prescription digital therapeutic 📌 Equity-free funding opportunity for Femtech solutions thanks to UNICEF ⁣ 📌 All in Capital leads $1m pre-seed round in Arva Health fertility care 📌 Period care brand Naarica secures investment from badminston icon Saina Nehwal 📌 Sunrise's sleep clinic Dreem launches dedicated women's health program ⁣ 📌 Women spend 30% more on out-of-pocket prescription costs - new report from GoodRx ⁣ 📌 Four nations form historic partnership to advance women’s sports ⁣ And even more! 🥳 ⁣ ⁣