What is Femtech? Everything You Need to Know

There is only one thing that stays the same: change. That’s true in the world of tech, too. Technology changes over time. Some become commonplace while others die out, but new technology keeps coming out. We’re going to talk about yet another new idea: femtech. Tech for women: What is Femtech? Isn’t the world excited about it?

FEM stands for “Femtech”

Femtech, which is short for “female technology,” refers to software and technology-enabled diagnostics, products, and services that are all about women’s health. It includes fertility solutions, period-tracking apps, pregnancy and nursing care, sexual health, and healthcare for the Assisted Reproductive Technology system.

When did the word “Femtech” first appear?

When it comes to Femtech, it’s not very old. “Femtech” was first used by Ida Tin in 2013. The Danish entrepreneur who started the game Clue, Tin, is the name of this person if you want to know more about her. Women use Clue to keep track of their periods and fertility. It has been used by more than 10 million people so far.

Since then, the femtech industry has been formed to include any digital or standard health tools that are only for women to use. These tools include wearables, medical devices that connect to the Internet, mobile apps, hygiene products, and more.

How Has Femtech Fared So Far as an Industry?

When Clue first came out eight years ago, it was the start of femtech as an industry. Tin saw a lot of value in focusing on women’s healthcare needs when it came to new technology. Women, after all, were half of the world’s people.

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Six years after Clue came out, what we now call the femtech industry made US$820.6 million in revenue all over the world. A venture capital (VC) fund has also invested more than $592 million in the company. As of 11 November 2021, there are close to 800 femtech companies with $15.2 billion in the capital, and they have a lot of money.

Femtech has grown so much in just eight years. There are a lot of reasons why that is the way it is.

Femtech is growing because of what?

Tech for women is becoming more popular because of this:

• The rise in female representation: The biggest growth driver for femtech could be the rise in the number of well-known women in the VC business. In addition to the fact that more people are becoming aware and accepting of women’s health issues, this could have led to the sector’s growth.
• Increased visibility: In 2021, there were a lot of big femtech deals that people talked about. The more people knew about femtech, which led to more start-ups, which helped the industry grow as well.
• Research: Even though most femtech products today are focused on reproductive health, analysts believe new approaches to women’s health research will lead to new products and services, which will lead to even more opportunities for investment. A lot of companies are, in fact, working on new technologies that focus on women’s health issues, like ovarian cancer, at the moment.

In what ways are Femtech used today?

Hundreds of companies are working on projects that are aimed at the femtech market right now. Here are three:

Ava

Ava wants to help women who are trying to get pregnant and want to improve their chances of having a baby. It is a sensor bracelet that is worn at night to measure nine physiological parameters and predict when the wearer will be fertile and ovulate again.

Bloomlife

Moms and babies will be healthier if Bloomlife comes up with new ways to care for them during pregnancy. It makes pregnancy-specific wearables that collect and process data to make moms feel better and help doctors predict and manage pregnancy-related problems, among other things.

Flo.Health

Artificial intelligence (AI) is used in Flo.Health’s artificial intelligence-powered health platform, which predicts menstrual cycles, gives personalised daily health information and lets users connect with experts and peers from all over the world.

Some well-known female tech leaders like Sarah Kunst or Marsha Drokova are behind a lot of them, but there’s a lot more out there that people don’t know about. If you want to learn more, you can look at the VC Female Founders Dashboard for more.

Conclusion

While femtech has had some success even though it has been around for a short time, there has been some criticism of the field. Some people say that it’s not inclusive, sexist, and doesn’t include trans-men. Femtech also paid more attention to women’s health, but what about their lifestyles, as well?

There will always be people who don’t agree with you. For now, let’s just wait and see how femtech changes as technology always do.