Femtech: Breaking taboos with PR by women for women

Femtech, an artificial word made up of female technologies, has become synonymous with progress in women's health. Ida Tin, co-founder of the menstrual tracking app Clue, was instrumental in coining the term at the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference in 2016. This includes technologies that are developed specifically for women - and mostly by women - and aim to support women's healthcare. From digital health software to electronic devices such as wearables and period underwear: FemTech has enabled industry and business to finally discover half of the world's population as a target group!

A huge success, one would think. And yet, femtech companies in this country are still mainly focusing on topics that are taboo, at least for men, such as the menstrual cycle and menstruation or pregnancy. FemTech is therefore still considered a niche market. However, the market does not stop at primarily reproductive topics. Very young women who are only just becoming familiar with the menstrual cycle have different needs, including when it comes to contraception. Women who are dealing with the menopause and are far from belonging to the senior target group also have different needs. There is a lot of potential here - and a variety of topics that can be used for communication. 

According to a study by McKinsey, the femtech market already reached a market volume of 40.2 billion US dollars in 2020. Forecasts also indicate that the market will grow by an average of 13.3% annually until 2025. This corresponds to an estimated market volume of 75.1 billion US dollars, or the equivalent of 68.8 billion euros. By 2032, the market value is even expected to reach 177.05 billion US dollars. 

Investments in femtech start-ups have also increased steadily in recent years. In the first half of 2023 alone, over 500 million US dollars were invested in the USA. According to McKinsey, these investments could even reach up to USD 9 billion by 2030.

But even if that sounds like a lot at first, there is a significant investment gap: According to Astute Analytica, femtech companies currently receive only 3% of funding for digital health. It is even more difficult for femtech start-ups founded by women to receive investment: In 2022, they received only 2% of all venture capital funding in the US. An immense opportunity that remains untapped, given that women make up half of the world's population.

And according to Heike Dorninger, partner and healthcare expert at Boston Consulting Group, as many as 70% of digital health applications are used by women. According to Dorninger, there are also around 20 business segments along a woman's life cycle that lend themselves to solutions.

In fact, femtech companies are also founded by women more often than average and they find it much more difficult than men to obtain financing. The investor community is largely made up of men (94% of the top 100 companies), who often do not understand the health problems faced by women. This is also the conclusion of the Female Founders Monitor 2020 by the German Startups Association. According to the study, only around 1.6% of female founders received venture capital. Among men, the figure was 17.6 percent.

In medicine, the male body is considered the reference point, but there is still far too little research on the female body. (Not so) fun fact: It wasn't until 1998 that the true size of a clitoris was discovered by urologist Helen O'Connell. There is a lack of data - scientists and journalists refer to this as the "gender data gap". In this context, technologies that work with sensor data offer the possibility of advancing care and diagnostics for the early detection of cervical cancer or endometriosis, for example. There is also huge market potential in this area: women require an estimated $500 billion a year in medical health spending.

Therefore, it will be one of the most important tasks in communication: to overcome the taboos surrounding female bodies and to discuss them as important and, above all, completely normal in public. Femtech companies can contribute to this accordingly and, with studies and surveys, significantly provide more data and ultimately greater acceptance.