A tech segment is worth $1 trillion. Taboos prevent it 2023
Despite being valued $1 trillion by 2027, investors are neglecting a large tech sector because it’s “taboo.”
FemTech comprises any advancements that address women’s health challenges. It includes pregnancy, menopause, Alzheimer’s, and HIV.
Women make up over 50% of the worldwide population, making them a huge market for health products. According to Rock Health, women’s health received 3.3% of U.S. digital health spending between 2011 and 2020.
Female health innovation benefits everyone.
Women’s Health Access Matters, a foundation that funds women’s health research, estimates that a $300 million investment in female health could yield $13 billion for the global economy.
“The opportunities and potential for value creation of investing in this area is huge,” Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions research director Karen Taylor told CNBC.
“So I think if some of these investors did more homework, they’d understand why this is an area ripe for growth and investment.
“They didn’t understand.”
In 2013, Tania Boler founded Elvie, a women’s health tech firm. Pelvic floor trainers and portable breast pumps are Elvie’s specialty.
Not everyone took her new business seriously.
“To be honest, the tech industry thought it was a joke,” Boler told CNBC.
“They didn’t get it… Lack of education causes a lack of demand for many women’s health concerns. Boler said the investing premise is unclear.
Most investors are males, but product knowledge is crucial. European Women in VC, a group of senior female venture capitalists, found 15% of VC general partners were female in 2022.
Elvie succeeded despite obstacles. One of the largest FemTech firms, it generates $100 million. CEO Tania Boler said that Elvie pump users had completed marathons and undergone surgery.
“We went with a very strong message of empowerment, but we tackle the taboos head-on, we don’t shy away from that. “That starts the conversation,” Boler remarked.
Not recognizing women’s health and the need for female-specific health solutions has deeper origins.
“Because it’s been such a taboo topic, it’s really hard to overcome,” said Valerie Evans, consumer investor at startup capital firm The Craftory.
“Not because [investors] don’t want to know or are purposefully ignorant, but I think it’s an overall societal problem that sort of permeates the investing world.”
While female investors are few, firm teams’ gender balance can also affect funding.
‘Angry feminists haven’t worked’
McKinsey & Company discovered that 70% of FemTech businesses have a female founder, compared to 20% overall.
However, they face long odds.
According to business school INSEAD, female-led firms received 3% of venture capitalist money in 2020 and are 63% less likely to receive investment than males.
Taylor of Deloitte said female founders frequently ask investors for less money than men, which may hurt their chances.
She stated women are more honest and downplay their innovation’s potential. “Investors know men make big sales.”
These findings underline the significance of entrepreneurs taking precise data to investors, especially because VCs are men and can’t speak to personal experience.
“If we’re just angry feminists, that hasn’t worked yet. “Let’s be scientists and businesspeople,” Barreto stated.
FemTech is booming. According to FemHealth Insights, over 60% of FemTech firms were formed in the five years leading up to 2022, and the number of enterprises in the field has increased 1,000% over the previous decade.
These growth rates despite many impediments are encouraging for a sector that has struggled to acquire momentum.
“I am incredibly optimistic for the future of women’s health,” Barreto remarked.
“The economic potential for countries if they can empower women to feel better, live longer, live with more mobility?” she added. Women earn. Healthy women develop economies.”
