The Future is FemTech

by Sanjana Ramesh

​​“There’s an emerging understanding that there are many needs, and where there are many needs, there are also many opportunities.”

— Ida Tin, CEO of the period-tracking app Clue

I truly believe that my academic and professional path is a product of serendipity. During my undergraduate years at the University of Iowa, I discovered the nascent discipline of health which led me to pursue my MPH in social marketing and health communication at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. My MPH research was motivated by reducing health disparities in minority populations and, during this time, I worked extensively with non-profit organizations with similar missions. As a minority researcher, I wanted to address the many needs at the intersection of health communication and health disparities.

Likewise, my discovery of the FemTech market, during the third year of my PhD program, occurred unexpectedly but at a time when my research interests were shifting towards addressing women’s reproductive health disparities. I was intrinsically motivated to broaden conversations around women’s reproductive health issues that have long lived in the realm of stigma and taboo because, at the time, I was approaching my late 20s and realized what limited understanding I had around navigating my own reproductive body. By the end of my third year, I met the COO of Renalis and started my collaboration which led to my dissertation research, which addresses the absence of menstrual health communication through a chatbot platform.

So what exactly is FemTech?

FemTech is a rather catchy term coined by Ida Tin in 2016 to describe female-focused technologies (e.g., diagnostic tools, software, mobile apps, and wearables) that exclusively address women’s health. One in five women report using at least one FemTech app, most likely for self-tracking their periods or fertility as these make up 50% of the market. However, FemTech solutions can also focus on other women’s health concerns such as pregnancy and motherhood, pelvic and uterine health, or menopause.

Women’s health remains neglected by medical and academic communities, as only 4% of research and development funding is allotted to this research area. Likewise, FemTech was previously side-lined as ‘too niche’ by investors. Over the last 5 years; however, FemTech has been disrupting the digital health landscape by gaining significant traction within the venture capital community as an opportunity, through investment, to empower women with robust reproductive health information. By 2024, FemTech is forecasted to raise $9 billion in venture capital funding and generate upwards of $300 million in revenue.

The lucrative value of FemTech is amplified by female consumer power and undeniably colossal market potential. Women are 75–85% more likely to adopt digital health tools than men. The greatest challenge women face navigating their health is an insidious culture of silence. Yet the FemTech market is drawing much-deserved attention to women’s health topics that have long existed within the realm of taboo.

As a health communication scholar, I find it imperative that researchers capitalize on the momentum of FemTech to broaden conversations around women’s health. In 2019, I started working with Renalis, a digital health company creating platforms to improve pelvic health experiences and outcomes, to design a menstrual health communication chatbot — CeCe.

Sanjana Ramesh is a Ph.D. candidate at Northwestern University, where her research focuses on broadening conversations about pelvic and reproductive health. She is also a certified yoga instructor with a prenatal certification. Her goal is to integrate her knowledge of health communication & yoga to support women throughout their reproductive life course.