2020? It’s a wrap! And although I’m eager to leave the dumpster fire that was 2021 behind (as I’m sure many of you are…), I thought it’d be fun and important to take a look back at this past year in the world of femtech! I started Femtech Insider in 2019 and 2020 was the first full year of our Weekly Femtech Insider Brief, so what better way to reflect than to take another look at the headlines, that got thousands in our industry thinking, talking, founding and investing!
As I was putting the below together I realized, that although 2020 has been a difficult and trying year for many, it wasn’t all bad and I found myself smiling and celebrating all the things we as a community have collectively achieved over this past year. All of us here at Femtech Insider are grateful to be serving you, a group of innovators who are pushing the boundaries for women’s health every day. Thank you for all you do! We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you!
But now, without further due: Here’s a year of femtech as documented in Femtech Insider headlines! We hope you enjoy our little “femtech rewind”! See you all in 2021! We can’t wait to share all your progress and success next year!
January 2020
Jan 2: Willow takes on tech industry culture; Novosound raises $4.4M; Sextech startups exhibit at CES
Jan 9: #PumpedAtCES with Elvie and Milk Stork; New PillPack Integration; KRY raises $140M; OneMedical IPO
Jan 16: Femtech Trends 2020; BlueMountain invests $45M in Advantia; Pregistry receives award; Diabetes drug may help prevent miscarriages
Jan 23: Future Family launches reciprocal IVF program; Brazen founder publishes ‘Seeing Red’; ONC releases 5-year health IT roadmap
Jan 30: CurieMD launch; DNA test sales decline; Women’s health market segmentation report; Femtech events & accelerators; Goldman’s board diversity quota
February 2020
Feb 6: Japan-based Fermata launches new femtech fund; HeyMama raises $2M; a16z announces $750M life sciences fund; One Medical IPO
Feb 13: AARP’s ‘Hacking Menopause’ challenge; The Oscars vs. Frida Mom; Femtech crowdfunding campaigns; Milk Stork goes international
Feb 20: Thinx2020 campaign to end period poverty; Chelsea FC Women tailors training to player’s cycles; Tampon tax exemption worries lawmakers
Feb 27: Maven raises $45M Series C; Google’s AI breast cancer screening tool; First antibiotics discovered with AI
March 2020
Mar 5: Rosy raises a $1M seed round; The Honeypot Co boycott; Forbes 50 over 50; Femtech at SXSW
Mar 12: Wild.AI launches crowdfunding campaign; Kleiner Perkins announces new fund; Femtech Insider launches better. platform
Mar 19: Bloomer Tech raises a $3M seed round; NEA announces a new $3.6B fund; Fertility care during the COVID-19 pandemic
Mar 26: Lilia graduates from Y Combinator; Texas halts abortion services; Telemedicine on the rise
April 2020
April 2: Zealthy raises a seed round; HITLAB Women’s Health Tech Challenge; Femtech funds and investors; Telemedicine on the rise
April 9: FCC enacts $200M telehealth initiative; Gilde Healthcare closes a new $450M fund; Rock Health releases ‘Q1 Digital Health Market Report’
April 16: Carrot introduces new products; Gilde Healthcare, Lightspeed & Index Ventures announce new funds; New York’s new surrogacy law
April 23: Dorsata raises $5M; COVID-19 & Reproductive Health; Funding to Female Founders; UN concerned about COVID-19 impact on women’s health
April 30: Lilia raises $1.5M; Boober raises a pre-seed round; Manna Tree Ventures’ new $141.5 M fund; J&J’s Maternal Health Challenge
May 2020
May 6: Peanut raises a €11M Series A; Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Awards; Venrock’s new healthcare fund; Medable raises another $25M
May 13: Femtech Forum 2020; YouTube removes sextech conference; Motherly raises $5.4M; Carrot’s Fertility Care Report
May 20: Everlywell’s COVID-19 test gets FDA Approval; Springboard’s Dolphin Tank; Bayer’s G4A Accelerator; Kliit Health organizes Femtech Conference
May 27: Stork Club raises $2.7M; Carli Sapir starts Reformation Ventures; Menstrual Hygiene Day; StartX & FestiHealth’s Virtual Health Startup Competition
June 2020
June 4: Tia raises a $24M Series A; Maven buys Bright Parenting; Femtech Office Hours; Women’s Health Innovation Coalition
June 11: Vara raises $7M; Ava and Carrot enter partnership; SxTech Summit; Venture Deals Summer School
June 18: WOOM raises €2M; Ro & Ribbon Health team up; Modern Fertility adds new products; Willow’s new CEO
June 25: OCON raises $2M; Gennev’s Menopause Map; Crunchbase’s “Diversity Spotlight”; Femtech in Africa
July 2020
July 2: Pregnolia raises CHF 4.2M; Callaly runs a successful crowdfunding campaign, Rosy launches telehealth; EIT Hackathon
July 9: Anabella raises $1.4M; Lioness launches sex research platform; Supreme Court Birth Control Ruling; Women’s Health Coalition Launch Event
July 16: Kindbody raises a $32M Series B; Diem joins Techstars New York; Adia Health rebrands as Parla; New VC Funds
July 23: The Cusp launches at-home menopause testing; Maven is a 2020 Breakthrough Brand; Peppy’s £1.7 seed round; Lora DiCarlo introduces Baci
July 30: Ro’s $200M Series C; Blueheart raises a €1M seed round; #MedBikini goes viral; Bryony Cole’s Sextech School
August 2020
Aug 6: Loom raises a $3M seed round, Alydia’s $13.9M Series C; come&gone raises a $800K seed round; #teladongo; FAB Ventures’ news fund
Aug 13: Bayer acquires KaNDy Therapeutics; Stix’s $1.3M seed round; Nurx adds $22.5M in funding; Zomato introduces ‘period leave’
Aug 20: Carrot Fertility’s $24M Series B, MobileODT raises $4M; The Featured Femtech Funder Series; CBInsights’ Digital Health 150
Aug 27: Dame Products’ $1M Round; Uqora’s Launches New UTI Products; Google Invests in Amwell, Women’s Health Innovation Spotlight 2020
September 2020
Sep 3: Emme raises $2.5M; Callaly nabs €1.9M on Crowdcube; Fenometer launches Lilac; HITLAB’s Fall 2020 Women’s Health Tech Challenge
Sep 10: Silk and Sonder raises $3.6M; Bloomi’s Crowdfunding Campaign; A New ‘Diversity Standard’ for VC Firms; Wildflower Health teams up with Dorsata
Sep 17: Alydia Health’s Jada System gets FDA clearance, CGV closes a $55M healthtech fund; Fertility startup breathe ilo launches in the UK
Sep 24: Willow raises $55M; Portfolia announces Femtech II; Modern Fertility teams up with Walmart
October 2020
Oct 1: Introducing PERLA Health; Emjoy raises $3M; Juno Bio launches new microbiome test kit; The Case for Her invests in Rhia Ventures
Oct 8: 50inTech raises Є600K; Elvie releases new products; Breast Cancer Awareness Month; HITLAB’s Women’s Health Tech Challenge
Oct 15: Kama’s $3M seed round; Twentyeight Health raises $5M; kegg & Parla launch; Essity Ventures partners with Endometrix
Oct 22: Oula raises a $3.2M seed round; Babyscripts partners with Roche, Maven launches pediatrics tool, Natural Cycles adds wearable
Oct 29: Kasha raises $1M; Clementine closes a £1 seed round; Founders Factory’s new Healthcare Program; HIMSS Maternal Health Global Tech Challenge
November 2020
Nov 5: Menopause startup MPowder raises €550K; Fertifa’s seed round; Callaly’s Silver Design Intelligence Award
Nov 12: Rock Health’s Diversity in Digital Health Report; HIMSS’ Women in Health IT Awards; Seedcamp V launch; HHS’s 5-year plan for Health IT
Nov 19: Tia launches in Los Angeles; Garmin adds pregnancy tracking; “RISE for Rare”; Moody Month launches a crowdfunding campaign
Nov 26: Home-testing kit for breast cancer wins Dyson Prize; Scotland makes periods products free; The List is acquired; FemTech Lab launch
December 2020
Dec 3: Endomag’s £15M Series D; K’ept Health wins HITLAB’s Women’s Health Tech Challenge; STATION F’s femtech accelerator; Nasdaq’s board diversity rule
Dec 10: Everlywell raises $175M; Vulvani’s period-themed stock photo library, Brewdog teams up with Bloody Good Period; Babyscripts nabs $4M
Dec 17: Attn:Grace raises 900K; The Cusp ends operations; Forbes 50 over 50; Women’s Brain Project’s hackathon; DTRA launch
Dec 24: We took a break!! 😀
And that’s it!
We hope you enjoyed this little trip on memory lane as much as I have and just in case you don’t know: Feel free to send your news, pitches and updates to editor@femtechinsider.com! We’re always happy to help spread the word! 🙂
