Don't move fast and break things!
Who's the first to market? The first to raise? The first to launch? The first to hit the next growth target? Anyone who's been around startups will be familiar with the infamous "Move fast and break things" startup credo, that has never been quite true or appropriate for digital health.
The sector (including femtech) is growing faster than ever with more capital pouring in. More contenders, more competition, more capital, more speed. And while this is great for our industry (and consumers who get access to better care), there is a growing number of voices raising concerns about healthcare startups (especially DTC), who compromise compliance (e.g. data privacy) and clinical validation for speed.
So how does one vet a digital health tool or investment? On the consumer side review platform Lemon Lab launched with an interesting value prop earlier this month. On our end we've started working on some SOPs and how-to content (e.g. checklists) to help with assessments and due diligence. Stay tuned for more on that!
Women's Health Focused Funds
Last month saw the launch of two new funds focused on investing in the women's health space. FemHealth Ventures and Amboy Street Ventures.
Amboy Street Ventures seeks to cover all investment areas in the Sexual and Women’s Health industry across medtech, femtech, sextech, healthtech, telehealth and wellness. Focused is on Seed and Series A investments in America and Europe. Announced investments: Dame & Gennev.
Early stage fund FemHealth Ventures invests in companies who design healthcare solutions for women in a profitable and scalable way. They invest in drugs, devices, diagnostics and digital. Announced investements: BioAesthetics & Trefoil Therapeutics.
Breast Cancer Early Detection (B2C)
Innovation in the breast cancer space was largely focused on B2B in the past, but recently we've seen some interesting developments with the goal to give women themselves the tools and knowledge to assess their own risks.
Gabbi is on a mission to decrease delayed diagnosis. The startup is creating a digital health solution that accurately & inclusively predicts a woman’s risk for breast cancer and equips her to take action with community support. Breast Cancer Awareness App Pre-Check was nominated for a Webby Award. French Predilife (Mammorisk) is looking to further commercialize its technology and enter new markets.
Virtual Care vs. Virtual First Care
Do we need to talk more about virtual first care instead of focusing on virtual care? Recent signal would certainly suggest so. Origin just opened its first pelvic health focused clinic in Los Angeles after leading with a virtual offer. Tia also started operating out or its second brick-and-mortar location and announces a partnership with CommonSpirit Health to further expand the in-person care offering. Oula's full-service pregnancy clinic just opened its doors in Brooklyn, but relies on a supplemental virtual care offering.
What will the future hold for virtual-only services once people return to their doctors after the pandemic? Time will tell. What we can tell you today though is that we're seeing a lot of signal around hybrid models that combine the "best of both worlds" with the goal of creating a holistic care experience across touchpoints.
Femtech Founders x Ecosystem Advocacy
"It's not a niche, bitch!". Just a couple of days ago Rosy founder Dr. Lyndsey Harper spearheaded a femtech community campaign addressing the issue of niche-ifying the women's health market that many founders in our space face when raising money. Pandia Health founder Dr. Sophia Yen just launched #FFFL, an initiative with the goal to support female founded, female led businesses.
We've seen startups in the femtech space step up to create more awareness for women's health topics (Uqora's UTI Awareness Day, Elektra Health's Menopause Day Campaign, Peanut's #RenamingRevolution). Lately the structural issues femtech founders face are getting more and more attention and founders are stepping up to address them, which is exciting to see.
