Every Monday we share a quick “best of” from the week that was with our Inner Circle members. What’s trending in the Femtech Insider community and beyond? We’ve got you covered! In this week's brief we talk about...
- Essity's Shopping Spree #periodcare
- Employer Health & Benefits Strategies 2023
- Event: Breaking into Femtech - Careers in Femtech and Women's Health Innovation
- Startup Spotlight: The Scarlet Company, Dear Doc & FanthomX
- And more!
Essity Acquires Knix and Modibodi
Last week health & hygiene company Essity announced the acquisition of 80% of the Canadian company Knix and Australian Modibodi. Mobibodi and Knix are both leaders in the leakproof apparel category.
The Swedish hygiene products maker has agreed to buy Modibodi for $93.7M; the purchase price for Knix amounts to $320M on a cash and debt free basis for 80% of the company. Through the acquisition Essity becomes a global market leader within leakproof apparel, the fastest growing product segment in their Intimate Hygiene portfolio which includes Feminine Care and Incontinence Products.
We covered the deal here, but for those looking to learn more: We thought last week's media and investor webcast about the deal with Essity’s President and CEO Magnus Groth, CFO and Executive Vice President Fredrik Rystedt and Knix’s founder and CEO Joanna Griffiths was quite insightful.
Employee Health & Benefits Strategies 2023 (Mercer Survey)
Last week Mercer released the latest version of its Health & Benefits Trend Report for the upcoming year. Unsurprisingly in the ongoing "war for talent" most employers plan investments in this space. Below are a few additional findings that stood out to us:
- The majority of employers will offer virtual care solutions beyond telemedicine in 2023
- Employers are also starting to focus on the special needs of women in regards to reproductive health — from preconception family planning to support during menopause. The largest employers are out in front with providing support for reproductive health; among respondents with 5,000 or more employees, 48% offer one of more specialized benefits.
- With a new understanding of thehealth disparitiesthat exist within their populations, employers are just getting started with efforts to address the problem and make a difference. When it comes to closing gaps for racial and ethnic groups, the most common initiative currently in place is multilingual communications, followed by advanced search functions for health providers. However, survey respondents expressed strong interest in providing targeted communications, specialized behavioral health support, and enhancing coverage for maternal care to improve outcomes for Black women giving birth.
- Addressing LGBTQ+ benefit gaps and health disparities: Inclusive family-building support is quickly becoming the norm. Nearly a third of large employers will offer benefits such as access to fertility treatment coverage and adoption and surrogacy benefits by 2023, and almost another third are considering it. Another Mercer survey found that LGBTQ+ employees strongly value specialized support for mental health, and while just 17% of large employers provide enhanced resources today, another 22% are considering it.
Startup Spotlight
Wanna know which startups get us excited these days? Below are a few of our recent (femtech-healthtech-ish) discoveries. This week we want to share some companies we've seen that make us go "Oh. Well that's interesting!" 👀
This week's selection features a number of lesser-known startups active in Asia.
The Scarlet Company –Scarlet is a 100% natural tonic scientifically developed to target the root cause of period cramps, pains & PMS as well as hormone imbalance.
Dear Doc –Dear Doc offer access to hassle-free & judgement-free medical care for birth control, and other sexual & reproductive health conditions.
FathomX – FathomX is a Medical Imaging AI Spin-Off for breast cancer analysis from the National University of Singapore.
