At the start of each week 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...
- Spotlight: World Contraception Day
- Startup Spotlight: GoStork, LiGalli, Sophia Women & Weerwi
- And more!
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It's World Contraception Day!
It's World Contraception Day today, so we thought we'd dedicate today's Inner Circle Member to the topic of contraception!
🤓 Contraception: An Overview
Since its introduction, contraception has given couples a tool for family planning, but has also been central to advancing women’s empowerment, their educational, and economic opportunities. It has also been shown that choosing when to have children leads to better health outcomes for both mothers and infants. According to the WHO, among the 1.9 billion women of reproductive age globally, 1.1 billion have a need for family planning. Of these, 842 million are using contraceptive methods, and 270 million have an unmet need for contraception.
Given the big impact and need for birth control since its introduction in the 1960s, it is surprising how little innovation the space has seen in the past 50 years.
👉 Today there are various contraceptive methods:
- Birth Control Pills (Combined or progesterone only)
- Implants
- Injectables
- Contraceptive Patches
- Contraceptive Vaginal Rings
- Intrauterine Devices (hormone or copper)
- Male and Female Condoms
- Male and Female Sterilization
- Basal Body Temperature Method
- Emergency Contraception Pills
According to research by the CDC about 65% of women of reproductive age in the U.S. are using contraceptive methods. Female sterilization, the pill, the condom and long-acting reversible contraceptives are the most common methods these women reported currently using. The method of choice is usually highly influenced by social and demographic characteristics.
Overall there are three ways companies are looking to change the contraception space. Creating new ways to prevent pregnancies (innovation), helping women and men choose the right method of contraception (orientation), making it easier to access birth control (access).
🚀 What Innovation Opportunities Are There?
Innovation In the innovation category we see startups who are creating new or better methods of contraception. These include non-hormonal birth control, male contraception, making currently available methods safer or more reliable.
Orientation Companies who focus on orientation help women choose the right method of contraception. Goal is to provide an overview of available methods, minimize side effects, up efficacy and provide guidance on which method best fits the individuals lifestyle and preferences.
Access Startups in the “Access” company focus on making access easier, more affordable and/or convenient.
Want to learn more about startups innovating in the contraception space? Check out our short overview below. 👇
Startup Spotlight
Wanna know which startups get us excited these days? Below are a few of our recent (femtech-healthtech-ish) discoveries. 👀
Weerwi is the first mobile application in Senegal dedicated to cycle tracking and menstrual health.
Sophia Women is a new learning platform in Asia providing financial education for women to increase diversity and inclusion in investing.
GoStork is a resource where intended parents match with fertility providers.
LiGalli has coupled a vaginal ring with smart technology to create MedRing a platform for diagnostics and drug delivery.
