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 Babyscripts, Nuvo and remote pregnancy monitoring, plus...
- Femtech Investment Round-up November 2021
- The Billie Acquisition and Anatomy of a DTC Exit
- Event: How to Raise a Femtech Fund (with Amboy Street Ventures)
Spotlight: Remote Pregnancy Monitoring
Remote pregnancy monitoring had a moment last week as Babyscripts announced additional Series B funding from strategic investors and Nuvo Group filed for IPO. But they are not the only players in this market. A few early stage companies are following in their footsteps and today we want to introduce you to a few of the remote pregnancy monitoring companies we're watching these days.
Nuvo is developing a hybrid hardware/software system, the INVU platform, that provides remote access to medical-grade data to all key participants in the pregnancy care ecosystem. (Website)
Babyscripts distributes a medical device and mobile app for monitoring blood pressure and providing neonatal care information for expecting mothers. (Website)
HERAMed develops a lineup of innovative connected pregnancy monitoring solutions for home use. (Website)
Biorithm's Fenom is a comprehensive maternity care platform to improve perinatal outcomes through mobile technology and data science. (Website)
Bloomlife is a pregnancy wearable that automatically tracks contractions and provides real-time data and patterns to help pregnant women and their partners interpret contractions. (Website)
Airstrip's Sense4Baby's offering is a packaged kit that includes the wearable monitoring device and either a dedicated smartphone or tablet with pre-loaded Sense4Baby software. (Website)
Besides these remote monitoring solutions there are numerous startups like Seven Starling (U.S.), Oula (U.S.), Ruth Health (U.S.), Naytal (U.K.), Keleya (Germany), Koble (Canada) etc. who offer various kinds of tech-enabled care, education, courses etc., who are worth mentioning in this context.
Overall: Lots activity in this space right now!
Femtech Investment Round-up: November 2021
As every month we share an overview of all the fundraising news we covered on Femtech Insider with our Inner Circle audience.
Check out our November 2021 Investment Round-up here or visit our Investment Round-up Archive in the Inner Circle Member Hub.
💡Insider Tip: Amboy Street Ventures is sharing their Top 10 Femtech Deals of the Year bi-weekly throughout the month of December. So far they've covered Maven and the Lovehoney & WOW Tech Merger. There's more to come, so they tuned and check out their blog.
And if you'd like to hear from Amboy Street Ventures' Partner Carli Sapir, join us tomorrow at our Inner Circle Fireside chat! ⬇️
Upcoming Inner Circle Events
TOMORROW: Dec 7, 2021, 6pm BST - How to Raise a Femtech Fund: Reflecting on Year 1 of Amboy Street Ventures
"We believe billion dollar companies will emerge in order to bridge the gap between the underserved Sexual and Women’s Health Tech space and the needs of today’s society. We are female investors who are living through the issues facing women. We know the potential to help drive the market and make genuine change happen", said Amboy Street Ventures Founding Partner Carli Sapir back in March, when the fund official launched after many months of preparation. And so far the new team has lived up to that promise with investments in sexual wellness brands Dame and Dipsea as well as menopause startup Gennev.
As we near the end of 2021, we invite you to join us as we reflect on the "femtech year that was" together with Carli Sapir.
Claim your free ticket for the event using the Inner Circle promo code: amboystreet
The Anatomy of a DTC Exit
Last week Billie announced its acquisition by Edgewell Personal Care Company.
A quick recap: Founded in 2017, Billie is a fast growing, digitally native, direct-to-consumer brand focused on providing women with high-quality shaving and premium body care products. Its current product portfolio includes razors, shaving cream, make up wipes, body lotion, lip balms, dry shampoo and body wash. Billie’s strong direct-to-consumer and digital capabilities have underpinned its strong growth, positioning the brand well for its initial expansion into U.S. brick-and-mortar retail in early 2022. The Billie brand complements and strengthens Edgewell’s position in the women’s shaving category, by adding to a portfolio of strong brands such as Schick Intuition, Hydro Silk and Skintimate. Billie will continue to be led by its co-founders, Georgina Gooley and Jason Bravman.
These news got us thinking about DTC exits and as so often Retail Dive came to the rescue with their recent article on "The anatomy of a DTC Exit". Below are excerpts, but we recommend you give the full story a read! Unsurprising Spoiler alert: Acquisitions are the most common DTC exit strategy...
"The direct-to-consumer model has surged in popularity over the last decade, led by DTC darlings aiming to disrupt their respective spaces. But now, many of those brands have grown up.
At a certain stage in its life a brand begins to eye its next move. The brand at that stage is generally between five and 10 years old and has seen revenue materialize, to at least $40 million in annual revenue, according to Alex Song, CEO of DojoMojo.
"I think that gives both investors and strategic acquirers more confidence that your brand is legitimate and scaled to a place that it has longevity," he added.
Profitability, or a clear path to reach that point, is also a good sign a company is ready for that next step — though, as some recent exits have proven, it's not a requirement."
➡️ Read Full Retail Dive Article: "Anatomy of a Retail Exit"
