This year I've been watching the announcements coming out of CES with particular interest. Not because of the usual tech spectacle, but because I think something more subtle happening is happening beneath the surface, that can actually tell us a thing of two about the future of women's health innovation as well.
But first, let's get the headlines straight.
The three biggest women's health stories from CES 2025:
- Eli Health launches the Hormometer, their smartphone-based hormone testing device (and picks up Best of Innovation award)
- Vivoo expands into reproductive health with new hormone tests
- Elvie introduces Rise, their smart bouncer-bassinet combo
And dominating much of the coverage in related spaces aka my LinkedIn feed:
- Panasonic Well's expanding ecosystem of family health and wellness products
When you connect the dots between these announcements, two significant shifts emerge: the complete transformation of at-home testing and a more sophisticated ecosystem approach to family and women's health tech.
The Complete At-Home Testing Revolution
What's fascinating about this year's hormone health innovations isn't just the technology – it's how they're completely reimagining the testing pathway.
Until now, at-home testing has largely meant collecting samples at home but then still waiting for lab results. Both Vivoo and Eli Health are reimagining this by bringing the entire process into the home.
Eli Health's Hormometer caught my attention. With 97% accuracy for cortisol testing and 94% for progesterone compared to FDA-approved lab tests, they're eliminating the traditional send-away process entirely. This isn't just about convenience wither. It's about enabling the kind of continuous monitoring that was practically impossible with traditional lab-based approaches in the past.
When you remove the friction of having to send samples to a lab, you open up entirely new possibilities for how women can monitor and understand their health.
With both Vivoo and Eli Health pushing in this direction, I believe that we're seeing the beginning of a significant shift in how hormone testing works, and also what consumers expect in terms of UX going forward.
Ecosystems Emerge
Another interesting story from CES is about Elvie, a femtech pioneer, that is now taking on the family tech world. Elvie's story isn't one about a single product either, it's about ecosystem thinking. Looking at both Elvie's latest launch and Panasonic Well's dominant presence, we're seeing what happens when you truly put the user at the center and build around their complete needs, rather than just creating standalone products.
Take Elvie's journey: from pelvic trainer to breast pump to their new Rise smart bouncer-bassinet for babies. They're not randomly expanding into new indications – they're methodically building out solutions for their core user's evolving needs as a new mother.
Panasonic's presence at CES this year tells a similar story. Like Elvie, they're building comprehensive ecosystems that aim to meet 100% of a familiy's needs.
A Glimpse of What's Next
So in summary I think that waht we're seeing at CES this year suggests two major shifts in women's health technology.
First, the complete at-home testing revolution could fundamentally change how women monitor and understand their hormonal health, making continuous monitoring not just possible but practical.
Second, the rise of comprehensive care ecosystems signals that the future of women's health tech won't be built on standalone products, but on integrated solutions that fully support women through specific life stages.
I absolutely expect that we'll see more companies following this ecosystem approach in 2025 and beyond, working to create complete care solutions for specific moments or phases in women's lives. And I believe that when looking back at CES 2025 it is these shifts rather than any individual product announcement, that reveal where women's health innovation is truly heading.
