November 22, 2022 - News, Trend Watch

Spotlight: Pediatric Innovation

At the start of each week we share a quick “best of” from the week that was with our Inner Circle members. In this week's brief we talk about...

Spotlight: Pediatric Innovation
Reading List: On FamilyTech, LGBTQ Family Building & Menopause
Startup Spotlight: Phoebe & Yonicore

Last week Luna, a UK-based startup focused on teen health and wellbeing announced £600K in pre-seed funding to launch its app, and support young people aged 11-17 on their journey to adulthood. Luna's goal is to demystify teen issues, that may be seen as embarrassing and can make teens feel alienated. Topics discussed include menstruation, body positivity, gender, sexuality, mental health, skin care, and more.

We wanted to take the news as an opportunity to have a closer look at pediatric innovation, which led us to discover KidsX, an accelerator and ecosystem for pediatric innovation “anchored by a consortium of children’s hospitals motivated to partner with early stage digital health companies.”

Kids’ health is a huge opportunity for true innovation and impact. And as so many other areas we talk about on our platform, pediatric care is in need for better solutions.

“So what areas should we keep an eye on?” 👀

KidsX is currently prioritizing 5 areas:

Pediatric Mental & Behavioral Health
Care Coordination & Adherence
AI/ML/RPA – Automating Workflows to Optimize Care Pathways
Chronic Condition Management & Patient-Reported Outcomes
Game Changer (Editorial Note: 👀🤯)

So in conclusion: None of this is not much different from innovation targeting other patient populations. So just like we apply a gender-lens to potential investments in healthcare companies, there is merit in applying a “pediatric lens” to identify new opportunities and untapped spaces.

“Interesting. I’m here for women’s health though! What opportunities do you see at the intersection of pediatric & women’s health?”

Glad you asked! Here’s a few areas we thought were interesting:

➡️ Femtech to Famtech
We’ve seen tons of companies pop up lately with a focus on pregancy & post-partum. Many of them will likely add pediatric health services to their offering taking a similar path as Maven did evolving from women’s health to family health in its offer and messaging. Read: Maven acquiring Bright Parenting

➡️ Sex Ed becomes Health Ed
What does sex ed look like in a digital-first enviroment? And how can the “standard sex ed” curriculum be evolved to focus on health literacy overall? It is promising to see startups like Luna emerge, who seek to answer these questions.

➡️ Menstrual Health & Menarche

Let’s look at Oky, a period tracking app designed for and with girls in emerging markets. Menstrual health and hygiene can be used as an entry point to provide girl-centred information about menstruation, fertility, contraception, positive health behaviors and where to get help. While many period trackers target an older user, period tracker designed for a younger demographic, need to focus even more on inclusive, evidence-based, and culturally relevant education.

Want to learn more? Yes? In that case you'll want to take a closer look at the resource section in this email today. #familytech

Reading List

Below are three new reports, that stood out to us this past week and are worth spending some time on. for anyone interested in the femtech space! 👇

➡️ Building to care for the modern family: A super-comprehensive and in-depth overview of the family tech market created by Betty Chang, Venture Fellow at Capable Health & Chief of Staff at Capable Health. (Link)

➡️ LGBTQ Family Building Survey: Put together by Family Equality, the report provides new insight into how many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people are interested in becoming parents, and how they are planning to do so. (Link)

➡️ It’s getting hot in here: The unrealised potential of the $53 billion menopause market: Examines the unexplored potential of the menopause market and the major reasons why VCs should start investing in menopause now. Written by Milena Bacalja Perianes and Bhumi Shah it provides an overview of the current landscape, market and consumer trends, and innovative opportunities for investors to get in before the hot flushes pass. (Link)