by Swathi Kulkarni
Coined a few years back, the term FemTech has rapidly evolved to represent a wide range of technology-driven solutions, female-centric products, and services. These include software, diagnostics solutions, medical products, and tech-based services that support feminine health issues.
Growing at a CAGR of over 16%, the global FemTech sector is estimated to cross 97 billion dollars in market size by 2030. At present, the majority of brands in this sector focus on fertility, maternal health, reproductive issues, and birth control products. While all these are critical areas that need attention and support, there is also a need to look beyond these and focus on the unaddressed health issues faced by women. The traditional approach so far has focused on puberty and pregnancy-related health issues, but there is a tremendous lack of support on other issues affecting women such as menopause. Even for general health problems such as cardiovascular health, osteoporosis etc., the symptoms are often quite different between men and women, yet doctors usually adopt a one-size-fits-all approach.
With half of the world’s population being women, it is quite shocking to notice that only 4% of the medical research budgets are spent on their health. It is common to see very few or no women being included in clinical trials for new drugs and therapies. Such a non-inclusive approach has been a major impediment in the path of ensuring holistic wellness for women. In this era of personalized and precision medication, gender-specific healthcare is the right of every woman. Data-driven FemTech solutions can offer personalised support that synchronises with a woman’s menstrual cycle and even provide guidance and suggestions that are culturally synchronized with their community/region/religion sensibilities. There is a need for dedicated efforts to address the challenges of menopause and age-related health issues in women.
Of late, especially in the wake of the pandemic, the rise of online healthcare platforms has created significant awareness about these issues. Today, there are women from all parts of India whether it is a metro or a Tier II city, who are getting online and seeking consultations for their problems. The demand is being witnessed across all age categories as well and even women as old as 90 years and above have connected with online communities, healthcare platforms and experts for guidance and care. Online platforms have several benefits for women seeking such support. They not only get access from anywhere, anytime, but are also able to enjoy the desired level of privacy while discussing their intimate health problems.
There is a great opportunity to use tech such as big data and AI analytics to extract insights from historical data, identify trends, and create solutions for the same. By accurately decoding the historical data of millions of women, the FemTech companies can formulate new treatment strategies and processes that make understanding and predicting the healthcare challenges better. Such an analytics-driven approach can improve diagnosis, and create more accurate and personalized treatments as well.
FemTech in India may be nascent, but with over 600 million women to serve, there is limitless potential. A few healthcare startups in recent years have started working on FemTech-driven healthcare to meet their needs at different stages of life starting from puberty to post-menopause. The categories of female health issues addressed by these startups are steadily increasing. Usage of advanced FemTech can help make solutions more affordable and universal in nature. With the rise in competition in this sector, there are also ample opportunities for FemTechstartups to collaborate and partner with the legacy healthcare and feminine products enterprises.
Apart from the integration of technology, there is also a major need for women who are themselves consumers of FemTech solutions, and well-versed with unresolved needs, to enter the sector and build necessary products and services. For instance, menopause is a problem that typically coincides with the age when a woman enters the C-suite of an organization. Thus, the understanding and the need to find solutions for such issues is going to be greater in an ecosystem where groupings such as business founders, doctors, investors, and researchers have a healthy gender balance. This is evident by the fact that over 70% of FemTech companies have at least one female founder, compared to the average of 20% in the overall startup ecosystem.
A key factor to observe here is that the FemTech market is not just focusing on revenue generation and building unicorns. The focus is predominantly on bringing about a tech-driven enhancement in the quality of care available for women. They are constantly focusing on developing more effective and precise products and tools that can address the currently overlooked aspects of female health. There is a need to build a framework that is compassionate, convenient and offers adequate care to all women across the country. Smart digital solutions would play a key role in enabling self-care among women.
This approach is bound to be the game-changer in the years ahead, not only for women but for the overall healthcare ecosystem globally. This is because women are not just consumers of the services and products targeting them, but also the primary healthcare decision-makers for their entire families. In fact, educated and empowered women are often sought as healthcare advisors, even by their friends and extended families. Therefore, the development of FemTech solutions that deliver superior outcomes and enhance the quality of life for women, will eventually pave the path for overall improvement in the life quality of communities.
Swathi Kulkarni, Co-Founder and CEO, Elda Health
(DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETHealthworld does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETHealthworld.com shall not be responsible for any damage caused to any person / organisation directly or indirectly.)