Trending Tuesday: FEMTECH = Female Entrepreneurs Using Technology To Find Solutions To Female Problems. A long time avid supporter of female entrepreneurs, I’ve noticed the ‘femtech’ category start to really pick up speed in the last couple of years particularly in healthcare. Women are getting the guts to create products they know women need and want that don’t exist. Fi Bendall Chief Executive of The Female Social Network (TFSN) explained it well earlier this year in her piece for SmartCompany.com.au. She said, “It may seem blindingly obvious to state, but there is a tremendous opportunity for female entrepreneurs in femtech, but also more broadly in other industries where women’s needs and experiences have been diminished or ignored. That’s because not only is the world of investment overwhelmingly male-dominated, the design and engineering professions are also skewed that way too.”
Bendall highlights the story of Danish female entrepreneur @IdaTin who created the period and ovulation tracker app ‘Clue‘ in 2013 is widely credited with coining the term #femtech. In an interview with the The New Yorker Tin related her experience of pitching ‘Clue’ to early investors, who were almost always men. She received a muted response. Many of these potential investors said they would not invest in a product they wouldn’t themselves use. Tin persisted and eventually was able to launch the app, which would go on to be downloaded and used by millions of women across the world. (UH DUH Hello)
The uneasiness of male investors was evident to Tin, who thought the sheer size of the opportunity on offer would have been enough for them to overcome their schoolboy attitudes. “This was clearly not a niche product,” Tin said.
Consulting firm Frost & Sullivan’s report on femtech echoes Tin’s comment that women’s healthcare is not a niche concern. The report estimates femtech products have a market potential of $50 billion globally by 2025.
