Let's talk women's mental health ๐ง๐ฝโโ๏ธ; 25 companies innovating in fertility (tech) ๐ฅ; FemAging Fast Pitch competition ๐ฐ; GenM's Annual Menopause Awards ๐ + more
Biweekly newsletter about the latest news and updates on innovation and diversity in wearable tech, health tech, and femtech space.
Happy Monday, everyone! ๐
About 1 out of 6 couples are struggling to conceive and it can become a very frustrating journey to find the help you need. Almost 70,000 cycles of IVF are performed every year in the U.K., and the market is worth around ยฃ320 million annually. Globally, IVF cycles exceed 2.5 million each year, with 9 in 10 patients reporting feelings of stress, anxiety, or depression - there is a huge and growing demand for better IVF support from regulators, patient groups, and clinics alike.
The current system is also fragmented with multiple appointments, long commutes, and big bills. Even though the WHO recognized infertility as a disease and a public health problem, its incidence is consistently increasing. In the U.S., 75% of private insurance policies do not adequately cover infertility, so if youโre on a public insurance plan, itโs extremely unlikely you have any fertility coverage.
So this month, the topic of our FemTech Untapped webinar was precisely this - fertility and fertility tech! A big Thank you! to everyone who registeredย and attended our FemTech Untapped virtual event last week and to all of you who sent us so many emails and messages on social media with positive feedback!ย ๐ฅฐ
Loving @Women_Wearables #WoWFemTechUntapped event 'The rise of #fertilitytech - novel solutions for better outcomes'. Hearing about so many brilliant products, communities, from fantastic founders and educators. Excited to see more from these solutions! @Digitas_HealthMany thanks to our speakers fromย FERTIยทLILY,ย Aura Fertility, Proov, and Hertilityย for their amazing insights and energy!
Check out the recorded session and all materials from the webinar on this link.
In my latest story for Forbes, I dived deep into this topic and featured eight companies redefining what accessible, affordable, and, more than anything, inclusive innovation in fertility care looks like. Find the full story on this link!
One of the companies featured in this article - Mojo - was super kind to offer a discount code for the WOW community for 30% off their Mojo at-home sperm test - use the code WOW30 in the check-out process when you visitย their website (offer expire on 30 June). Use the offer on Mojoโs website!
๐ Check out some other cool offers we have for you in our WoW Marketplace, offered by our members:
โก๏ธ 20% off for all Lovehoney online shops, valid for all products (use code WOW20, offer expires 30 June)
โก๏ธ 15% off your first 3-month bundle of Cycle Balance by Elix Healing (use code WOW15)
โก๏ธ 20% off Monthly Calm, all natural ingredient PMS and period pain relief soft gel capsules (use code WOW20)
โก๏ธ 3 months of free access to Clementine app
โก๏ธ Understand key ideas in 15 minutes. Claim your special offer and save 30% on Blinkist Premium today!
Interested in sharing your special offer for the WoW community or you would like to discuss partnership and collaboration?ย Get in touch!
Thank you for tuning in this Monday, happy reading! Marija & Anja ๐
WoW webinars and virtual events ๐ ๐
According to WHO, in 2019, 1 in every 8 people, or 970 million people around the world were living with a mental disorder (anxiety and depressive disorders being the most common). In 2020, the number of people living with anxiety and depressive disorders rose significantly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial estimates show a 26% and 28% increase respectively for anxiety and major depressive disorders in just one year.
Although the conversation around anxiety and depression has started, it is still not enough. Mental health goes beyond anxiety and depression. Stigmatizing bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, eating disorders, disruptive behaviour and dissocial disorders, burnout, and neurodevelopmental disorders, prevent those in need to seek support and help.
Join us in July to learn more about mental health beyond anxiety and depression, and hear from our brilliant speakers and the amazing work theyโre doing in order to improve mental health care and research worldwide.
Many thanks to our program partners FemTec Health and Goodwin, for supporting this event and our femtech program! ๐ฅฐ
Our webinar partner for this session is Prosoma - an interdisciplinary team of entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, and psychologists developing applications that provide cancer patients with comprehensive solutions fully tailored to their specific needs. They use the latest developments in AI and new opportunities offered by mobile technologies. Their first application, Living Well, was developed to help support the mental health of female cancer patients. It is here to see them through the difficult time post-diagnosis and fill the gap in the often failing system of mental health care. Prosoma aims to help patients manage their emotions, create healthy habits, and improve their overall recovery process.
Follow us on Eventbrite to stay up to date with all our future events and meetups! Link here.
Interested in joining us for one of our future webinars or you would like to discuss partnership and collaboration?ย Get in touch!
๐งโ๐ซ Join our LinkedIn femtech group with 1,600+ members where we discuss all things womenโs health, femtech innovation, and investment.
WoW community events, news, and updates ๐ป๐๐
๐ฐ The Zayed Sustainability Prize recognises nonprofit organisations (NPOs), small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and high schools for their impactful, innovative and inspiring sustainable solutions across the categories of Health, Food, Energy, Water, and Global High Schools. The Prizeโs US$3 million annual fund rewards winners US $600,000 in each category.ย Entries will be accepted until 6 July 2022 through the Prizeโs online portal.ย
๐ฌ We recently interviewed Pamela Stahl - Sidekick's Chief Commercial Officer and President, North America, where she opened up about her career journey and patient-centric approach to DTx. Read the full interview on our blog.
๐ช๐ฝ Our member company Presagen is doing great work in the AI and fertility space. Read more about them here.
๐ฐ Our member company fermata has officially closed its Series A funding and we couldnโt be more excited for them!
๐ธ Our member Adonica Shaw has become the recipient of the Sacramento County Black Midwives $25,000 Scholarship! Congrats, Adonica!
๐ In an exclusive interview with Insights Care, our member Lisa Krapinger, co-founder and CEO of breathe ilo, sheds light on the companyโs journey, the current industry scenario, and her vision for the companyโs future.
๐ FemTech Lab Fall Cohort 2022 applications are now open!ย Applyย here.
๐ฌ Meet our WoW woman in Wearable Tech - Stacy Salvi, Vice President of Strategy at Movano Inc.! Read the full interview on our blog.
๐ฐ Calling all femtech startups - apply to pitch your femtech solution to the FemAging Fast Pitch Competition, the deadline for applications is 27 June!
๐๐ฝ Biote Debuts as Publicly Traded Company Focused on Transforming Hormone Optimization Industry, find out more on our blog.
๐ ลURA makes the list from Business Insider. Check the full story here.
๐ง Sign up to Thrive Wearablesโ newsletter to get the latest wearable tech industry insights - this month, theyโve been talking about how to get production-ready.
๐ Our members from GenM are launching GenMโs Annual Menopause Awards. The world-first awards will honour the achievements made in improving the menopause experience. Find out more.
๐ Hustle Awards are happening on 21st July at The Steel Yard in London! Tickets are on sale now and it's not a night to be missed!
๐ฅย Become a WoW memberย to learn from and connect with our community of entrepreneurs, designers, and technologists, leverage valuable resources, and discover career opportunities!
โก๏ธ Follow us onย Twitterย /ย LinkedInย /ย Instagramย /ย Facebook.
๐งย Get in touchย if youโd like to become our partner and promote your company in this newsletter!
๐ If you are a female founder, designer, or technologist, we would love to feature you on ourย WoW women blog!
Thanks for reading this newsletter, if you wish to send us feedback or have a question, email us, we would love to hear from you! ๐ฅฐ