Imagine a nose, but electronic, capable of detecting biomarkers of breast cancer, diabetes, endometriosis or human papillomavirus. Imagine, furthermore, that you can do it through a simple urine test and without having to leave your home. That nose, with its almost magical sense of smell, already exists. It was devised by a US-based ‘FemTech’.
But since technology is ahead of our ability to adapt -and our expectations-, let’s start at the beginning. The ‘FemTech’ are a sector that not only takes women into account, but places them at the center of technological innovation.
If we focused only on the numbers, we could talk about a booming sector and projections that multiply zeros: estimates that the global ‘FemTech’ market will reach 60 billion in 2027. However, within the industry, things are not so promising. The investment in ‘FemTech’ represents only 1-2% of the total financing of health technology. And between 2011 and 2021, only 4% of new medtech drugs related to specific women’s health conditions were approved in the US.
LactApp is a mobile app created in Spain that offers personalized information and support in breastfeeding and motherhood.also with a Breastfeeding and Maternity Care Center in Barcelona and a training division for health professionals. The app is present all over the world with more than 1 million users, in Spain uses it 1 in 4 new mothers and, to date, it has resolved more than 26 million queries. María Berruezo, its founder, has been in the sector long before the concept was coined. FemTech. Despite his success, he knows what it’s like to have his work questioned. She and her team had to demonstrate that neglect of motherhood and breastfeeding is a problem that requires urgent solutions. “We are faced with ignorance of the problem, taboos and prejudices associated with breastfeeding, and lack of financial support to invest in the technology in the initial stages of the project,” he says. Women addressing a problem that directly affects other women. “I am convinced that this approach has generated discomfort or insecurity in investors, accustomed to projects whose needs they understand better,” she confesses.
Another obstacle these companies face is that, even after they have obtained financing and have their product ready to go to market, they encounter challenges that companies focused on men’s health do not face. For example, Béa Fertility, a fertility kit for home use, was informed by Amazon that they could not sell their product on the platform if they used the words “vagina” or “vaginal canal.”. However, the word “semen” was accepted without any problem.
Let’s continue imagining: Would you use some tampons that prevent vaginal infections such as candidiasis? We bet so. Well, not only do they exist, but they are ready to go on the market, but Amazon has also censored them. “The amount of time and money that companies waste trying to solve these problems completely destroys us,” says Clio Wood, co-founder of CensHERship.
The Internet is full of ads about erectile dysfunction, but search engine algorithms punish our breasts and vaginas. “Our biggest challenge has been keeping campaigns and publications active on platforms such as Google Ads and Facebook (META). We were penalized for the images we uploaded an average of five times a year, claiming that they supposedly did not comply with the platform’s policies. They said the images showed too much skin or nudity. It should be noted that all the photos of our models included a top and panties, since we did not even try to wear bras”says Cristina Torres, co-founder of Cocorointim, a company that produces absorbent underwear with the intention of offering a more sustainable, comfortable and healthy product than conventional single-use items, such as sanitary pads and panty liners. Berruezo nods because he knows censorship well. “On Instagram we are banned and penalized for publishing explicit content about breastfeeding and women’s health,” she says.
To combat this censorship, beyond word games and replacing “vagina” with “birth canal”, companies in the sector have created CensHERship, a campaign originating in the United Kingdom that seeks to end censorship of content related to women’s health online. An investigation carried out by Guardian revealed that 100% of the companies FemTech have experienced similar problems. 75% have been rejected when trying to open a bank account; 60% have had their account closed, 32% experienced processing delays, and 21% were charged higher fees. Barriers that they break so that their health is the norm.