When start-ups invest in women’s health – Innovation

FemTech entrepreneurs design innovative products to support women in their daily health and in their intimate lives. We take stock of this growing sector.

France clearly displays its ambitions. “FemTech brings together all the innovations, in the broad sense, which improve women’s health, whether technological or practical, deciphers Delphine Moulu, general manager and co-founder of the Association. FemTech France. It could be medicationsof software that helps to make a diagnosisof services…But for us, a nursing home which brings together all the specialists that women need, it is also FemTech”.

Federating an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and healthcare professionals

At the end of 2022, his association had listed no less than 81 French start-ups claiming to be FemTech. Some focus on wellness. However, FemTech France, a very young association since it was created last September, has resolutely chosen to support entrepreneurs focused on women’s health. “We want to federate this ecosystem and ensure that the various players work more with each other. Doctors are on the ground, with needs and desires. We want to connect them with entrepreneurs who have a business profile but who have no access to healthcare professionals or manufacturers », Aims Delphine Moulu.

Apps around the menstrual cycle, on high-risk pregnancies…

Menstruation, urinary incontinence, vaginitis, vulvitis… the actresses (and actors) of FemTech particularly invest in still taboo areas of female intimacy. Among the innovations that have already conquered the public, it is worth mentioning smartphone apps for tracking the menstrual cycle. Clue, the most famous of them, was developed by a German company that claims millions of users in 190 countries.
We can also mention the British Flo and there are many others… As for French start-ups, a few women entrepreneurs have also carried out large-scale FemTech projects. This is the case of Florine Duplessis, founder and general manager of Efelya, a medical application that aims to accompany women until they give birth, and above all to prevent and detect high-risk pregnancies. “Efelya is the only app in the world certified as a medical device for screening high-risk pregnancies,” says its designer. The latter relied on her professional skills to develop her project. “I am a trained sonographer midwife, specializing in pathologies of pregnancy and I run a health center in Brittany”. To operate the application, it collaborates with 35 professional health experts. Via her free application – with the exception of the “chat” which allows you to converse with a practitioner -, Florine Duplessis does not seek to compete with her colleagues but rather to ensure continuity of follow-up. “In terms of medical demographics, we are undersized compared to the number of pregnant women. The patient will find information about Efelya between two doctor’s appointments. My application also makes it possible to avoid emergency consultations ”.

Vigilance on misleading claims and the protection of personal data

Framed by its status as a medical device, Efelya is a “good student”. But in the FemTech environment, as in any emerging sector, there are also unscrupulous companies. A fortiori around these areas of women’s health which arouse high public expectations because they are of little interest to pharmaceutical laboratories and industrialists in general. Vigilance must therefore be required to rule out pseudo-innovations whose health promises seem too good to be realistic.
A l’inverse, a clear status (medication, medical device, etc.), the presence of health professionals in the team and highlighting the measures taken by the company to protect users’ personal data will be good indicators to identify FemTech solutions of interest. And if in doubt, you should seek advice from a health professional.