Femtech highlights both the potential of gender-focused innovation and the structural barriers limiting women’s access to funding, research, and policy support
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This article is part of the essay series - Nations, Networks, Narratives: World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2025.
The term “Femtech” was coined by entrepreneur Ida Tin in 2016. Her intention behind introducing this term was to normalise conversations about women’s health within the tech world. It serves as an umbrella term for businesses in the health technology sector which focus on a range of health issues, including but not limited to those affecting cisgender, gender nonconforming, and sexually minority women. In addition to other health issues that disproportionately affect women, the solutions femtech offers encompass areas such as maternity health, menstrual health, fertility, menopause, and contraception. The industry's initial focus was primarily on menstruation and fertility, but it has since broadened to include fitness, mental health, and sexual wellness tech, as well as several general health conditions that affect women disproportionately or differently (such as osteoporosis or cardiovascular disease).
The industry's initial focus was primarily on menstruation and fertility, but it has since broadened to include fitness, mental health, and sexual wellness tech, as well as several general health conditions that affect women disproportionately or differently.
As the world marks World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2025 with a focus on the theme ‘Gender Equality in Digital Transformation’, femtech offers a critical and often overlooked perspective: how digital technologies can be leveraged to address women's health needs. Despite its potential to empower millions of women through accessible and personalised healthcare solutions, femtech is hindered by structural challenges such as gender bias in funding, regulatory hurdles and societal taboos, which are discussed in the following sections.
Once thought of as a niche sector within healthcare, femtech is now a globally recognised field. With increasing awareness and technological advancements, a growing demand for personalised health solutions is emerging. Femtech has expanded from period-tracking apps to encompass fertility, maternal care, menopause support, and chronic condition management. The adoption of wearable tech, mobile platforms, and AI-enabled diagnostics has further accelerated its reach.
Globally, its market is forecast to witness double-digit growth, and in India alone, it is projected to more than triple between 2023 and 2030, underscoring strong domestic demand. In fact, according to reports, women are 75 percent more likely than men to embrace digital tools for their healthcare needs, which renders femtech a market with massive potential.
Femtech has expanded from period-tracking apps to encompass fertility, maternal care, menopause support, and chronic condition management.
Despite this momentum, femtech still receives only a small fraction of overall health tech investment, reflecting deeper gender disparities in funding and research priorities. Investment in femtech accounts for only 1-2 percent of the total health technology funding, and less than 2 percent of medical research funding is spent on pregnancy, childbirth and female reproductive health even today, according to Imperial College London.
While femtech promises to transform how women access and experience healthcare, its growth is still shaped by the realities of gender inequality. Behind every innovation lies a set of structural barriers that often mirror the everyday challenges women face in being heard, funded, and taken seriously in both the tech and medical worlds:
According to a report by the World Bank, women make up less than a third of the world’s workforce in technology-related fields. The proportion of women in the tech sector has declined in recent years. Globally, women hold just 32 percent of senior management positions in the tech sector. This underrepresentation in decision-making positions can influence the development and prioritisation of products, including those in the femtech space.
Despite the growing visibility of femtech, funding patterns continue to reflect entrenched gender biases. Female founders often struggle to find their footing in a startup ecosystem rife with gender bias. A significant portion of femtech enterprises globally and in India are founded by women, many driven by personal health gaps or lived experiences. There is also a substantial gender gap in Venture Capital (VC) funding. Male founders are four times more likely to receive funding as compared to startups with one woman on the founding team. Female-founded firms tend to be evaluated through a gendered lens, where VCs perceive these founders as having limited technical knowledge, being less capable of executing a business concept, and posing a greater risk.
Even when women-led femtech companies manage to secure funding, they typically receive less capital than their male counterparts. A recent analysis revealed that since 2010, femtech companies with female founders have raised, on average, 23 percent less capital per deal than comparable male-founded companies. Moreover, female-only founded femtech startups secured about 28 percent of the venture funding in the sector, while male-only founded teams captured nearly 38 percent.
A recent analysis revealed that since 2010, femtech companies with female founders have raised, on average, 23 percent less capital per deal than comparable male-founded companies.
These disparities are not merely statistics; they shape what kind of products are developed, who they serve, and how far they scale. For many women founders working in deeply personal and often culturally sensitive fields such as fertility or menstrual health, the absence of investor empathy or understanding remains a persistent barrier. The result is a funding environment where those most equipped to innovate in women’s health are too often under-resourced and overlooked.
Medical research has disproportionately focused on male subjects for years, resulting in a significant deficit of data regarding women's health. As a result of this gender bias, insights into various diseases and findings about medications have been based on trials conducted on men and then applied to women. There is a lack of medical data and clinical trials that focus on women’s health needs, particularly concerning reproductive health, menopause, or hormonal disorders. This presents a major barrier, as without robust datasets, femtech innovators often struggle to develop evidence-backed products or demonstrate clinical efficacy. This not only affects product development but also complicates compliance with regulations and integration with national digital health systems.
Perhaps the most unique challenge in femtech is overcoming the cultural silence surrounding women’s bodies. Many female health topics have historically been considered private, embarrassing, or even taboo, and this stigma permeates the business realm as well.
For instance, in 2025, a group of six women’s health startups in Europe filed formal complaints about systemic digital censorship of femtech content. They documented numerous cases where women’s health ads or social posts were “shadowbanned” or removed for purported policy violations, even when they contained only anatomical language or clinical facts. Meanwhile, content for male-focused products (like erectile dysfunction medication) was allowed to proliferate on the same social media platforms. This censorship severely hampers femtech businesses—some report losing substantial revenue due to blocked ads and account suspensions, making it harder to reach customers and secure investment.
Many female health topics have historically been considered private, embarrassing, or even taboo, and this stigma permeates the business realm as well.
Together, these challenges point to a deeper issue: femtech enterprises are innovating without an enabling ecosystem. This prompts the consideration of what a more enabling policy environment might look like.
Despite growing consumer demand and social relevance, femtech remains largely absent from our institutional frameworks. India’s current digital health policies and startup support schemes like Startup India and the National Digital Health Mission are yet to acknowledge femtech as a distinct focus area. This absence is not neutral—it signals a lack of recognition that ultimately trickles down to how funding is allocated, what innovations are scaled, and who gets to build solutions that matter.
As a researcher observing this space, the disconnect feels particularly stark because the ambition exists among founders and users alike. Yet, current policies, though well-meaning, tend to be sector-agnostic or gender-neutral in ways that may not fully address the needs of those working on stigmatised or deeply gendered health issues like menstruation, menopause, or fertility. Catering to these issues is crucial as they are central to the health and agency of half the population, and the broader goals of digital inclusion and public health equity.
At a time when we are discussing gender equality in digital transformation, we need to ask: Are we making room for innovation that speaks to the realities of women? Sometimes, making room doesn’t require sweeping reforms—just thoughtful, visible support in the right areas.
Tanusha Tyagi is a Research Assistant with the Centre for Digital Societies at the Observer Research Foundation
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Tanusha Tyagi is a research assistant with the Centre for Digital Societies at ORF. Her research focuses on issues of emerging technologies, data protection and ...
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