FemTech Revolution: Which start-ups are transforming women’s health?

On International Women’s Day, we explore the rise of FemTech and how several start-ups are revolutionising women’s health on a global scale.

Over the past few years, FemTech has emerged as a dynamic and rapidly growing segment of the healthcare industry. The market for FemTech is estimated to be worth $500 million and $1 billion. Forecasts suggest that there are opportunities for double-digit revenue growth in this segment. Despite this growth, FemTech companies currently only receive 3 percent of all digital health funding.

To mark International Women’s Day, we explore several cutting-edge solutions on offer in FemTech, showcasing some of the most exciting innovations in this field, and sharing how EIT Health supports FemTech start-ups in different ways.

Nua Surgical

From 2000 to 2025, delivery by C-section had almost doubled globally, when it reached about 29.7M births. While C-sections can be life-saving procedures, they are also associated with increased risk of complications for the mother such as infection, haemorrhage and even death when compared to a vaginal birth.

Spun out of BioInnovate Ireland at University of Galway and co-founded by Barry McCann, Padraig Maher, Marie Therese Maher, and Nua Surgical has developed the SteriCISION C-section Retractor to improve access and visualisation during Caesarean Delivery. The retract allows obstetricians and their assistants hands-free unobstructed access to the uterus during surgery.

Amara Therapeutics

One in four women suffer from pelvic and bladder health conditions such as overactive bladder, interstitial cystistis, and sexual dysfunction, which often go undiagnosed for a prolonged period.

Founded by Brendan Staunton and Emma Carr, Amara Therapeutics is introducing Digital therapeutics (DTx) to deliver medical interventions directly to patients’ smartphones to treat, manage, and prevent a broad spectrum of diseases and disorders. They are also developing a prescription digital therapeutic platform, RiSolve, for the treatment of Overactive Bladder.

Revolutionising FemTech solutions such as these are transforming the way women approach their healthcare needs by leveraging innovative technologies, powered to a significant extent by female entrepreneurs. Research has shown that when inventors set out to solve a health problem, male inventors are more likely to solve for a male-oriented condition; women-led teams solve for both.

To enable advancements in FemTech further, EIT Health connects early-stage, female-led or co-led healthcare start-ups to an unparalleled network of mentors. Find out more about the Women Entrepreneurship Bootcamp.

Additionally, applications for business accelerator programmes, have just opened for startups at each stage of the innovation pipeline.

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