Teresa Bau
Journalist with a curious mind
“Have you ever heard about FemTech? It is short for female technology. It refers to technological start-ups founded by women and that are usually focused on women’s health. This sector includes fertility apps, women’s sexual wellness solutions and period-tracking apps, among other services. “
The health industry is dominated by men. According to the State of I&D In European Tech report (2019) by the European venture capital firm Atomico, only 22% of the start-up founders are women and in 2019 only 0.4% of female-founded companies managed to raise capital in contrast to 91.6% of male healthtech founders. If we take into account the opinion of the general manager of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, Bill Aulet, who assures us that “90% of start-ups founded by women are successful”, we will agree that it is a stupid decision not to fund women’s start-ups.
Having worked as a journalist and a communications specialist in the healthcare sector for the last 10 years, I am happy to see FemTech growing as more women are entering the sector and are succeeding. Here are some examples. They are FemTech entrepreneurs from my city, Barcelona.
Helena Torras. A serial entrepreneur and business angel. She is the founder of B-Wom, a digital coach for women that want to live a healthy life.
Núria Pastor. Founder and CEO of HumanITCare, a platform for healthcare professionals to monitor patients with chronic conditions.
Imma Grau. An engineer and digital health specialist, she is the founder of Fundación iSYS, an organization specialised in digital health projects with a social focus. She is also the creator of Xemio, an app for breast cancer patients to monitor their symptoms and quality of life.
Anna Sort. A nurse specialised in gamification and a serial entrepreneur. She is currently the co-founder of two companies in the digital healthcare space: PlayBenefit, a start-up focused on gamifying health interventions, and Alvum, that focuses on delivering personalised gut health solutions to improve the quality of life of individuals.
FemTech is a promising sector that is poised to have an exponential growth in the next decades, according to analysts. Don’t forget this word: FemTech, you are going to hear about it in the near future.
Teresa Bau.
Creativity. Body Health. Lifestyle. Women’s Empowerment.
