Ainsley Harris’ Post

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of hosting the Innovating Women's Health Panel Discussion and Networking event in collaboration with Women in Business Club | London Business School! Our panel consisted of Dr Stephanie Kuku, MD and Sophia Zachares (she/her), moderated by Ashley Ong. Sharing our main takeaways: 1. Terminology and Perception: The term 'femtech' can trivialise the potential market in women’s health and the innovation within it. Labelling technologies specifically as 'femtech' could restrict broader recognition. 2. Investment Challenges: The importance of bottom-up demand creation and top-down regulatory and policy support to foster a conducive environment for innovations in women's health. Companies seeking investment also need to clearly understand what problem they want to solve and what solution they can propose. 3. Broadening the Scope: The scope of women's health needs to expand beyond fertility and menstrual health to include women-specific pain and diseases, reflecting the diverse health challenges women face. 4. Systemic Opportunities: The potential for integrating public health systems like the NHS with private solutions as a promising approach for scaling innovations. This would involve both vertical and horizontal integration within healthcare systems to reduce friction and improve efficiency. Precious K. Heejung Koo Pallavi Banerji Sonal Pai Mahah Sadique Sultan

The U.S. health system was not designed for or by women, and as a result the health needs of women have historically been underprioritized. This extends to the investment landscape, where women’s health represents just 2% of the billions of venture funds that went to health innovators last year.   As I shared with Deloitte, we must recognize, appreciate, and work to understand the differences between men and women and how they uniquely present symptoms. From there, we’re able to target and treat them appropriately.   Fortunately, women’s health-focused companies are on the rise, with a 1,000% increase in the number of businesses in this space over the past decade.   Learn more about the latest breakthroughs in women’s health from Deloitte’s analysis here: https://bit.ly/433MHUk

It's great to see continued focus on funding in women's health, and increased investment from 2022 to 2023 by 5%, while investment overall in health tech was down 27%. It's gains for women's health technology, but we can and should be investing more in this space. Check out the article linked below. Jay Bhatt Sheryl Jacobson jen radin Peter Micca Christine D. Chang steve davis Madhushree Wagh

Christine D. Chang is one of our research managers at the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. Women's health is a broad category and Christine tackles the issues that aren't discussed enough. She helped research and write our Deloitte Insights report highlighting trends of investing in and funding for health innovators focused on women’s health. As a mom of three, including a daughter, Christine is invested in a future that prioritizes the health needs of women. We celebrate Christine, her team, and all the #women who make history during #WomensHistoryMonth. Check out Christine’s article, "Can investors help women’s health break through the glass ceiling?" #DeloitteInsights

Women's health is a trending global topic that has started to transcend its historical brand as a niche market - but what does it really take to successfully address the numerous challenges and drive meaningful progress? Interesting insights here around the connection between women's health and corresponding investment strategies and trends to help close gaps in equitable care. #womenshealth #femtech #healthtech #healthequity Claudia Navarro Padilla Linda DaSilva, RPh, MS Vicky Levy Christina Mitchell, CPA Emily Duncan Brian Doty

Women's health is more than a niche market! Deloitte Center for Health Solutions has published a report on funding trends in #womenshealth that highlights some interesting but not surprising stats. The report also discusses gender bias, systemic challenges to women's health, and the recent federal initiatives that could help drive interest and investment in companies focused on women’s health. It also lists some untapped opportunities in other underserved markets with unmet medical and health-related needs. Report: https://lnkd.in/df8ZVDjf #deloitte #femtech #investment #innovation #trends #report

Fantastic research paper by Deloitte showing investors could help innovative companies break through the glass ceiling in women’s health while addressing long ignored or misunderstood health issues. Studies prove the health needs of women have historically been underprioritized, despite women making up over half of the US population. While women often have different health needs, and can present different symptoms than men, there can be little to differentiate the type of care women receive. Attention, innovation and investment in women’s health can help ensure a healthier and more equitable future for all women.        

🚀 Exciting update! There's a game-changing initiative in the works to shake up women's health research. For too long, women have been underrepresented and understudied in health research, leading to critical gaps in understanding conditions that affect them uniquely. This funding will empower women and healthcare providers with improved tools and information for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, fostering innovation in the process. #WomensHealth #HealthcareInnovation

Last week I had an opportunity to attend a multi-disciplinary panel discussion (hosted by #MedtechForum) on women’s health, where they discussed issues on policymaking, research, venture funding, and digital health. It was an extremely enlightening discussion, and it all came down to the fact that we need CLINICAL DATA to make meaningful advancement in women’s health. Here are some of the key takeaways: 👉🏽Focusing on Women’s Health is a way to elevate socio-economic development. If you want to lift a household, start with women. 👉🏽It is a unique chicken and egg situation. We need strong clinical evidence to develop an effective health policy. However, we also need policy to drive diversity in clinical trials. 👉🏽A strong government strategy and action plan is needed to make progress. A case in point is the 2017 Austrian Action Plan on Women's health, which has led to an increase in awareness on women’s health issues, and generated critical data in menstrual health. 👉🏽Unmet needs in women's health will fuel entrepreneurship. As women navigate through various life stages, they seek more answers. Due to lack of expertise across the healthcare ecosystem, women rely on fellow women with similar experiences. Peanut is a platform that brings women together to navigate life transitions. 👉🏽There is a huge market development opportunity leveraging digital platforms. Ironically, developing regions with high usage of mobile platforms (despite lack of robust regulations) among women offer an educational opportunity. #WomensHealth #FemTech #investment #MedtechForum #policy #womenshealthpolicy #evidence #research #innovation #digitalhealth

How do you redesign healthcare with women in mind? I'm honoured to have been asked to join the [w]Health board at Kearney, led by the powerhouse Paula Bellostas Muguerza. It’s a privilege to work with a remarkable group of leaders in #womenshealthcare, all dedicated to driving real, meaningful change. I hope I speak for everyone when I say: We NEED to close the gender gap in health NOW. With this initiative, our goal is to stop contemplating the problem and focus on getting it done ⏰ 🤯 Women wait 4 years longer than men for a diagnosis of the same disease. 🤰🏻 Despite 33% of women facing #reproductivehealth issues, less than 2.5% of publicly funded research in the UK focuses on this area. 🩺 #WomensHealth startups receive only 3% of overall digital health funding. Change is not only necessary; it is long overdue. But it will take deep-rooted, continuous collaboration across all aspects of the health ecosystem to build something better. [w]Health's call to action: ↳#Rethink what equitable healthcare means. ↳#Resync all stakeholders around this new mission. ↳#Regenerate healthcare systems to root equity at their core. 💰 We need to bust the myth that women’s health is a niche business and get the capital flowing into science, innovation and digital health solutions that improve the health of women - our core mission Goddess Gaia Ventures How can you help? What do you want to see from [w]Health?👇 #HealthEquity #wHealth #Regenerate #WomensHealthiswHealth Dr. Anna B., Dr. Stephanie Allen, Kate Maheu, UN Women, Goddess Gaia Ventures, Dr. Priya Agrawal, MD (BMBCh), MPH, Junaid Bajwa, Microsoft, Helen Gaffney, Novo Holdings, Amira Ghouaibi, World Economic Forum, Dr.Sara Saeed Khurram, Sehat Kahani, Oriana Kraft, FemTechnology Summit, Ana-Maria Manda, Cora Neumann, PhD, MPH, Global First Ladies Alliance, William Porteous, Maven Clinic, Sara Rico, Stephanie Sassman, WHO Foundation, Dr Petra Simić, Bupa, Marie Teil, Sahil Tesfu, Essity