Femtech is a collective term used to describe a variety of technology that focuses on female health. This technology can include apps, products (including wearables), services and solutions.
Coined in 2016, femtech touches many different medical and wellness needs, including reproductive wellbeing, fertility, menstruation, pregnancy and nursing, menopause, and sexual health and pleasure. Some examples of femtech products and services include:
- Menstrual health and tracking apps.
- Fertility-tracking apps.
- Reusable underwear.
- Pain relief solutions,
- Wearable breast pumps.
- Kegel-tracking apps and devices.
In the sexual wellness space, Femtech encompasses products and services that include:
- Smart and app-enabled vibrators and sex toys.
- Wearable pleasure products.
- Lubricants and intimate consumable products.
- Safer sex devices.
- Sex education apps.
- Pornography and erotica.
As a term, femtech also encompasses the predominantly female and female-led inventors, innovators, and leaders of the companies creating the products and services. Some companies that are considered Femtech include Elvie (breast pump tech and devices), Dame (sexual pleasure devices), Clue (period tracking) and Wellory (nutrition coaching app).
While these companies certainly existed prior to 2016, collecting them under an umbrella term allowed the market to understand the many and disparate products and services available, as well as gaining a broader understanding of the market that was open and available to these products and services.
Also, by collecting these different types of companies under one term, financial markets have developed equity- and resource-building strategies to fund more femtech startups. In 2019, femtech raised almost $800 million in funding. Some financial analysts believe it will be a $50 billion industry by 2025.
Because of this potential for growth economically, femtech as a category is believed to be limitless in terms of what kinds of products and services it will be created and offered in the future.
