FemTech leverages technology to enhance women's health and wellness and is revolutionizing the women's health industry by addressing previously neglected issues and providing innovative, personalized care solutions.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? |
FemTech's importance lies in its revolutionary approach to women's health. By leveraging technology, it addresses neglected issues and provides innovative, personalized care solutions. This focus enhances women's health and wellness, expanding its scope from menstruation, fertility, and pregnancy to a broader range of conditions like hormonal imbalances, menopause, breast cancer, and heart disease. |
By Katheryn Pence, MHIT
FemTech is a term applied to software, diagnostics, products, and services that use technology to focus on women’s health (McMillan, 2022). The term was officially coined in 2016 by the co-founders of Clue, a tracking application for ovulation and periods. In FemTech’s infancy, the focus was on menstruation, fertility, and pregnancy. Today, Femtech continues to expand to more conditions, ranging from hormonal imbalances and menopause to breast cancer and heart disease. In this article, we will explore the current market for FemTech, including key technologies, and highlight the barriers faced within this market segment.
Market and Growth
According to Nova One Advisor Research, “the FemTech market size was exhibited at USD 39.45 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit around USD 179.82 billion by 2034, growing at a CAGR of 16.38% during the forecast period 2024 to 2034.” (Nova One, 2024). A few factors contributing to the demand for this market include the increasing demand for digital health technologies, increased awareness of the healthcare gender gap, and the trend of healthcare as a consumer market.
Not only are we seeing increased demand for wearable health devices, but virtual health platforms are also coming into this sector. Today, an estimated “3.91K companies in the FemTech sector across the world, with 1.05K funded companies having collectively raised $7.49B in venture capital money and private equity” (Tracxn, 2025).
Key Technologies
Initially, FemTech technologies focused on maternity health and menstruation. Today, the scope is expansive and inclusive to women of all ages with a holistic care approach including reproductive, menstrual, sexual, vaginal, oncology, brain, heart, bone, mental, and autoimmune health. Trending tech sectors include:
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Challenges and Barriers
Historically, women have been underrepresented in health research and clinical trials, leading to misdiagnosis and illness from preventable conditions. “As recently as 2019, women accounted for roughly 40% of participants in clinical trials for three of the diseases that most affect women — cancer, cardiovascular disease, and psychiatric disorders — despite representing 51% of the U.S. population” (Balch, 2024). “In spite of women spending twice as much on healthcare as men, only 4% of traditional biopharma research and development funding goes toward female health issues” (Astute, 2024).
One contributing factor to the lack of funding is the perception of Femtech as a “niche” market and, simply, a lack of familiarity with women’s health issues. As a result of this disparity, “femtech companies often receive small, incremental investments, limiting their ability to scale and lack of sustainable funding remains a barrier to bold innovations” (Department of Biomedical, 2024).
Health data privacy and regulatory hurdles are top concerns for the FemTech market. There is a lack of comprehensive legislation regulating how health data can be collected and handled. Compounding this issue is the inconsistent state data privacy regulations that femtech must comply with. With any sensitive data, the risk is high for data breaches and cyber-attacks, leaving sensitive information vulnerable.
The 1996 HIPAA and 2009 HITECH acts focused on protecting electronic health data used by covered entities and clinical electronic data but include data collected outside of the clinical setting. This privacy gap leaves “sensitive information such as geolocation data and search/purchase online history that is collected and sold is largely unprotected by federal laws, and/or stored by individuals in their personal devices and mobile apps or created via wearable fitness tracking devices” (Olivero, 2022).
Future Opportunities
With the consumer-centric, holistic nature of FemTech, many opportunities for future expansion and innovation remain. Fueled by the growing awareness of the health gender gap, women are demanding more personalized, gender-specific care for women. Advancing AI and data analytic capabilities lead to more sophisticated and customized care with earlier detection of health conditions.
With advancing telehealth, wearables, home testing, and remote monitoring, accessibility of care will be an afterthought. Reaching underserved communities, including LGBTQ and lower-income communities, also increases inclusivity. Companies that prioritize diversity, bringing unique perspectives into the design phase, could gain the femtech market's trust and create inclusive and more effective products.
Call to Action
The first and most important step for the future of FemTech is raising awareness. Women make 80% of the household healthcare decisions (Stone, 2019). According to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, “in 2021, women counted for 75.0 percent of total employment (5.2 million) in hospitals, 77.4 percent of total employment (8.3 million) in health services, except hospitals, and 84.0 percent of total employment (2.6 million) in social assistance” (US Bureau, 2022). With women holding most of the healthcare consumer and care delivery market, women can advocate for improved, personalized healthcare solutions.
Increasing awareness would, in turn, encourage increased investments in the FemTech industry. On March 18, 2024, President Joe Biden signed the Executive Order on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation, calling to invest $12 billion to create a Fund for Women’s Health Research at the National Institutes of Health. “This agenda is set to establish a new nationwide network of research centers of excellence and innovation in women’s health” (The White House, 2024). As per the state of this article, private funding includes:
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The future of healthcare depends on inclusive innovation, raising awareness, recognizing women as a driving force in the industry, and advocating for increased investments. The time is now to support solutions prioritizing women’s health and investing in a healthier world for everyone.
Resources:
1. McMillan C. (2022). Monitoring Female Fertility Through 'Femtech': The Need for a Whole-System Approach to Regulation. Medical law review, 30(3), 410–433. https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwac006
2. Nova One Advisor. (2024). FemTech market size, share, & trends analysis report by type (devices, software, services), by application (pregnancy and nursing care), by end-use (direct to consumer), by region—Industry analysis, share, growth, regional outlook and forecasts, 2024–2034. https://www.novaoneadvisor.com/report/femtech-market.
3. Tracxn. (2025, February 25). FemTech - Sector landscape and marketmap. Tracxn. https://tracxn.com/d/sectors/femtech/__UWUAWaUHwrQ_O_5dVhAcliJeOxbY2Ze9lPT9NSvqeug.
4. Global Market Insights. (2024). Femtech market – By type, by application, by end use – Global forecast, 2025–2034. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/femtech-market.
6. Astute Analytica. (2024, May 24). FemTech market is witnessing unstoppable revenue growth, reaching US$ 177.05 billion by 2032. BioSpace. https://www.biospace.com/femtech-market-is-witnessing-unstoppable-revenue-growth-reaching-us-177-05-billion-by-2032.
7. Department of Biomedical Informatics. (2024, November 15). AI, FemTech, and the future of women's health: Key insights from leading innovators. Columbia University. https://www.dbmi.columbia.edu/femtech-panel/
8. Olivero, A. (2022, October 25). Privacy and digital health data: The femtech challenge. International Association of Privacy Professionals. https://iapp.org/news/a/privacy-and-digital-health-data-the-femtech-challenge.
9. Stone, T. (2019, January 17). New report: Women make 80% of buying decisions but represent only 13% of CEOs. Oliver Wyman. https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/perspectives/health/2019/jan/women-in-healthcare-make-80--of-purchasing-decisions--yet-13--of.html.
10. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022, March 8). Over 16 million women worked in health care and social assistance in 2021. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/over-16-million-women-worked-in-health-care-and-social-assistance-in-2021.htm.
11. The White House. (2024, March 18). Fact sheet: President Biden issues executive order and announces new actions to advance women’s health research and innovation. The White House Archives. https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/03/18/fact-sheet-president-biden-issues-executive-order-and-announces-new-actions-to-advance-womens-health-research-and-innovation.
12. FemTech World. (2025, February 6). FemTech round-up: The latest investment developments. FemTech World. https://www.femtechworld.co.uk/insight/fem-tech-round-up-the-latest-investment-developments/.
About Kathryn Pence, MHIT
With 15 years of clinical experience and a Master’s in Health Information Technology, I am passionate about leveraging technology to improve healthcare processes. My background in patient care gives me a unique perspective on workflow optimization, data-driven decision-making, and patient-centered solutions. I am currently expanding my expertise in health information management, data analytics, and healthcare technologies.
