Following a successful event focused on women’s health in Basel, Switzerland in April 2024, Euromonitor International was thrilled to once again join Kisaco Research as a panel host, media partner and participant at the FemTech & Consumer Innovation Summit in New Jersey, US, in June. The event spotlighted top femtech trends to inform synergy opportunities, investment and innovation in women’s health for a variety of industry stakeholders – pharma companies, start-ups, investors and consumer goods businesses across sectors.
Holistic business model, partnerships and social engagement provide further scalability
Recognising femtech’s tangible growth prospects in the consumer products and services space, Euromonitor International’s Global Lead - Health and Beauty, Irina Barbalova, led a panel discussion delving into the increased integration of femtech and some of the biggest consumer industries, which have been a key facilitator of improving consumer awareness, education and access to care. The panel investigated all-important questions around scaling existing propositions, ways of elevating credibility and proof of concept, and customer retention strategies, as well as the next-frontier investment spaces across health and beauty, apparel and wearable tech.
“Building integrative end-to-end solutions by exploring adjacent opportunities across the entire wellness ecosystem and considering the full customer journey helps brands to scale effectively and strengthen customer loyalty”
Irina Barbalova, Global Lead - Health and Beauty, Euromonitor International
More specifically, AI-enabled personalisation, strategic partnerships, community building, and a streamlined retail experience provide further scope for pivots into adjacent opportunities, customer retainment and a more engaging innovation ecosystem.
Wearables, for example, when complemented with AI-driven coaching personalised for individuals, provide a unique peek inside women’s bodies by effectively collecting, synthesising, and providing insights based on user data.
Meanwhile, integrating holistic women’s health solutions with social media such as TikTok can help craft innovation pipelines, tailor shopper targeting with more granularity, facilitate interest among younger consumer profiles, and ultimately streamline out-of-door costs that can help keep prices reasonable for new adherents.
Menopause care takes on an integrated lifestyle approach
Menopause was highlighted at the summit as a dynamic pillar of women’s health and femtech development, with holistic, end-to-end positioning expected to gain attraction. As further studies recognise that menopause is accompanied by a plethora of symptoms that vary by person, the scope of menopausal care increasingly encompasses the gut-body-mind spectrum as an integral whole, with symptom and life stage diagnostics and care personalisation key development areas.
Nutrition, particularly protein intake, plays a vital role in menopausal care. Protein supports muscle mass, which is crucial during menopause due to its wide-ranging benefits on overall health.
Globally, 34% of women consider vitamins or supplements intake as a top treatment and preventative approach for menopause symptoms
Source: Euromonitor International’s Voice of the Consumer: Health and Nutrition Survey, fielded February 2024
Sleep emerges as a key biomarker for understanding the nutritional needs of menopausal women. With the help of machine learning, bio-data can be analysed to reveal correlations between lifestyle, nutrition, and menopausal symptoms, paving the way for personalised care. Advances in diagnostics are crucial not only in identifying symptoms but also in determining the specific stages of menopause, allowing for more tailored interventions.
However, the industry faces the challenge of "meno-washing", where products are marketed with exaggerated or unsupported claims. To combat this, a stronger foundation of scientific support is needed to ensure that interventions are safe and effective.
M&A catalyses femtech development targeting underserved needs
As an expanding and now firmly established sector in technology, femtech is estimated to be worth over USD1 trillion by 2027, fuelled not only by burgeoning start-up activity across a wide spectrum of women’s health domains but also by accelerated consolidation increasingly made up of strategic partnerships and M&A versus traditional roll-up strategy.
As underscored during multiple panels at the summit, by unifying and streamlining resources and expertise, increased M&A proves to be a key catalyst for improved quality, variety and accessibility of femtech products and services, especially targeting underserved and unmet women’s health needs.
Areas prime for M&A include menopausal care, non-hormonal birth control, and STI treatments aimed at improving outcomes. Furthermore, there is a growing focus on enhancing overall wellbeing through better sleep, mental acuity and longevity rather than merely addressing specific symptoms in isolation. With data playing a central role in shaping femtech innovation and outcome precision, businesses that gather unique bio-generated datasets are particularly appealing.
However, the uncertain economic climate has sharpened investors’ expectation for more evidence- and data-backed metrics to justify market fit, size of opportunity and scalability, especially for early-stage start-ups focusing on niche solutions without precedents.
Future of femtech
Successful scaling of several femtech businesses and growth in dealmaking involving corporate and nontraditional investors, alongside advancements in medical research and governmental policy initiative, speak to the transformative potential of femtech.
While existing disparities and market conditions continue to weigh on femtech founders, the diversity of shareholders present at the event and the sentiment of resilience and empathy set a collaborative tone for the future of women’s health. A multi-disciplinary collaborative approach, involving big pharma, start-ups, the medical community, and policymakers, as well as diverse consumer and patient target groups, is the cornerstone of producing integrative and commercially viable solutions for women’s health.
Read our report, Transforming Women’s Health: Cross-Industry Impact and Innovation, for further insights into business implications and action-driven recommendations on go-to-market and innovation strategy.
For related content, watch our latest video on Empowering Women’s Health: Focus on Ethics and Efficacy and panel discussion, Wellness is a Lifestyle: How to Meet Consumer Demands.