Guidea invests $500k in FemTech innovation through UX design sponsorship program
Guidea’s Femovate program is designed to help FemTech startups overcome funding inequalities, along with massive scientific and clinical data gaps, with innovative product strategy and UX design
Guidea, an award-winning UX design agency and partner to 20 Fortune 100 companies, is investing $500k in FemTech innovation through their UX design sponsorship program Femovate.
Health-related technology for females is decades behind other areas of healthcare. FemTech founders are fighting against massive scientific and clinical data gaps as well as great funding inequalities — all while trying to save or improve the lives of millions of women.
The Femovate program offers women’s health digital innovation startups UX research, design and mentorship services at little to no cost. Guidea Founder and CEO Theresa Neil, created the program to help FemTech founders quickly create and/or refine their UX to provide a better experience for users and improve traction with investors.
While the program was originally designed to only sponsor three FemTech companies this year, Neil said she was “blown away” by the founders’ vision. This prompted her to expand the program to include 30 of the 100 FemTech applicants — expanding the originally planned $50k investment in women’s health innovation to $500k.
“Women in tech have the power to drive innovation in female-centric healthcare. We believe investing in these founders will have a transformative impact on our world,” said Neil.
Leveraging their extensive experience in MedTech, IoT, wearables, population health insights, digital therapeutics, and healthcare software, Neil says the team at Guidea will provide game-changing support to the FemTech founder community.
“While it’s hard to estimate the impact the Femovate program will have on the future, every successful FemTech innovation works to close the gap in research and provide insight for further innovation in women’s health,” said Neil. “Guidea is proud to help design better health solutions for women and believes our guidance will create ripple effects in the industry, for years to come.”
About Theresa Neil, Founder and CEO of Guidea
Theresa is a tech visionary recognized by Business Insider as a “Top Designer in Technology”. She is an O’Reilly author as well as the founder of Guidea, a UX design and research consultancy named an Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Private Company in 2022.
In addition to providing strategic product design for MedTech and HealthTech, Theresa is an angel investor and startup mentor. She recently launched Femovate, a FemTech acceleration project, offering design, research, and go-to-market mentorship to a select group of entrepreneurs who promise to change women’s healthcare with unique digital offerings.
About Guidea
Guidea is a women-led UX consultancy with extensive product and design strategy expertise in HealthTech and MedTech. The team is a trusted partner to 20 Fortune 100 companies and has launched almost 300 products and services to date. Since 2005, Guidea has invested in 70+ startups that now have a combined valuation of $20B. Their partnerships with some of the world’s most innovative companies have earned awards like: The MedTech Breakthrough Award 19’ and '22, Most Innovative Digital Health Solutions Platform '22, and Best SaaS-Enabled Digital Health Platform '22. Learn more at femovate.com.
Meet the Companies Selected For Femovate ‘22
Breast Health
DeepLook Medical is revolutionizing radiology for cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment, with their FDA-approved, patent-protected software. The shape recognition software accurately measures, segments, and displays the density of soft tumor masses in Mammograms, Ultrasounds, CT scans, and MRI images — with just one click.
Location: United States
Cardiovascular
Armor Medical Inc is developing technology to combat postpartum hemorrhage, one of the leading causes of preventable maternal death worldwide.
Location: United States
Chronic Conditions
Hashiona offers personalized nutrition plans and symptom tracking for the management of Hashimoto’s disease.
Location: Poland
AIMA Laboratories is developing an at-home screening test that will shorten the path to diagnosis and treatment for endometriosis.
Location: Canada
Lasa Health is a digital companion for people with endometriosis, providing care navigation and evidence-based patient education.
Location: United States
Data and Insights
Dragonfly Data Ventures encourages its users to better understand and benefit from their unique data.
Location: United States
FemHealth Insights
FemHealth Insights aims to alter the face of FemTech by providing a comprehensive data platform that encompasses everything there is to know about the FemTech market.
Location: United States
Fertility
ELANZA is a personalized wellness platform, offering resources and support to reduce stress without the use of therapy or medication.
Location: United States
EmGenysis employs AI-driven video analysis to determine the viability of an embryo, boosting the likelihood of successful implantation.
Location: United States
Fertilitae increases accessibility to fertility wellness through automated assessments, personalized plans, care, and education on a mobile app.
Location: England
Embie empowers those undergoing IVF and IUI treatments to manage their fertility journey with personalized tracking, insights, and community support.
Location: Israel
Mindful IVF leverages extensive fertility expertise and the science of meditation to foster a healthier, happier IVF journey.
Location: Ireland
General Health
Betty's Co. is the next generation of care for Gen-Z – normalizing, destigmatizing and depoliticizing womxn's healthcare through integrative gynecology, mental health, and wellness care.
Location: United States
Chava is the first comprehensive platform providing access to sexual and reproductive health education, community, and care for young women in Latin America.
Location: Nicaragua
HopStair provides confidence coaching via an app to help its users build their core foundation, unlock their full potential, and achieve their goals.
Location: England
Hormone Health
Eli is the women's health company providing at-home insights in real-time, and over a lifetime, from hormones in saliva.
Location: Canada
truliWELL is a digital health platform that empowers women of color to be their own best "healthcare providers" through at-home testing, a personalized plan, in-app tracking, and asynchronous coaching — all grounded in functional medicine health coaching principles.
Location: United States
Maternal Health
EXO is battling disparities in women’s health research and treatment while enhancing the standard of care for maternal health.
Location: United States
Momsanity aims to provide support for mothers suffering from Postpartum Depression.
Location: Austria and Bulgaria
Avira Health develops technology to uplift the mother-infant dyad during the life-changing transition into motherhood and beyond.
Location: United States
Menopause
Elektra's comprehensive digital health platform helps women navigate the 10-year menopause transition. It offers virtual support from a dedicated "Elektra Guide" (i.e., menopause doula), on-demand and evidence-based education built by board-certified doctors, and a private, moderated community.
Location: United States
Menstruation
NuroKor FemTech is developing bioelectronic wearable solutions for underserved conditions affecting female health on a global scale.
Location: England
Essence helps women thrive at work and in life by offering evidence-based nutrition and exercise tips, productivity tools, and self-care resources based on the menstrual cycle.
Location: Germany
Salad | Wellness for Women
Salad is creating a lifestyle management platform that works in harmony with a woman’s menstrual cycle.
Location: India
Pelvic Floor Health
Hyivy Health provides data-driven medical devices that facilitate the rehabilitation of the pelvic floor.
Location: Canada
Cosm Medical is developing a digital gynecology platform to create custom-made, gynecological prosthetics for pelvic floor disorders and beyond.
Location: Canada
Elana Health aims to transform the conversation around pelvic care, offering an abundance of resources and educational materials.
Location: United States
Reproductive Health
Pera Labs takes a holistic approach to building healthy tomorrow by providing affordable and efficient fertility solutions for both men and women.
Location: United States
Sexual Wellness
Organa is dedicated to promoting women’s sexual wellness, harnessing the power of AI to enhance sexual knowledge and pleasure.
Location: Israel
Uterine Health Innovation
Nesa Medtech pioneers a novel scarless solution to treat uterine fibroids.
Location: India