Investing and Fundraising in Health Tech and FemTech - our global virtual conference
Last week our team hosted Investing and Fundraising in Health Tech and FemTech - a global virtual conference about all things fundraising and investing in these two exciting industries.
According to CB Insights’ State Of Healthcare Q1’21: Investment & Sector Trends To Watch report, global healthcare funding hit a new quarterly record in Q1 2021 with a total of $31.6B in equity funding. Startups offering on-demand healthcare services ($1.2B across 17 deals) and biopharma research and development catalysts ($1.1B across 13 deals) secured the most funding across 2020 and 2021, Rock Health report shows. Q1 2021 saw an uptick in investment activity for certain clinical issues. Among companies supporting a specific clinical condition, mental health companies garnered the most amount of funding in Q1 2021.
So we gathered startup founders, angel investors, VCs, startup accelerators, and experts from the field to educate, inform and share best practices on different ways to raise money to grow the businesses and share lessons learned along the way.
With more than 300 attendees throughout the day and across seven sessions - panel discussions, keynotes, and fireside chats, we covered a wide range of topics, including successful founders’ stories, crowdfunding, what investors are looking for when investing, how to turn endless challenges into impact when building a startup in this space, how to restart and scale a company, and many more.
We are proud and happy that this conference gathered some of the most innovative companies, founders, investors, scientists, and industry experts who were willing to share their valuable knowledge, best practices, and advice with all the attendees. Apart from sharing industry knowledge, our speakers shared some personal stories, too, varying from fundraising as a small business, how to run a company when everything seems to be falling apart, how to find the right investor for your business, how to do user research, bootstrap, scale, balance work and life as a startup founder, hire the right team, manage a burnout, and so much more.
This conference wouldn’t be possible without the support of our partners and sponsors who are big supporters of WoW and what we do. We want to use this opportunity to thank them all: Joy Ventures, OCON Healthcare, Callaly, and Kinneir Dufort.
Our sponsors
Joy Ventures is a startup studio dedicated to building and funding consumer well-being startups, on a mission to help people feel good and enjoy life, every day. Joy offers a unique investment model: funding and supporting founders and startups at various stages, seeding ideas, collaborating on new venture creation, and advancing innovation and early technology development. The studio’s singular focus allows it to provide deep domain expertise, guidance, and a global network of strategic industry and academic partners to founders from the ideation phase all the way to round A and beyond.
OCON Healthcare’s mission is to introduce innovative medical solutions that allow women healthier choices while improving their well-being and quality of life. OCON develops, manufactures, and commercializes innovative women’s health products based on our IUB™ (Intra Uterine Ball) proprietary platform. The IUB™, made of a super-elastic alloy Nitinol, is an ideal carrier for hormone-free contraception and other intrauterine drugs. OCON’s first product, the IUB™ Ballerine®, is a long-term, copper-based hormone-free intrauterine contraceptive already used by more than 95’000 women across 24 countries with high satisfaction rates. The Company is also developing an innovative and disruptive pipeline of products using the IUB™ frame for additional indications including abnormal uterine bleeding.
Callaly is on a mission to reinvent period-care and to inspire people with periods to expect more from their products, using innovation to finally put customers’ needs first. Their patented product, the Tampliner®, is the first true redesign of the tampon in 80 years. Since their 2020 launch, they have sold almost a million period products, won numerous awards for their innovation and branding, including being named one of the Most Innovative Companies in the World by Fast company, and TIME naming the Tampliner one of Best Inventions of 2020. Callaly is a B Corp, meaning they’re committed to using business as a force for good.
Kinneir Dufort is a user-centered innovation and product development consultancy, collectively driven to Design a Better World by creating impactful change and positive outcomes for clients and the user. Combining creative, technical, and user-experience expertise, Kinneir Dufort works collaboratively, to define, create, develop and deliver high-quality products and experiences across the medical, consumer, and industrial sectors.
The interest and feedback we got from all of you just prove how vital all these conversations are! Below are some of the feedback we got on social media from those who attended! 🥰
Why did we decide to organize Investing and Fundraising in HealthTech and FemTecg conference?
➡️ The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital health adoption by several years, which is reflected in the surge of venture funding in digital health as well.
➡️ As of 2019, digital health represented a global market of approximately $350 billion with many opportunities to compete across multiple subcategories.
➡️ The size of the enterprise health tech industry is projected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2025.
➡️ Venture funding for health tech innovators, at $14 billion, almost doubled in 2020 compared to 2019.
➡️ Funding for women-focused digital-health startups rose 105% last year to $418 million, nearly twice the number from a year earlier.
➡️ Many WoW members operate within the health tech and femtech industry, and many of them are startup founders or investors, so we thought now is the right time to tackle these topics!
We are grateful to every single one of you who dedicated their day or an hour to tune it. In case you couldn’t join us we made sure to record all the sessions so that you can access them anytime, and here are some of the key quotes from our speakers.
“Resilience and defiance: Turning endless challenges into impact” - fireside chat with Thang Vo-Ta, co-founder and CEO of Callaly
Callaly is a period-positive startup revolutionising the multi-billion pound feminine care industry and is one of the UK's 50 leading D2C companies. Its Tampliner® is the first patented product that completely rethinks how a tampon could work, has received multiple industry innovation awards, and is proudly manufactured in the UK. At the emotional heart of the brand is the desire to offer better solutions for women's health at much higher standards. From raising $13 million in funding (no VCs included!) to becoming a B Corporation - a profit-making business that’s committed to using our business as a force for good, Callaly is a true example of a company disrupting the traditional approach towards building a successful startup in the femtech space.
Some highlights, key takeaways, and quotes from this session:
60 billion tampons are sold every year in the world.
If you are looking to run a startup, you have to want to make a difference, to leave an impact. You have to want to make a meaningful impact in the world, not money.
You can’t make a difference in the world and NOT have the right people backing you up.
There is a lack of standards, lack of quality, lack of patience when it comes to period care products.
No one is ever gonna trust a company without them doing it right at the start.
Grants, tax credits, tax breaks, loans on favourable terms - these are all VC alternatives.
The first thing we (Callaly) are looking for in a VC - an alignment of values.
Most startups are failing. If you fail, at least you will fail honourably.
“Investing in companies that bring joy (and money)” - fireside chat with Miri Polachek, the CEO of Joy Ventures
All investors want to invest in companies that bring money. But apart from that, Joy Ventures want to invest in companies that bring joy and can improve people’s health and wellbeing. Joy Ventures is a startup studio dedicated to building and funding consumer wellbeing startups, on a mission to help people feel good and enjoy life, every day. Joy offers a unique investment model: funding and supporting founders and startups at various stages, seeding ideas, collaborating on new venture creation, and advancing innovation and early technology development. We spoke to Miri Polachek, CEO of Joy Ventures what exactly investors are looking for when investing in companies, what the perfect investor relationship looks like, and what kind of support startups need the most.
Some highlights, key takeaways, and quotes from this session:
At Joy Ventures, we believe in the ability to execute and work together with startups.
What do startup founders need the most? - Technology, Team, Product strategy, and Go-to-market strategy
We see from our investment portfolio that finally women are speaking up, taking action, and demanding innovative solutions. For themselves and for others.
Don’t give up on your dream and don’t be shy. Keep asking questions and persist.
It can be intimidating to start raising. If you are a woman, reach out to as many women as possible.
Don’t be afraid, don’t be shy, dream big and go for it.
Panel discussion “Crowdfunding Explained - the power of a social network in raising funding and democratising investment”
There are different ways for startups to raise money for their businesses, and crowdfunding has become a popular way to do so. But, contrary to some beliefs, it’s not the easiest way. How should you crowdfund your business? Equity-based crowdfunding, reward-based crowdfunding, debt-based, donation-based, should you have a strategy in place? If you’ve ever found yourself wondering “What is crowdfunding?” “What does crowdfunding mean?” or, “What are the benefits of crowdfunding?” this session gave all the answers to those questions. Our speakers also shared their own top tips on how to bring in donations and investments into your business.
Some highlights, key takeaways, and quotes from this session:
Sacha Waters, Senior Equity Fundraising manager at Crowdcube
More businesses are understanding the value of crowdfunding through increased loyalty, engagement, and advocacy.
More companies are also are seeing more value in crowdfunding than just capital.
Hannah Forbes, Founder of The Funding Crowd
Crowdfunding is extremely difficult and time-consuming. Content, marketing, legal, deck, managing communication… Having a clear strategy around it is important.
Have a day-to-day calendar for all you need to do.
There’s always an element of experimentation, but once you go through a lot of campaigns, you know what’s not gonna work.
Laura Feinstein, Senior Design & Technology Editor at Kickstarter
Health space and environmental space are where we noticed a lot of projects over the last couple of years. Crowdfunding is perfect for that kind of project.
There is definitely a more inclusive notion of what wellness and health mean to us.
Alma Ramírez Acosta, co-founder of Vibio
Being a sex tech startup, we have had a lot of challenges with raising, so we wanted to create a community. We couldn’t advertise or raise money in any other way so this was a straightforward decision for us.
Once you have a bit more traction, VCs are way more likely to invest in your idea moving forward.
“Restarting and scaling the company led by women for women” - fireside chat with Keren Leshem, CEO of OCON Healthcare
Rebuilding a company, its board, its team, and its products, fundraising during the pandemic, developing one of the most innovative drug-delivery platforms for uterine conditions on the market, Keren Leshem has been through it all. Keren joined OCON Healthcare in September 2019, and very quickly put the company on the trajectory of growth. The company now has 100,000-plus women who chose their innovative product - IUB™ Ballerine® - non-hormonal, long-acting contraception inserted by their doctor. This smart 3D contraceptive is currently sold in 30 markets in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It’s a company led by women for women, as Leshem says, with 85% of its team in all departments and across all disciplines being women now.
OCON Healthcare’s mission is to introduce innovative medical solutions that allow women healthier choices while improving their well-being and quality of life. OCON develops, manufactures, and commercializes innovative women’s health products based on our IUB™ (Intra Uterine Ball) proprietary platform. The IUB™, made of a super-elastic alloy Nitinol, is an ideal carrier for hormone-free contraception and other intrauterine drugs.
Some highlights, key takeaways, and quotes from this session:
A lot of people talk about diversity & inclusion, but it IS important. It brings so many more ideas and thoughts to the table.
Celebrate your successes. Tell your team how proud you are, share it with others.
Share your struggles with people you trust - your family and your team. You can not do it all alone.
Communication in the company must be up, down, and all around. You have to have open and candid communication about the plan, strategy, and company stats.
Under promise, but over-perform.
Connect with people and don’t be afraid to ask for help, or simply advice. Talk to industry experts, ask them their opinion about your product.
Learn to embrace the fact that you cannot win it all. You can simply do your best.
Understand your product and create real evidence of performance.
Panel discussion “From Investors’ Perspective: Investing In Health Tech and FemTech”
“What are you looking for when investing in a company or its founders?” is probably one of the most common questions investors get asked. But there is no universal answer to this question. We gathered a group of investors to hear their perspectives on what they’re looking for in companies, founders, and their teams. In this session, we discussed the best pitch practices, how to build a strong, long-term relationship with your investors, how to grow your business through a startup accelerator, and more.
Some highlights, key takeaways, and quotes from this session:
Karina Vazirova, co-founder of FemTech Lab
Early-stage, the bet is mostly on the founders.
For the founders, the journey of building a startup is a personal development journey.
Founders that are open to growing personally, learning, changing, adapting - have a much higher chance of persevering through fundraising. Especially female founders.
Pre-seed is much easier to raise these days but you have to be very smart about how will you use that capital.
Maria Velissaris, Founding Partner of SteelSky Ventures
We wish we had 1B fund to invest. There are so many great companies!
Questions I always ask myself - “Is the founder nice? Is it someone I want to work with? Is the founder a leader?” A good leader understands how to attract the right talent and inspire that talent.
Jenny Fielding, Managing Director of Techstars New York and General Partner at The Fund
Focusing on companies that are removing shame is really important for me.
If you are an entrepreneur in the health tech and femtech space, this is your time!
Anjel Noorbakhsh Ashman, CFA, Angel Investor at Ada Ventures and Investment Manager at Aureum
Get to your point - don’t be shy and talk confidently about the problem.
I always say to founders, talk about the investment opportunity rather than trying to sell the company’s offerings or its addressable market size. Land the message that the investor will make money from this. Investors need to go away knowing they will make money, a lot of founders forget that.
“Putting the User at the heart of the product” - fireside chat with Kelly Dawson, Head of Innovation and Insight at Kinneir Dufort and Merle Hall, the CEO of Kinneir Dufort
Whether creating an intuitive physical product, designing an optimal digital experience, or pitching to an investor, having insightful data and actionable feedback from your potential target users is essential. Kelly Dawson (Head of Innovation and Insight) and Merle Hall (CEO), of Kinneir Dufort, shared their experiences and practical tips on how to ensure the user sits at the heart of the MVP, resulting in compelling user-centered products and experiences, driving advocacy, and enabling your investment ambitions.
Some highlights, key takeaways, and quotes from this session:
Kelly Dawson, Head of Innovation and Insight at Kinneir Dufort
Gaining empathy is critical in design and innovation. Investors are not likely to be your target audience, help them to empathize.
Know WHAT you are trying to learn.
Learn early and fail fast.
User Insights should always be used to guide decision-making.
Merle Hall, CEO of Kinneir Dufort
Test out your hypothesis, map out your customer journey and understand the challenges.
Be super clear about the addressable market and what point of difference your product has.
Storytelling. Think about creative ways you can deliver that story, how are you bringing your product to life.
Good insight should be the drivers of key features – clear rationale & justification of why it is there.
Seems like a luxury, spending budget on defining the problem, but narrowing the proposition saves a huge amount of time and cost later.
Panel discussion “Success stories from founders and CEOs - From Seed to IPO”
In 2020, venture funding for female founders has hit its lowest quarterly total in three years, according to PitchBook data. When it comes to women in VC, only 5.6% of US VC firms are women-led. Fundraising is indeed a journey for everyone involved, whether you are a founder or investor, and everyone was at the beginning of it at one point. From Seed to IPO, every stage is different and has its challenges. But there are many success stories, too. We were joined by founders who’ve been there, done that, and who shared their success stories with us.
Some highlights, key takeaways, and quotes from this session:
Crystal Adesanya, founder and CEO of Kiira Health
Women have been conditioned to not speak up.
I didn’t feel comfortable going to a clinic. Being a young college student I was embarrassed to talk about my conditions. I started asking people around me a lot of questions.
Fundraising was HARD. So I went on pitch competitions and raised 300k in non-dillutive capital.
Saundra Pelletier, CEO of Evofem Biosciences, Inc.
My AHA moment was when I found out the staggering statistics that no one was talking about.
Half of the pregnancies in the US are unplanned. Women deserve better.
Birth control was introduced in the 1960s. Side effects make young girls feel like they are crazy. We bring REAL innovation for women.
For Evofem, it was all about this unmet need that existed.
Elin Ng, co-founder and COO of Salve Health
As a startup, you will never raise all you need at once.
Raise enough to hit the milestones you desire. Then you can raise more and onboard better quality investors.
Marina Pavlovic Rivas, co-founder and CEO of Eli Health
I wanted to avoid hormones, to avoid the side effects. So we started digging into it and that’s how we started.
We understood the lack of understanding, the lack of data. And the first year was all about building a prototype.
Our goal is not only improving what’s existent but to come up with new, undiscovered innovations.
On behalf of our organizing team, we would like to use this opportunity to thank not only our brilliant speakers, but to all of you who made them so engaging with all your comments in the chatbox, and your questions! We had a great day discussing investment and fundraising topics! Thank you!
If you attended the conference, then you already know that we are planning some exciting new projects for the fall… we will be sharing more info soon so make sure to follow us on social media to stay up to date - Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook.
If you wish to become a WoW member, learn from and connect with our community of entrepreneurs, designers, and technologists, leverage valuable resources, and discover career opportunities, you can do so here.
Check out our upcoming WoW global virtual events here.
Last but not least, get in touch if you’d like to collaborate with us for one of our future conferences, we would love to hear from you!