WoW Women in FemTech | Kim Aviv and Hannah Musgrave, co-founders of femidi
Interview by MarijaButkovic
Kim Aviv is the Co-founder of femidi, in London, United Kingdom. As an entrepreneur, business owner and business professional Kim has dedicated her life and career to innovation.
A UCL and Cambridge University finance graduate, Kim’s first business venture, Pathfinder, a career intelligence platform that supports graduates on the right career pathway for them garnered much success winning Most Innovative Career Development Platform 2020. Kim was awarded Computer’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2019, as well as 2020 Today Magazine Business Woman of the Year Awards and CEO Today's United Kingdom Awards 2020. A serial entrepreneur, since Pathfinder Kim, has founded Taizen, The Safety Necklace, and Co-founded femidi in 2020.
Hannah Musgrave is the Co-founder of femidi, in London, United Kingdom. As an entrepreneur and advertising professional that has worked as a Creative with clients ranging from Disney to Facebook and IBM, and graduating from the famous Central Saint Martins, Hannah is no stranger to innovation and idea generation.
Every year Hannah raises money for Women’s Aid and has a long term passion and dedication to women’s equality and women's rights. The culmination of Hannah’s creative mind and passions came to fruition in 2020 with femidi, the world’s first femtech marketplace.
Hannah & Kim, what is the idea behind Femidi and how did you come up with it?
It was a gradual culmination of things. A few years ago I had come off the pill after a three-year stint, my periods were irregular, my girlfriend recommended using a period tracking app to help ease my anxiety and get back in sync.
Around the same time I learned that mainstream period products could contain odor neutralisers, dyes, pesticides, and fragrances, I was stunned that period products were able to include such toxic ingredients, which led me to look for alternatives.
A little bit of Googling introduced me to the term ‘femtech’. I'd consider myself the 'target audience' for many of the brands in femtech and was surprised there wasn't a central place for me to discover and purchase all of these innovations online, and so the idea of femidi was born.
When COVID-19 hit, I was put on furlough, which turned out to be a blessing. I had the time to get femidi off the ground. Kim and I met on CoFoundersLab earlier this year, and it was pretty much an instant match. We’re both incredibly passionate about women’s issues, from equality to health, so to be able to build something like femidi that serve women is the most exciting thing for us.
When did all start and do you have other members in your team?
We started building femidi in April, Kim and I are co-founders and our friends Stephanie Schultz and Leoni Lessman have been supporting us.
How long did it take you to be where you are now?
About 6 months, we’ve done a lot of talking and zooms, the past 6 months have mainly consisted of building relationships with the brands that you will now find on femidi.
What was the biggest obstacle?
To date, we haven’t experienced any huge obstacles, onboarding a variety of brands was slightly challenging, and figuring out the best business model and processes, but it’s all part of the journey, maybe ask us in a year?
What are your biggest achievements to date?
To date, our biggest achievement has been building and launching femidi.
What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in the niche you are in? How about being a female founder/entrepreneur?
As we’re relatively new and just launched, we haven’t come across any huge challenges, but anticipate this is part and parcel of running a business when the challenges do hit! There were a few assumptions when doing some of the ‘technical’ set-ups of bringing multiple brands on board, that we had a tech team or might not understand some of the ‘technical’ tasks.
What are the projects you are currently working on?
We are gathering an impressive panel of experts that will be active on our platform, informing customers of their options and upcoming innovations in the space. femidi is not just a shopping experience, but it's also a source of information, a discovery platform.
We are also working with our brands to curate personalised care packages to customers.
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
Yes, diversity is important to us, particularly in tech there is a distinct lack of diversity in regards to the number of women. We will always be ‘women supporting women’. #WomeninTech is a brilliant way to highlight the female pioneers in the tech sector and help inspire and give confidence to younger generations.
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to all female founders and female entrepreneurs out there?
Remember that you can do whatever you put your mind to, what you don’t know you will learn, what you haven’t tried you will experience, and if you fail you will survive. The journey is as important as the end result, and It’s a hell of a ride.
What will be the key trends in the health tech and fem tech industry in the next 5 years and where do you see it heading?
I believe that the femcare space has long been neglected. We had technology infiltrating every part of life, but women’s health, for some reason, wasn’t on the agenda for a long time. Today, women’s health is a hot topic, and while some brands are riding the wave in less authentic ways, similar to greenwashing, others are disrupting the space with unprecedented innovation. Take period care for example, from period panties to CBD and organic tampons to a menstrual cup, I think it's just the beginning. We will see niche solutions continuing to enter the space at a rapid rate. As we continue to break certain taboos, around period care, and even menopause, further innovative solutions will enter and become widespread in use. It’s a big part of the reason for femidi. At femidi we don’t just sell any brand, each brand on femidi aligns with our mission and is ‘best in class’ within women’s health.
Who are your 3 inspirational women in health tech and fem tech?
Miki Agrawal, co-founder of Thinx
Halle Tecco, founder of Natalist
Stephanie Eltz, founder of Doctify
Website: www.femidi.com
Social media handles
Instagram: @femidiuk
Twitter: @femidi_uk
LinkedIn: Femidi
Facebook: @femidiuk
This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship and diversity. Follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic.