WoW Women in FemTech | Katia Lang and Karina Vazirova, co-founders of FemTech Lab
Interview by MarijaButkovic
Katia Lang and Karina Vazirova are the founders of FemTech Lab, Europe’s first FemTech accelerator that helps rising stars of FemTech take their products to market and raise funding.
Karina is a Product Strategy expert and has led the development of over 30 digital products in the US, Australia, UK, and Europe. She is the founder of KV LABS - UX Design, AI & Robotic Automation agency. Karina is also an International Chess Master.
Katia is a serial entrepreneur, a founder of four companies, with the latest successful exit in 2020. A global creative thinker, a business strategist, and an international expert in technology and business growth. A professional Artist and Graphic Designer.
FemTech Lab is the first independent FemTech accelerator, headquartered in London, UK. It’s designed to provide tailored support to each participating startup, following their aims and objectives in terms of Funding, Market Entry, and Product design. Another unique feature of FemTech Lab is its state-of-the-art Mental Wellbeing module for founders. The program runs 2 times a year with the next cohort starting in February 2021, applications closing 20th of January. Startups can apply now at femtechlab.com.
Both, tell us a bit about your background and your projects so far.
After speaking with both early-stage and accomplished founders, we saw that most companies in the sector need help with fundraising and market access. That’s exactly what we help with at FemTech Lab. Our accelerator is supported by prominent advisors in healthcare, technology, law, business, and finance.
We are an independent accelerator and our business model is tied directly to the success of the companies that go through the program. This means that we are incentivized to help our startups achieve their goals.
How did you get into this industry? Has it been an easy industry to get into or have you had many challenges?
As the global pandemic has disrupted everything, we got more time to step back and re-evaluate, change. Katia has always wanted to build an accelerator and was considering areas of mental health and longevity while Karina was fascinated by the new emerging trends around female empowerment and female healthcare.
Women are getting more powerful, more vocal, and are extensively putting more pressure on businesses to produce and deliver female-centered solutions, while the pandemic made us all think about innovation in healthcare. FemTech is right at the center of these two major trends, and the sector is growing, defining itself, expanding well beyond reproductive health, touching all areas of women’s lives. FemTech is going to be the new normal for any innovation in health and consumer product design in the near future.
FemTech is also an incredibly friendly and welcoming sector to get into!
How long did it take you to be where you are now? What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being in the industry you are in?
FemTech Lab was formally born at the end of summer 2020 and received overwhelming support from day one. We started by building out a network of superstar advisors that would be valuable for early-stage FemTechs and are extremely grateful to the group of phenomenal FemTech champions we assembled. (You can see them all on our website!)
We also went through our own funding round to cover operational costs and closed our £400K seed round in under 3 months - another great sign that it's definitely the right time for FemTech to bloom.
Women’s health has a lot of untapped potentials. We have been inspired by some of the applications we received and the founders we have met so far.
We have noticed a few challenges that they tend to be facing:
UX & Product
Many FemTech founders are passionate about the problem they are solving because they experienced it first hand. However, first-hand founder experience is not always representative of the entire market. This is why it’s important to bring together the entire ecosystem, including practicing clinicians and healthcare professionals, to help FemTech founders make the best product and user experience decisions.
Fundraising
Fundraising is challenging for early-stage founders, which isn’t unusual for a young and maturing sector. A lot of the companies are single-product companies focusing on female reproductive health only. Even though it is a sizable market in itself, it can be a challenging sell to a lot of VCs who want to see scalability.
Women’s health has been a “mystery” for everyone, but that is changing with new research and the wave of female empowerment breaking taboos. This means that the male-dominated VC industry is waking up as more entrepreneurs are joining the sector and building new solutions.
Go-to-Market and International Scalability
For FemTechs entering the market via B2B channels adoption and cross-market entry can be a challenge. Healthcare systems differ significantly per country. For example, a lot of the European startups we speak with are eyeing the US market. However, navigating that market can be a real challenge. This is exactly why we have a US market module in our program where startups can work with our US-based advisors and partners, while for international companies we offer workshops on entering the NHS here in the UK.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
We are very grateful and proud of the 30+ incredible advisors supporting the accelerator program. They are going to be training and mentoring our first cohort during the next 3 months, and we can’t be more excited!
In December, we hired two amazing team members - Tatiana Klimanova (Programme Manager) and Terri Harris (Head of Community). And in February the team will grow even more.
Over the course of 3 months, we closed our own £400K seed round which allows us to build up the operational side of the venture.
And, of course, we are most proud of already receiving an incredible amount of startup applications for the first cohort!
What are the projects you are currently working on?
FemTech Lab is a 12-week program where founders get to work with superstar experts, future-proof their product roadmap, design a winning go-to-market strategy, meet potential partners, and get in front of investors.
Another unique thing about FemTech Lab is our mental well-being module. This is something we are very passionate about. Many companies fail due to founders burning out or losing motivation during hard times. Company culture also plays an important role in long-term success. We also know that founders often struggle with imposter syndrome. At FemTech lab, we have designed a unique mental health module to help founders build mental resilience, mental strength & self-confidence, and learn how to hire and retain the best talent and build a healthy team culture.
Our Spring cohort begins at the end of February and the application deadline is January 20!
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
We believe in a balanced world where people can be themselves and strive, where half of the world’s population won’t need to be playing by the other half’s rules. By catering to women’s health & wellness FemTech can help unlock the power of women.
We believe in a world where women can reach their full power potential, regardless of the career path they choose!
What will be the key trends in your industry in the next five years and where do you see them heading?
The FemTech sector has started with a focus on women’s reproductive health and fertility. And there is still a strong need for innovation in that space.
However, just as women are not defined by their reproductive function, FemTech is not just about fertility.
We are seeing a sparking interest in menopause, a former taboo topic, and an estimated $600 billion market opportunity. For example, we are excited to see how startups like Health & Her will shape this space.
Personalized healthcare has been a massive trend and FemTech aligns well with it. There are still a lot of unmet needs in women’s health outside of reproductive health. For example, hormonal health, mental health, fitness, cardiovascular and immune health. More research into women’s health in these areas will create opportunities for entrepreneurs and a wave of new products for women.
What is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in this industry?
Don’t do it alone! Find a co-founder, use all existing support networks (such as FemTech Lab), use the community support. It’s a lot easier together.
Start looking for funding early on, don’t wait till you run out of money and motivation!
Ask the market what it wants. Just because you think it’s necessary, and your friends think so, it doesn’t mean it is something people will buy. Try to do as much market validation as you can.
Even if the idea is great, sometimes it’s not something that makes enough of an improvement to be purchased by healthcare organizations (e.g. NHS). Our advice is: try to get the opinions of Healthcare professionals early on to save you a lot of work, and, potentially, disappointment.
Once you are certain of your product and who’s going to buy it, lean execution is key! For example, investing in UX Mockups before jumping straight into hiring developers will help validate your product faster.
This one you know. Believe in what you’re doing, and it will make a difference!
We are always here to help!
Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?
The women of FemTech are truly incredible. We admire all of the advisors that support our accelerator program. Here are a few examples:
Keren Leshem, CEO of OCON Healthcare, is one of our favorite leaders in FemTech. OCON Healthcare is at the forefront of intrauterine innovation, IUD Ballerine being one of their most known products. Keren is not only leading OCON Healthcare but is also involved in supporting other FemTech companies. We felt this first hand - she has been incredibly kind and supportive of our accelerator from the very beginning.
Jane van Dis, MD is a practicing OB-GYN, Medical Director at Maven Clinic, a FemTech and gender equity champion. She is involved with some of the most prominent FemTech organizations and is one of the leading voices in the industry. We love Jane’s vision and ability to apply her vast clinical experience to help shape new products entering the FemTech space.
Alice Stephenson, the founder of Stephenson Law, is a stereotype breaker. She is like a rock-star of the legal profession! We love that when Alice was tired of the systemic issues in traditional law firms, she created an alternative law firm that does things differently. Stephenson Law is supporting our accelerator program and we couldn’t have asked for a better lawyer to join the FemTech space!
Website: www.FemTechLab.com
Twitter: @FemTechLab
Linkedin: FemTech Lab
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.