Reasons Women's Health Is Underfunded

🩺 Women live longer—but in poorer health. Why?   Because the system still sees “women’s health” as only fertility or menopause. But cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, cognitive decline—these all impact women differently or disproportionately. 📉 In 2024, just 6% of VC healthtech funding went to femtech. Only 8% of NIH research dollars targeted women’s health. That’s not just an oversight—it’s a missed opportunity. 📈 A new report from Accenture and Springboard Enterprises, 2025 State of Women’s Health calls for a fundamental shift in how we define and fund women’s health. When we invest in inclusive research and innovation, everyone benefits: lower healthcare costs, higher productivity, longer healthier lives not just for women. 💡 As Alice Zheng of Foreground Capital, a venture capital firm, puts it: “There’s opportunity in almost every place you look.” And as Alisa Wilson, PhD of Accenture says: “It all starts with awareness and funding.” 🚨 It’s time to stop thinking small and start funding the full spectrum of women’s health. That includes heart disease, brain health, and everything tied to hormonal changes across a woman’s lifespan. 👉 Read my latest Forbes article to learn how reframing the issue to include conditions that affect women diproportately and differently can unlock $1 trillion in global value by 2040. 🔗https://lnkd.in/eCBfiVpW Alisa Wilson, PhD Miranda Ewald   #WomensHealth #HealthcareInnovation #Femtech #VC #HealthEquity #Forbes #ImpactInvesting #PublicHealth #Forbes

⚠️ #6% ⚠️ That’s the share of private #healthcare investment going into #WomensHealth — for nearly 50% of the global population.   This is one of the most striking findings from a report #BCG has just released together with the #WorldEconomicForum. The data also points to deeper structural patterns:   ⏳ Women live longer than men, yet spend 25% more of their lives in poor health — with clear implications for #workforce participation and system costs 🔍 Care pathways often reflect male baselines, despite different symptoms, progression and outcomes 📊 90% of women’s #HealthFunding concentrates on just three areas: cancer, reproductive and maternal care 📉 High-burden conditions like cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, menopause and Alzheimer’s remain chronically under-addressed 🚀 Closing gaps in these four conditions could unlock $100B+ in value by 2030 through better outcomes and more efficient models of care   This is not about creating a separate category called “women’s health”. It’s about seeing where burden, outcomes and care design do not line up — and what that means for system performance ✨   As leaders discuss productivity, resilience and growth this week, this feels like an important reminder: Women’s health is not a side topic. It’s a core system issue.   The full report goes deeper into the data and implications: https://lnkd.in/dZRW23QR   #HealthSystems #PatientCentricity #WomensHealth #DigitalHealth #MedTech #BCGinAustria #BCGinCentralEurope

A well-known healthcare investor at JPM told one of my founders he doesn't invest in women's health. His exact words: "It's too niche." This is 2026. Half the population is apparently niche. Let me share some numbers that should make every investor uncomfortable: Women make up 50% of the population. The space receive 6% of private healthcare investment. That's not a gap. That's a blind spot. The World Economic Forum and BCG just released their 2026 Women's Health Investment Outlook. The finding that stood out: focusing on just four conditions — cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, menopause, and Alzheimer's — could generate $100 billion in market value in the U.S. by 2030. These aren't rare diseases. These are high-prevalence conditions where women are affected uniquely, differently, or disproportionately. And they've been chronically underfunded. The report identifies six sectors ready for immediate capital infusion: 1. Women’s Cancer Therapeutics: Precision medicine for breast, cervical, and ovarian cancers. 2. Virtual Healthcare & Benefits: Digital-first platforms for reproductive and menopausal care. 3. Remote Maternal Monitoring: AI and wearables to track prenatal and postpartum health. 4. Mental Health Platforms: Addressing unique disorders like perinatal depression. 5. Longevity & Wellness: Concierge services for midlife and postmenopausal women. 6. Metabolic Health Wearables: Tracking for PCOS and gestational diabetes. What's clear to me is this: investors who see "niche" where others see "underserved" are the ones who miss the biggest opportunities. Women's health isn't a niche. It's a massive, undercapitalized market hiding in plain sight. The investors who move now will capture it. Those who don't will be chasing signal once again — after the winners have already been picked. If you still think women's health is niche, that's on you. The returns will go to those of us who see what you can't. #WomensHealth #VentureCapital #Healthcare #Investing #Startups

“Until women’s health is everywhere, women’s health is nowhere.” This new viewpoint by Andrea Edlow, Lynn M. Yee, Alison Cahill, and Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, MD, in JAMA Health Forum is a good read for anyone working in research, policy, or women’s health. It makes a clear and urgent case: • Systemic underfunding of women’s health research has contributed to rising maternal mortality in the U.S. • Just 8.8% of NIH’s total budget over the past decade has supported women’s health research • An even smaller fraction has gone to pregnancy research • NICHD, long expected to carry this work, has among the lowest funding success rates across NIH • Early-stage investigators in maternal health face steep barriers to sustaining research careers The authors call for a whole-of-NIH approach, increased investment, and greater involvement of OB/GYN physician-scientists in setting research priorities. At GSD Health Research, this is exactly the work we’re building toward. Closing the women’s health research gap means investing in scalable, inclusive, participant-centered infrastructure and advocating for the policy changes required to support it. 🔗 to open access article: https://lnkd.in/gDCKqhge #womenshealthresearch #maternalhealth #researchfunding #healthpolicy #closethegap #GSDHealthResearch

Why don’t women’s health innovations ever seem to reach women? The uncomfortable truth is that it’s not about a lack of ideas or talent. It’s about a system engineered to fail them, step by step. The data shows how a cascade of funding and structural barriers compound until almost nothing gets through. ________________________ 🔬 𝐑&𝐃 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 = 𝟎.𝟎𝟏 Only 1% of pharmaceutical research spending outside oncology targets women’s-health conditions. Innovation for half the population is effectively a rounding error. 💸 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 = 𝟎.𝟎𝟗 Just 9% of European healthtech VC reaches FemTech Startups. Nine out of ten women’s-health innovations stall before they even make it to product stage. 🧪 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 = 𝟎.𝟏𝟔 Only 16% of EU MedTech deals go into diagnostics companies, the very sector responsible for early detection and prevention. 👩🔬 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 = 𝟎.𝟎𝟏 All-female founding teams in Europe receive less than 1% of VC capital. Which is important as it is women who often build in this space. ________________________ 🚧 Each barrier alone is a hurdle. 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. Leading to such an exponential attrition rate that leads us to where we are today. It’s a structural design flaw in how capital, science, and politics interact. With very real world consequences. Closing the women’s-health gap could add $1 trillion to global GDP annually by 2040, through higher productivity, longer healthy life-years, and smarter care systems. But to do so requires deliberate action. ________________________ This analysis was created in collaboration with Carmen van Vilsteren, an exited healthtech founder with deep involvement in multiple women’s health companies who’s lived this reality from both sides, building companies and navigating the barriers first-hand. 👇 The message is clear: 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝. Now is the time to change that. Emmie Faust | Bianca Glang, MSc. | Valentina Milanova | Dr Claudia Pastides | Katherine Church | Karina Vazirova | Ashleigh Niziol |

Women have been so let down by the healthcare system. 1️⃣ We don’t teach medical students and physicians enough about the female body 2️⃣ We don’t study the female body enough 3️⃣ We don’t educate women on their own bodies enough 4️⃣ We don’t have enough of the right support systems in place for women to thrive ——— 2x as much funding goes to male-prevalent diseases than female-prevalent ones (Journal of Women’s Health) ——— For example… For myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, the ratio of burden to funding is 0.04 and for HIV/AIDS, the ratio is 15.6 (Nature) ~75% of ME sufferers are women and ~81% of HIV sufferers are men (CDC) ——— Women aren’t taught about their own bodies by their pediatrician as a teenager, nevertheless by their GP as an adult. Instead we put this responsibility onto a high school teacher. Which has failed to do anything but make women fear their bodies and what they can do with them. ——— This lack of body literacy is represented by most women only getting to know their body once they’re trying to get pregnant. And sometimes not even then. ——— As a result, women’s health conditions go vastly underdiagnosed. Partially due to lack of understanding and partially due to lack of ability to advocate for oneself. If you don’t know your body, how can you stand up for it? ——— According to US claims data, the prevalence of women’s health conditions is 5x that of documented diagnoses. In other words, for every 1 woman diagnosed, 4 with an active condition go undiagnosed. Across diseases, women are diagnosed 2.5-10 yrs later than men. ——— A study of 112 US internal-medicine residency programs found 70% did not include curriculum on infertility and 40% did not include any on PCOS. Yet we know 1 in 5 women are currently facing infertility and the #1 cause of infertility in the US is PCOS. ——— The majority of physicians point women in 1 direction when they’re met with infertility: IVF Which is no walk in the park, emotionally, physically, or financially. An single cycle, on average, is $20K, yet most women go through 2-4 cycles to get a successful transfer. ——— A survey of US OB/GYN residents found that fewer than 2 in 10 receive formal training in menopause medicine. Yet 80% of women say menopause significantly interferes with their lives and work (McKinsey) ——— A study conducted by Vira Health on 8K women going through menopause cited 40% were missing 2-7 days of work a month due to symptoms. 13% had quit their jobs due to symptoms and another 15% were considering doing it. In total, ~$1.8B is lost each year in productivity due to unmanaged menopause. ——— It’s pretty wild to me that women’s health has only become a “thing” in the past few years. And the damage of underserving 50% of the population for so long is extremely evident now. ——— But fortunately, that means there’s a lot of room to grow — if we’re able to execute on the areas in need. #womenshealth

The other day, I was scrolling through Instagram when a post stopped me... it said "1 million women enter menopause each year in the US. 1 million men take Viagra. Who is getting their needs better met?" That stark comparison led me down a rabbit hole of research, and what I uncovered was staggering: -Women spend an average of 9 years of their lives in poor health - 25% longer than men -64% of medical interventions put women at a disadvantage in terms of access or effectiveness -Only 2 FDA-approved drugs exist for women's sexual health vs. 26 for men -When medicines are withdrawn for safety concerns, they're 3.5x more likely to be pulled due to risks for women -Only 1.7% of venture capital goes to female-founded companies At Midi Health, we see the human cost behind these statistics daily. The McKinsey Health Institute estimates addressing this health gap could add $1 trillion annually to the global economy by 2040. That's not just a market opportunity - it represents millions of women suffering unnecessarily. This isn't about comparison - it's about recognizing a systemic failure. When clinical trials exclude women, when medical schools provide minimal menopause training, when investment decisions are made predominantly by men - we create a healthcare system that fundamentally underserves half the population. Women's health isn't a niche market - it's essential healthcare that demands focused attention and investment. The cost of inaction is too high, both in human suffering and economic potential.

An April 2025 report shared an exciting stat: women's health funding hit a record $2.6 billion in 2024. The headlines were celebratory. "Femtech is here." "Investors finally care about women's health!" But dig into the data and a familiar pattern emerges. Most of that capital flowed to the same narrow slice of women’s health it always does: Fertility. Pregnancy. Postpartum. Which matters tremendously. But women's health is not just reproductive health. Where's the funding for: - Menopause (affects every woman who lives long enough, still massively underfunded) - Autoimmune diseases (78% of sufferers are women, barely any digital health innovation) - Chronic pain conditions that disproportionately impact women - Cardiovascular disease (kills more women than anything else, but research and tools are based on male symptoms) - Mental health tools designed for women's hormonal reality, not adapted from male models We've normalized talking about periods and fertility. That's genuine progress. But we're still treating women's health like it begins with trying to get pregnant and ends with postpartum recovery. And here is what gets left out of the conversation entirely: behavior change. These conditions get better when women can actually change their behaviors which is hard without support. Menopause symptoms, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune flares all respond to sustained behavior change around diet, exercise, stress, and sleep. But behavior change tools designed for women's reality? Almost nonexistent. Here’s why this gap becomes even more consequential: Women make about 80% of healthcare decisions and live more years with chronic conditions than men. But most investors can't evaluate opportunities outside reproductive health because medical research generally excluded women until 1993. They don't have the pattern recognition to assess menopause, autoimmune, or cardiovascular solutions. This is where evidence changes everything. The companies breaking out build research that proves their approach creates documented outcomes women will pay for. Maven Clinic hit a $1.7B valuation with data. ŌURA raised $200M with embedded cycle tracking. Peloton Interactive launched a 500-person menopause study with Respin Health. The $2.6B record is progress. But 2026 needs to be the year we fund women's health that isn't tied to making babies and actually helps women change behaviors that improve their health. Because women's bodies are complex across their entire lifespan. And they deserve solutions designed for that reality. #womenshealth #femtech #digitalhealth #behaviorchange #menopause #healthequity

Dear VCs: Women’s health is a $1T+ opportunity. Time to get over your discomfort. You’ll bet on robotic pizza cooks, AI-generated avatars, Bored Apes, ghost kitchens. But reproductive health? That’s “too niche.” The very thought that half of the world’s health, happiness, and safety is somehow “fringe” is not only horrifying (although it certainly is that)... It’s also a deliberate decision to ignore obvious opportunities, delay important innovation, and leave SO MUCH MONEY on the table that it really does beg the question: why are we still treating this like an emerging category? Here’s the reality: 💡 Women’s health is projected to be a $1.2 trillion global market by 2027. 💡 Nearly 50% of the ENTIRE global population will experience m*nstruation, menop@use, pregnancy, or conditions like endometriosis—and yet solutions remain wildly underfunded. 💡 Despite making 80% of healthcare decisions, women are chronically underserved by the very system they navigate daily. Why? Because too many decision-makers still squirm when people start talking about v@ginal microbiomes, menop@use, ab*rtion, birth control, and a million other things that make up the VERY BASIC building blocks of half our population’s wellbeing. Make no mistake: this is a fast-growing category right now—not one to be ignored. We’re seeing a massive influx of founders who are bringing courage, innovation, and ingenuity to the most badly neglected table in human history. And yet… I’ve seen so many investors just shut down and go silent when these subjects come up in detail. Translation: We don’t get it, and we don’t want to. Here’s my take: If your job is to identify outsized, underserved markets, and you’re ignoring women’s health—you’re not doing your job. You’re protecting your comfort zone, not your LPs’ returns. This is not even just a moral or ethical dilemma. Plain and simple, it’s not smart investing. The next $10B+ outcome in healthcare isn’t going to come from another pill tracker. It’s going to come from someone brave enough to build for the half of humanity that’s been told to wait. If that makes you uncomfortable, sit with it. Then do better. #DaringVentures  #venturecapital #womenshealth #founders #healthtech #medtech