Women don several hats. From running enterprises to running homes, they have a lot on their plate. While they excel in all walks of life, several women often tend to ignore their own health. Regular health checkups or visits to medical practitioners have yet to become a common practice among women, even in urban centres. In India, there is still some stigma around women’s health issues, particularly with respect to their sexual and reproductive health. This often leads women to neglect a medical condition till the disease or condition reaches a malignant stage.
However, the startup sector has come forward with innovative tech solutions to fill this gap. Commonly referred to as “femtech startups”, these companies especially cater to women’s wellness and healthcare around menstruation, sexual health etc. These women-centric healthcare apps are focused on solving a range of medical issues, including infertility, menstrual hygiene, birth control and sexual wellness. In fact, femtech apps are expanding their horizon by offering mental health support and medical assistance to the LGBTQ+ community.
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Over the past few years, several apps have popped up in this space and the trend is expected to grow stronger in the near future — the global women’s healthcare market is expected to reach $17.8 billion by 2024 from $9.6 billion currently. According to MarketsandMarkets, this market will witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2 percent.
Several femtech apps are transforming the women’s wellness and healthcare market in India as well. Here’s a look at a few, in no particular order:
Healthfab: This Bengaluru-based femtech startup was founded in 2019 by Kirit Acharjee, Satyajit Chakraborty, and Sourav Chakraborty. The company’s flagship product is “GoPadFree“, a reusable period panty. The company claims that using these panties would cut the need to wear additional menstrual products like tampons, cups, or sanitary pads.
That Sassy Thing: This women-focused sexual and menstrual wellness brand sells products like menstrual cramp care roller, pubic hair oil, underwear detergent, and an intimate wash. The company was founded in 2020 by Sachee Malhotra.
Ava: This Bengaluru-based startup, founded by Evelyn Immanuel in 2019, helps women deal with chronic health conditions — PCOS, insulin resistance, thyroid, and others — through programmes and personalised plans. The platform focuses on encouraging a disciplined life approach to avoid future complications.
Hera: Founded by Vaishnavi Raju in 2020, this Hyderabad-based startup focuses on general, pregnancy, and sexual health. The startup's e-commerce platform, Hera Now — offers products for clean nutrition, health checks, and follow-up care.
Proactive For Her: This app provides tele-consultation service. Through its clinics, the company also offers offline services for problems related to skin and haircare, PCOS, menstrual health, sexual health and others. The startup was founded by Achitha Jacob in 2020.
OoWomaniya: Owned by Impetus Wellness, OoWomaniya is a networking platform that connects women with doctors and counsellors. Women can not only seek consultation on health and emotional wellness-related issues but also on POSH (prevention of sexual harassment). The company has a team of certified health experts across the country.
Say Cheese: It is a women’s happiness centric platform that was founded by Rajpreet Kaur in 2020 in Mumbai. This platform assists women to tackle challenges across careers, relationships and health. The app's proprietary tool "Happiness Evaluation Report" (HER) measures the current happiness level of its clients.
Healofy: This Bengaluru-based startup focuses on pregnancy-related health and early motherhood concerns. Founded by Gaurav Aggarwal and Shubham Maheshwari in 2016, the app provides women with access to relevant information through its content.
Zealthy: This Bengaluru-based platform connects women to healthcare providers for specialities such as maternity, cosmetic interventions, infertility, and others. The startup was founded in 2019 by Rishi Malhotra and Akhil Gupta.
Also read: Women’s Health Day 2022: How to tame killer cervical cancer with HPV vaccines, pap-smear tests
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