Female technology (FemTech) is often thought of as a niche market. And this massively impacts funding. For example, despite representing half of the global population, and spending over $500 billion per year on medical bills, only 4% of healthcare research and development funding is put toward women's health.
But FemTech founders in Bavaria are on a mission to tip the scales and bring more funding to women's health and develop life-changing technology that can improve women's lives.
FemTech is starting to explode around Germany, and Bavaria is making plans to attract as many innovative new female-focused health techs to the region as possible.
The global market for FemTech is forecast to reach $60 billion by 2027 so over the next few years as funding increases we can expect to see numerous new startups emerge.
In this article, we will explore what a FemTech is, the growing scene in Munich and Bavaria, and share with you three FemTechs from the region that you need to watch in 2023.
What is FemTech?
If you're not clear on what the term FemTech means, don't worry. It's a relatively new word and has only been circling around in the startup scene since 2016.
Ida Tin was the first person to use the term FemTech back when she was founding her own women's health startup. It was one of the first health tech startups to focus solely on women and has grown to tremendous success. It's called Clue – maybe you’ve heard of it.
In 2023, the term FemTech has expanded to include all the startups, scaleups and wider organizations that focus on women's health and use technology to provide support and solutions for women's health.
According to PitchBook, FemTech startups raised over $2 billion in funding in 2022. This was a huge increase from the years before – only $476.8 million was raised in 2019 – and shows how much interest in the space is growing.
In 2023, we predict that investment will grow even more and funding will surpass even the 2022 levels.
Why are FemTechs so popular?
FemTechs are a group of startups that focus on plugging societal gaps and creating fairer and easier access to services for previously underserved groups. These types of startups are particularly popular in the current social and economic climate which is why we will only see continued investment as these underserved audiences flock to companies that meet their unique needs.
FemTechs are using a combination of technology and creativity to develop solutions to all kinds of women's health issues. From reproductive health and fertility to menstrual tracking, pregnancy, and menopause there are so many areas of women's health that are now being addressed by FemTechs.
And they are not only focusing on reproductive health, but also finding treatments for diseases that are more prevalent in women (such as Alzheimer's, certain types of cancer, and autoimmune diseases).
These FemTechs are doing important work that can affect the lives of millions (if not billions) of women across the world. This new wave of women's health technology could bring about significant change to women's health and help women across the globe live happier and healthier lives.
The FemTech scene in Bavaria
Bavaria’s startup scene is on the road to success and quickly catching up with the capital, Berlin.
Numerous health techs are incubating in the Nuremberg and Erlangen region which has become a digital health hub. This region is home to some renowned research institutions in the healthcare sector along with the headquarters of several high-profile businesses – bringing together capital and innovation.
The Digital Health Hub for the region around Nuremberg and Erlangen focuses on digitization in the healthcare sector and has attracted a lot of both healthcare and technology talent to the region – making it the perfect place for a German FemTech to locate.
Munich is another bustling startup city in Bavaria and is one of the top tech hubs in Europe – up there with Paris and London. And the city is starting to put a major focus on attracting women in tech and FemTechs to the area.
Thinking of relocating to Munich to start your tech career? Check out our Guide to Why Munich is the City to Start Your Tech Career in 2023.
The Femtech Career-Building Programme
The Technical University of Munich has created a FemTech Career-Building Program as a way to attract more female-led startups to the city and encourage more women to get into tech.
TU Munich has set itself the goal of becoming the most desirable technical university for women in Germany. Its FemTech program uses unconventional measures to create study and workplaces that focus specifically on meeting the unique needs of women.
The TU Program is an incredible track that helps female students to pursue a career in FemTech and gives them the skills they need to achieve their goals after graduation.
In Germany, specialists with managerial skills are highly sought after and also very rare in the technology sector.
One of the areas that the program focuses on is giving women the skills to be able to fill more management positions in the technology sector. The university provides support and guidance for its female students that gives them actionable insights they can put to use in their careers.
FemTech events in Bavaria
Not only is there a tonne of great options for those looking to start their FemTech careers in Bavaria, there are also a lot of women in tech events that you can attend to build a network and connect with other people interested in FemTech.
You could look at Salesforces Women in Tech Group, and Female Tech Leaders who both hold events and workshops in Munich. And we are only scratching the surface here. In Bavaria, there are numerous initiatives dedicated to supporting women in tech and healthcare.
Ironhack recently held several events for women in tech in Munich and is hoping to hold more similar events in the future. Follow us on Meetup to stay up-to-date on all our local events.
Top FemTech startups in Bavaria to watch
FemTechs in Bavaria are some of the most exciting startups on the scene right now. They are still not the most popular type of startup in the region but many healthtechs in the area are now focusing on creating specific women-focused products and services so in the coming years we expect this list will grow significantly.
For now, here are three of our favorite cutting-edge FemTech startups from Bavaria that are leading the charge in womens health technology.
1. Wellster
Wellster is one of the larger Munich-based healthtech startups. It is a go-to solution for consumer health, building digital clinics and the next generation of healthcare consumer goods.
In 2022, Wellster announced it had secured a total of $60 million (€53m) in a series B financing round.
This investment makes it the highest-funded integrated healthcare platform not only in Germany but the whole of Europe.
That all sounds great, but you are probably wondering what puts Wellster on our FemTech lists.
Well, since the platforms were launched in 2019, more than 1.5 million patients have registered for and used them for everything from mental health to intimate health, hair and skin problems, to medical self-testing. But that audience has primarily been male.
To change that, the startup has announced that it is going to use its series B funding to focus more on women's health. The company's pivot towards the FemTech sector shows the high volume of opportunities now available and seen as profitable in providing women with the healthcare solutions that they've been deprived of historically.
We are excited to see the kinds of innovations Wellster will bring to the table and what women's health issues they are going to focus on.
2. GoBunion
GoBunion is a smaller FemTech based out of Munich and founded by Sarita Bradley. Her idea is centered around making life easier for women who have problems with their hallux (also known as a bunion, which is one of the most common forefoot deformities).
GoBunion stockings have a toe separator that gently stretches the big toe into its original position and ensures that the curvature does not increase.
The comfortable and discreet solution is non-slip and accommodates the everyday life of style-conscious women.
Sarita launched in October 2018 after putting in extensive research to create a pattern that would be effective and that women would want to wear. She launched at the Munich 'Beauty Forum' fair and later gave a pitch in the lion's den where she received two offers.
Since then she's seen tremendous success with over 100,000 socks sold.
3. XO Life
While not specifically a FemTech, XO Life is a healthtech company that is providing services that have tremendous benefits for women's health.
XO Life is on a mission to create the largest real-world evidence platform for patient insights across all kinds of medications and therapies.
This matters for women, because typically most medicines and therapies are tested on men rather than women. As you can imagine, this means that medicines can then have unknown side effects and women's health can be put at risk.
One study found that in 90% of cases, women experienced stronger side effects than men when taking the same medicine and experienced adverse drug reactions nearly twice as much as men.
XO Lifes is hoping to use data to combat this and other issues. It’s website says:
“Medicines can have different side effects in men and women – XO Life is an effective and easy-to-use reporting system with which gender-dependent side effects can not only be recorded but also scientifically evaluated.“
The research they are doing could lead to many women having happier and healthier lives by making more informed decisions about the medicines they take.
Get ready to start your tech career in Munich
Are you a woman ready to kickstart your career in tech? Sign up for one of our bootcamps and learn the skills that FemTechs in Munich are searching for. Our tech school offers a range of immersive courses from UX/UI Design to Cybersecurity that are delivered in formats tailored to your needs: online or on campus, full-time or part-time. Apply today.
