MODERN WELLNESS
umans as a species love to
categorize. To help us understand the world around us, we
give everything a name—each other, our pets, our moods,
the earthy smell of a forest after rain. And when we’re par-
ticularly excited about something, we’ll give it a nickname,
too. In this fashion “femtech” was born, a term used to
describe the section of the Venn diagram where technol-
ogy and female health care get busy. The term was coined
around 2016, about the time that seriously innovative ideas
started popping up in that particular sliver of space. Think
back to the then-scandalizing ads for Thinx period-proof
underwear. There was also Fin, a crowdfunded fingertip
vibrator; Clue, an ovulation tracker; and Cora, the organic
menstrual-products subscription service. Before long, seri-
ously big cash began to flow. Last year, an estimated $400
million was invested in companies that fell under the fem-
tech umbrella—and about $1 billion total since 2015, says
research firm PitchBook. Today, Cora is neatly filed in Tar-
get’s personal-care aisle (with competitors like Tampax),
and ideas continue to proliferate. “Smart tampons” that
would collect blood and tissue for monthly genetic testing
to help diagnose diseases like endometriosis, cervical can-
cer, and even indirectly measure a patient’s ovarian reserve,
may not be far off, thanks to startups like NextGen Jane. By
some estimates, the entire femtech space could represent
a $50 billion industry by 2025.
It goes without saying that both health care and tech-
nology are fields where American women and their needs
have been overlooked. But we will say it. And back it up
with exhibits A and B: A recent survey that shows that the
U.S. has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the
developed world, and statistics that show a dearth of
female leaders in Silicon Valley (only 7 percent of partners
at the top 100 venture capital firms are women). “The
truth is the vast majority of investors, even in health care,
are men,” says Trish Costello, the CEO founder of invest-
ment fund Portfolia and the Portfolia FemTech Fund, an
arm specifically devoted to women’s health-care compa-
nies. “Sometimes they’re just downright uncomfortable
with products that deal with menopause, childbirth, peri-
ods, anything. One said to me, ‘I don’t want to have to talk
about vaginas every Monday morning at my partner meet-ing.’” The fact that this paradigm is shifting is very excit-
ing. And yet, as investments in femtech grow and the
companies serving women’s health-care concerns
become profitable, there is a persistent question that
looms: How useful are these innovations, really? In some
cases, is this just another way for women to pay a pre-
mium for...being women?
Take tampons and sanitary napkins. They’re essentials
for a menstruating population. In the United States, though,
they’ve been sold and taxed as luxury goods, rather than as
a medical necessity that would be exempt from sales tax or
purchasable through government-assistance programs like
Medicaid. Since protests picked up steam in recent years,
10 states have amended their laws to drop the tax, but 35
have not. (Fun fact: Five states have no sales tax.) This is all
to say: Women represent a huge market, and in some ways,
because of a lack of care options, a vulnerable one.
Menstrual hygiene has undergone more innovation due to
femtech company attention than it had in decades (new
sustainable, reusable plastic options; organic-cotton sub-
scription services; menstrual underwear), but these
changes do not necessarily come cheap. A standard box of
50 assorted store-brand tampons costs $4.99. For the
equivalent of 50 Cora tampons, a product launched partly
in response to what the company viewed as potentially
dangerous synthetic materials, the cost at Target would be
about $15.60. Caring for the female body is still being
regarded as a luxury and sold at that price.
Breast pumps for nursing mothers are another area
experiencing a surge of innovation—with quite a price
tag. Elvie, the U.K.-based company behind the Goop-
approved mint-green pelvic floor exercise trainer, recently
launched a wireless, silent breast pump. The Elvie Pumph