FemTech: A Growing Opportunity within Digital Health

Femtech, defined as “software, diagnostics, products and services that use technology to focus on women’s health and wellness” is attracting growing interest amongst researchers, innovators, investors, policy makers and not least, women themselves.

The global market size was £40.2 billion in 2020 and is forecast to grow to $75.1 billion by 2025.

Within the global market there is an unequal distribution of both investment and supply across the different subsectors. Pregnancy, longevity, and fertility account for 48% of the global industry, sub-sectors such as menopause only account for 6% of the market share.

The Global Wellness Institute identifies FemTech as a key driver of the wellness economy. This highlights an increase in ‘health consciousness’, amongst the female population, and indicates that normalising and proactively addressing women’s health issues is contributing to high market growth. Interestingly, 75-85% of women are more likely to use digital health tools compared to men.

It is also recognised that increasing disposable income, digital literacy, smartphone penetration, internet connectivity, digital health infrastructure, and the emergence of start-ups focusing on women’s health present new and potentially lucrative opportunities to new and existing FemTech companies.

One of the key objectives of the CONNECTINGHEALTH project is to explore current and future opportunities within digital health. FemTech as a market opportunity in Europe is explored in the upcoming CONNECTINGHEALTH report within the ‘Health for Wealth’ focus by Scottish Enterprise. The report showcases the market size, supportive policies and various FemTech initiatives dotted across the continent. Stay tuned for its release soon.

Author: Sagarika Gnanaolivu, Scottish Enterprise