🙌 Japan-based Fermata launches new femtech fund; HeyMama raises $2M; a16z announces $750M life sciences fund; One Medical IPO

View this email in your browser

Hello & Welcome to Edition #19 of the
Weekly Femtech Insider Newsletter!

The most popular articles from last week's newsletter were:
Femtech Insider adds overview of femtech events and relevant accelerators
R2G releases a new digital women's health market report
HTD Research: Femtech by the Numbers

So let's see what's up this week, shall we?!

Fermata is a Japan-based community and start-up support ecosystem aimed to accelerate access to knowledge and technologies developed for diversifying and liberating women’s wellness and sexual-wellbeing.
(c) Fermata

Highlights

Fermata and Mistletoe Japan launch a new femtech fund and announce their first investments in kegg and come&gone; HeyMama, a premiere social network for working mothers, raises $2M; Andreessen Horowitz announces a new $750M life sciences fund; One Medical surged in its stock market debut; DTC pregnancy test startup Stix adds ovulation tests to their product line; Microsoft launched its $40M "AI for Health" initiative; Fermata announces FemTech Fes!, a year-long user-centered femtech roadshow, that will kick off on March 1 in Japan; Telehealth staffing platform Wheel raises $14M; Femtech Insider launches a podcast

Company Spotlight

Fermata definitely kept us on our toes this week announcing Femtech Fes!'s kick-off event in Shibuya, the launch of their new fund and their first investments into US-based femtech startups kegg and come&gone. Reason enough for us to check in with the local femtech community and introduce you to some Japanese startups in the women's health and fertility space. Here we go!

Fermata is creating a community start-up support ecosystem aimed to accelerate access to knowledge and technologies developed for diversifying and liberating women’s wellness and sexual-wellbeing in Japan.

HERBIO has developed a wearable device called Picot that measures basal body temperature.

seem has developed a sperm self-check kit, that allows testing at home. The app checks and benchmarks sperm motility and concentration.

bonyu is an early nutrition platform for kids and parents and helps mothers understand and improve the nutritional value of breast milk.

In The Know

Startup Nation Israel: 10 Femtech Companies to Watch (Femtech Insider)

Hardware Club's Marta Mrozowicz: "It's funny how women at the height of their purchasing power are overlooked as consumers." (Femtech Insider)

Stix: "We’re talking about products that most investors have never used and problems they have never experienced." (Femtech Insider)

Why Cancer Spotting AI Needs to Be Handled with Care (The Verge)

Blossom Capital's Louise Samet Talks Hormone Tracking and Femtech Bets (Techcrunch)

An OCD Drug Created via AI is Tested on Humans (Vox)

Hollywood's Menopause Problem: "The Silence Around It Perpetuates Silence Among Women" (Hollywood Reporter)

"Femtech" is Your New Favorite Retention Tool (FEI)

Doctors on TikTok Try to Go Viral (NYTimes)

Badass Millenial Women Are Supercharging Startup Investments (Techcrunch)

Tune in!

*drumroll* The time has come and we are excited to present the first 3 episodes of the Femtech Insider Podcast today!

Monica Karpinski, founder of The Femedic, let’s us know what it’s really like to raise a round as a solo founder in the femtech space. Ann Garnier, founder of Lisa Health, talks about building a product, that helps women thrive during menopause. Megan Capriccio, Femtech Collective Ambassador in Sydney, shares which companies and geographies in APAC she's watching in 2020.

Curious? Listen in and let us know what you think!

Who's Hiring?

Evofem is looking for an Associate Director of Sales Operations.

Modern Fertility is looking for a VP of Business Develppment.

Nurx is hiring a Pharmacy Supply Chain Manager.

Cora is hiring a Sr. Associate, Social Media.

Flo is looking for an Infrastructure Engineer.

Bellabeat is hiring an i OS Developer.

Want so see more jobs? Click HERE!

Resources

The Ultimate Femtech Company Database

Femtech Event Calendar

Femtech & Digital Health Accelerator Programs

The Top 13 VC Investors in Femtech Startups

Women Investing in Femtech - Part 1 & Part 2

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this newsletter, help us spread the word and
forward this email to others who might be interested!

Curated by:

Kathrin Folkendt
Founder & Editor at Femtech Insider

If you have feedback, questions or would like us to feature your content,
drop us a note or simply reply to this email.