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Despite representing half of the global population, women's health has historically received disproportionately little investment. A recent report from Boston Consulting Group highlights this missed opportunity: Closing the women's health gap could unlock significant economic and societal value. Yet structural barriers, from underfunded research to fragmented healthcare systems, continue to limit capital flows in the sector and innovation to reach end users.
In a discussion about the report, Malin Frithiofsson, CEO of Daya Ventures, a femtech venture studio in Sweden, and Maaike Steinebach, a femtech expert and ecosystem builder based in Hong Kong, highlighted three critical priorities for the next phase of women's health innovation:
- Expanding the investment infrastructure
- Strengthening the pathway from early-stage innovation to scale
- Redefining value creation in healthcare investment
Expanding the investment infrastructure
One of the most persistent barriers in women's health innovation is the structural underfunding of the sector. According to Frithiofsson, the challenge begins at the very earliest stages of venture funding: "The goal is simple: Increase the number of women writing early-stage cheques."
Frithiofsson's initiative, One of the Girls Has Money Now, exemplifies this effort by educating women on startup investing through workshops, pitch analysis and mentorship. The objective is not just financial literacy but capital redistribution within venture ecosystems.
This gap in early-stage capital is also due to uneven levels of investor knowledge, a problem Steinebach believes can be addressed through stronger ecosystem-building efforts. Communities are infrastructure for capital allocation. They provide a platform for collective intelligence and shared risk assessment that decreases uncertainty amongst investors.
Traditionally, women's health has been narrowly associated with reproductive care. However, conditions such as autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular conditions and neurological disorders represent massive yet underexplored markets.
Expanding the pool of female investors and strengthening industry knowledge networks create the conditions necessary for sustained investment growth.
Strengthening the pathway from early-stage innovation to scale
Approximately 50% of private investment in women's health companies remains concentrated in the earliest funding rounds, reflecting a systemic scaling challenge. Frithiofsson argues that this is not due to a lack of market potential but rather the absence of infrastructure connecting early traction to investor confidence. "Many women's health startups must generate clinical validation, longitudinal data and payer-relevant outcomes before they look Series A-ready." Frithiofsson said.
This is true for all healthcare innovation but particularly challenging in women's health, where research gaps and limited historical datasets slow evidence generation.
Evidence generation is both time-consuming and capital-intensive, often falling between traditional grant funding and venture capital timelines. As a result, promising companies can become trapped in a funding gap between seed-stage experimentation and institutional-scale investment. "There's a 'valley of death' between Seed and Series A and B for companies proving clinical utility and reimbursement pathways," Steinebach said.
Addressing this gap requires new financial models that combine different types of capital. Steinebach pointed to blended capital structures, integrating philanthropic funding, corporate partnerships and venture investment, as one possible solution.
Aligning value and money
However, funding alone is not enough. A critical factor for scaling women's health startups is early alignment with healthcare reimbursement systems. Startups that focus solely on user adoption without understanding the economic incentives of healthcare buyers often struggle to translate traction into revenue.
Frithiofsson reinforced this perspective, arguing that scalable healthcare companies must prioritise evidence, data defensibility and system integration from the outset. When clinical legitimacy, economic clarity and repeatable distribution align, investors will begin to look at women's health startups as scalable healthcare assets.
Redefining value: Beyond traditional return on investment
While financial returns remain central to venture investment, many experts argue that traditional ROI metrics alone fail to capture the full potential of women's health innovations. Frithiofsson suggests that investors evaluate structural signals rather than focus exclusively on immediate revenue growth, including integration with clinical workflows, progression along a clear evidence pathway and the accumulation of longitudinal health data.
These structural signals reflect the underlying healthcare infrastructure value being created by startups. "The most sophisticated investors are now using blended scorecards: financial return + health outcomes + system efficiency," Steinebach said. She proposes a multi-dimensional investment framework that incorporates broader economic and societal outcomes, including health equity impact, such as reducing diagnostic delays or expanding access to care; productivity gains, particularly improvements in workforce participation linked to better women's health outcomes; and systemic cost avoidance, where preventive care reduces healthcare spending over time.
As an example, conditions such as menopause symptoms, maternal complications and autoimmune diseases often lead to significant workplace absenteeism and healthcare costs. Addressing these issues generates value not only for patients but also for employers, insurers and national economies.
The shift toward blended impact metrics is not simply an ethical consideration; it is increasingly recognised as a strategic investment advantage.
Malin Frithiofsson, CEO of Daya Ventures, a femtech venture studio in Sweden, and Maaike Steinebach, a femtech expert and ecosystem builder based in Hong Kong, will share more about the topic at HIMSS26 Europe on 19 May in Copenhagen.
