From menopause to microbiomes - how Femtech is fighting health inequality
Small Steps Vol. 105: Heavy metal tampons 🩸; what it takes for deeptech startups to raise in 2024 🦾; and cocaine sharks in Brazil 🦈.
Kick start
🩸 Heavy metal tampons. In this week’s shocking news, a US study from UC Berkeley has found traces of toxic metals including lead and arsenic in tampon products from leading brands across all kinds of tampons. Yep, you read that right.
Researchers detected 16 kinds of metals in dozens of samples. Given the high sensitivity of vaginal skin, this gives rise to very real fears of chemical absorption. Toxic metals have been associated with an increased risk of infertility, dementia, diabetes, and cancer.
It remains unclear if the metals detected are linked to any negative health effects from their presence in the tampons – but the lack of research here is also symptomatic of the gender health gap, with only 1% of healthcare research and innovation having been invested in conditions specific to women’s biology in 2020, excluding oncology, according to McKinsey.
With tampons used by over half of people who menstruate in the US and over 41% in Australia, this either affects you or a lot of people you know. Which leads us to this week’s feature…
👩🏻⚕️👩🏼⚕️👩🏾⚕️ We don’t all have access to the same healthcare system – at least not in terms of outcomes.
In Australia, as in the US and the majority of other countries around the world, your health, wellbeing and ability to obtain high quality, affordable care are directly influenced by your gender, race, socioeconomic status, age, sexual and gender identities, cultural heritage and linguistic background – with the tampon news above being the perfect example.
While fixing these broken systems requires wide-reaching reform, we see huge opportunities for positive impact in femtech solutions that decrease the cost of care, combat systemic biases, and enable the delivery of high quality care for underserved populations.
So, what can we do about it?
In the second interview in our Femtech Series, we interviewed Jessica Karr, founder and Managing Director of Coyote Ventures, on how to create impact through backing founders solving healthcare problems disproportionately affecting overlooked populations.
Check out the interview for Jessica’s thoughts on:
👐 why our definition of health needs to be broader than just mental and physical;
💜 the most underserved areas in femtech and the most impactful solutions;
🌎 why empowerment through accessible contraceptive care is the key to solving the climate crisis; and
✈️ advice for Aussie digital health founders looking to expand to the US.
What we’re thinking about
🦾 What does it take for deeptech startups to raise in 2024? First Momentum’s Deep Tech Hardware Napkin lays it all out for you. It collates over 1,000 data points from the European deep tech scene – while the numbers may look slightly different in Australia, the principles stand.
Hardware startups see larger funding rounds and longer timelines to success – an average of 25% to 40% longer between each funding stage from Seed through to Series D. The largest jump in round size occurs at Series A, when investors expect startups to have hit critical commercial and technical milestones. Then there’s the essential combination for a great deeptech founding team – deeptech expertise and extensive R&D experience (often from academia), paired with commercial smarts.
Want more detail? Download the full report here. Running a software startup? Refer to Point Nine Capital’s original SaaS Funding Napkin here.
New paths
🌱 UK-based? Trace is hiring a Marketing Manager (UK) to help expand the UK founding team.
🎧 Mindset Health is on the lookout for two Software Engineers (Melbourne) - apply before July 28!
🔋 Amber Electric is after a Customer Operations Specialist and a Senior Compliance Specialist (Operations) (Melbourne).
🔥 Want to work for an impact company? Fill out our expression of interest form for roles across our portfolio. There’s even more jobs at ethical companies on the global B-Work job board.
Giant leaps
🏆 Goterra has been named a finalist in the Startup Daily Best in Tech 2024 Awards in 3 categories: Startup of the Year, Most Innovative Startup, and Best Startup Culture. Fingers crossed for the finals in September! 🤞 You can check out the full list of nominees here.
For the road
🦈 Cocaine sharks in Brazil. No, this isn’t a teaser for a B-grade horror movie, but the headline from this National Geographic piece. Run-off from illegal drug production labs may be releasing illicit substances into marine waters that could be harming Brazilian sharpnose sharks and other marine life. Scary stuff.
🎲 Settlers of Catan goes green. A new version of the beloved board game features climate disaster as a risk, requiring players to balance building towns, cities and fossil fuel plants with environmental pollution. Expand irresponsibly and you’ll lose. Check out more about Catan: New Energies here.
👧🏽👦🏻 How to talk to kids about climate change. We all know that the climate crisis will shape the futures of generations to come and that kids are more exposed to world news than ever before – but how can we balance important conversations with letting them enjoy the innocence of childhood? Dr Elisabeth Bagley’s advice for Project Drawdown: listen to how they’re feeling, share concrete actions kids can take at home and at school, encourage their curiosity and learn more about the problem and solutions yourself, find community, and help reduce their stress by spending more time in nature.
👵🏼 Swedish grandparents are now entitled to paid parental leave. 50 years after Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce paid parental leave for both parents, the nation has passed a new law allowing grandparents to take parental leave for up to three months of a child’s first year. This world-first allows parents to transfer some of their leave to grandparents, recognising the essential caregiving roles many different family members can take.
👟 Nike pledged to shrink its carbon footprint, but has cut 30% of its sustainability staff. The global sports giant was missing its targets before this, and things are looking even worse now, with emissions having grown slightly since 2015.This sits in stark contrast with the commitment it made in 2016 to double its business while halving its impact on the planet. It begs the question of how mega brands can push toward sustainability without empowering its people to do this essential job.
📱 New Medicare codes a huge win for Digital Therapeutics. Medicare’s proposal to introduce new codes for Digital Mental Health Treatment (DMHT) represents a pivotal change in enabling a clear and standardised way for digital therapeutics to be reimbursed under the traditional healthcare system for the first time. If finalised, we can expect health plans to follow close behind.
💸 The State of digital health investment in 2024. Look no further than this episode of Podnosis featuring Rock Health’s Megan Zweig. In its first quarter funding report, Rock Health noted that it’s a new chapter for digital health funding. U.S. digital health funding closed with $2.7 billion across 133 deals in the first quarter, the lowest first quarter by sector funding since 2019.
🧠 Link between social media and poor mental health confirmed again. A long-term study from economic research organisation e61 using data from 2001 to 2022 has found that mental health started to decline more rapidly in 15 to 24-year-olds from 2010 onwards, coinciding with the proliferation of social media use. Young women reported the highest levels of social media use and “much lower levels of mental health and friendship connections than their male counterparts and other generations”.
🥶 Are women really more sensitive to the cold? Here’s the science. It might seem screamingly obvious, but if you’re cold, you won’t perform as well at work. This is the curse many women (and other people) face when the office aircon is being cranked too high in summer, or the heating isn’t hot enough in winter. But is this as gendered as we think? Body size and composition is the real link to ideal temperature, due to the interaction between metabolic rate, body surface area, and body fat percentage.
Save the date
📅 July 31: Applications close to pitch at Investor Week and the Australian Startup World Cup. Apply now to pitch at this week-long event in Sydney from September 2 to 6 – winning pitches will then compete for a chance to win US$1m at the Startup World Cup in San Francisco. Apply to pitch to leading VCs at Investor Week here and the Australian Startup World Cup here, or use the code COMMUNITY FRIENDS for 20% off tickets to the events!
📅 August 31: Applications close for the KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator competition. This competition is an unrivalled platform to profile your business. Get international exposure, validation from tech industry partners and potential investors, and mentorship and guidance from KPMG advisors to help your startup. Definitely one to check out!
📅 September 4: Investor Week Impact Investors Pitch Night in Sydney. Come pitch to our Investment Associate Katarina, alongside other leading climate investors, at Greenhouse in Sydney as part of Investor Week – use the code COMMUNITY FRIENDS for 20% off tickets!
📅 November 21: The ARENA and Innovation Bay Showcase. They’re currently canvassing rolling applications for climate tech companies to present at their annual event to over 100 investors. Applications close when the event fills up, so get in quickly if interested.
💰 NSW-based startup? Apply for the MVP Ventures Program. This NSW Government-run program helps startups through the commercialisation phases with grants up to $3m. Read more about the guidelines and deadlines here.