Tech Startups Tackle the Gap in Women’s Healthcare

• Women face inequities in healthcare that make them less likely to seek care, pay more for it when they do and have poor experiences.
• Addressing these issues could add $1 trillion to global output by 2040, and investors are showing interest: Venture funding for women’s health technologies has climbed in recent years.
• The Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab is helping accelerate startups that have innovative products and services addressing the gap in women’s health.
• MSIVL’s current cohort and portfolio companies are targeting chronic illnesses, sexual health and inclusive access.

Women experience a number of disparities when it comes to healthcare: They are less likely than men to seek care and pay higher costs. For example, women are 35% more likely than men to say they have skipped or delayed medical care over a 12-month period, and more than 40% of female participants said they had done so because they did not like the way a provider or staff member treated them.¹ Women employed in the U.S. pay $15.4 billion more in annual out-of-pocket health care expenses than for employed men, not including premium costs.²

Addressing gender-based inequities in healthcare would improve healthcare outcomes and could add $1 trillion to global output by 2040, according to McKinsey.³ Investors are realizing this opportunity. Despite a 27% decline in overall venture funding from 2022 to 2023, investments in women’s health technologies grew by 5%.⁴

Early-stage companies aiming to bridge gaps in the women’s health market, many of which are women-led, offer new products, services and research. To support this important work, the Inclusive Ventures Lab (MSIVL),  Morgan Stanley’s in-house accelerator for underrepresented founders, provides a number of startups in the space with funding, introductions to the venture capital community and mentorship.

“The Lab is accelerating startups bringing innovations to women’s health, spanning chronic illnesses, sexual health and inclusive access,” says Sanghamitra Karra, EMEA Head of the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Group. “The founders of these companies and early-stage investors are committed to targeting better health outcomes for women while achieving long-term value.”

Solutions for Chronic Illnesses

Juniver and DotLab from Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab’s portfolio are bringing to market new innovations and tools to address long-term health problems.

• Juniver is a health company transforming the $66 billion eating disorder market through a first-of-its-kind digital solution with AI-powered support for on-demand help for eating disorder urges, personalized insights from health data, evidence-based education and peer support. Shown to be 92% effective in a pilot, Juniver is designed to cover the full continuum of care, from self-guided digital experiences proven to drive symptom reduction, to a 1:1 virtual clinic.

• DotLab is revolutionizing the diagnosis of endometriosis with a non-invasive test, aiming to replace the need for invasive procedures with a more patient-friendly approach. This innovation not only improves diagnostic accuracy but also enhances the overall patient experience. Founder Heather Bowerman also underscored the economic impact of the disease: “There is no test for endometriosis,” she said. “The standard of care is surgery in the form of laparoscopy. It’s a multi-billion-dollar problem for U.S. health systems every year, and among the most expensive and burdensome diseases.”

OVUM, Unfabled and HANX are addressing various aspects of women’s sexual health, spanning reproduction, hormones and prescription treatments.

• OVUM, part of MSIVL’s current cohort, is a reproductive health brand demonstrating improved fertility outcomes using their products and services. Founder Jenny Wordsworth is building an ecosystem of best-in-class fertility support for the trying-to-conceive community, from patented preconception support supplements to launching their first fertility treatment offering.

• HANX is redefining the sexual and intimate wellness industry by offering a consumer platform bringing together medically designed women’s reproductive health products, prescription treatments and community-based content. Co-Founder Farah Kabir says some investors initially dismissed HANX but that she has been able to shift the conversation and rewrite the narrative in a fragmented market.

• Unfabled is a curated platform offering women’s health and wellness products, with solutions for premenstrual syndrome, menopause and other conditions that allow users to receive tailored product recommendations. Founder Hannah Samano says her business model is intended to help address the lack of sex-disaggregated data that hinders women’s health research.

Research Grid and Health in Her HUE aim to diversify areas of healthcare to achieve more inclusivity.

• Research Grid is the AI automation engine for admin-free clinical trials. Far too many trials fail because of delays, errors, or weak patient engagement caused by legacy software and manual processes. Its mission is to enable faster, more successful clinical trials with its AI software that safely automates back office admin across the full lifecycle. Informed by deep expertise and first-hand experience, Research Grid has built two comprehensive solutions for diverse patient and community engagement (Inclusive) and clinical trial management (TrialEngine) that support a variety of trial types and therapeutic areas. Founder and CEO Dr. Amber Hill hopes to make the future of clinical trials admin-free by eliminating back-office delays and access bottlenecks to ensure new medicine reaches everyone who needs it.

• Health in Her Hue connects Black women and women of color to culturally sensitive healthcare providers, health content and community support through a digital platform. Founder Ashlee Wisdom says that she wants to highlight the health disparities that affect women and emphasize the role that community plays in the quality of care that people receive.