“We are at a critical point in women’s health,” says Dr Helen O’Neill, co-founder of diagnostic testing company Hertility. “ We have always needed it, but now people are talking about innovation. Women are having the agency to speak up and demand. And where there is demand, people seek solutions.”

That demand is playing a part in creating a huge economic opportunity around women’s health. A report published last year by McKinsey Health and the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Health and Healthcare highlighted a significant gap in diagnosis, treatment and outcomes between men and women. Reducing the time that women spend in poor health – currently 25% more than men – could, the report argues, add $1 trillion to the world economy.

But how can that be achieved? The McKinsey/WEF report recommends measures such as more female-centric research, increased access to gender-specific care, and new business policies that address the needs of women. Female-led life-science startups are already playing a part in this, but while there are opportunities there are major challenges, not least around funding.

As Dr O’Neill sees it, there is a continuing funding gap when it comes to science-led companies that are focused on the health of women.

“The funding situation is not changing,” she says. “The only change is that people are talking about it and they are talking about the $1 trillion opportunity identified by McKinsey.”

Awareness of that opportunity is not matched by the sound of checks being written by VC-funds that are still male-dominated. “There is an ignorance about women’s health. They will put you in front of VCs to pitch, but the people writing the checks are all white-haired men,” says O’Neill.

But if the funding landscape is tough, there is also optimism. Hertility was one of eighteen startups and investors represented at The Women’s Health Innovation Forum, an event hosted by British Land as part of London Life Sciences Week earlier this month. The forum focused on the role that female-led life sciences startups can play in solving the problem of gender inequity in health. The message was that these businesses have the potential – individually and collectively – to make a real impact.

Public Support For Life Science

And there is support.One key element of the funding landscape here in the U.K. is public=sector backing for startups that combine commercial intent with academic and scientific rigour.

For instance, Hertility has created GynAI, a diagnostic tool designed to identify a range of conditions that could affect fertility. Positioned as an end-to-end service, it combines an initial assessment with an opportunity for women to be referred quickly to clinicians. At the core of the system is years of work creating predictive algorithms around factors such as medical history, lifestyle and diet.

Dr Sioned Jones, co-founder of BoobyBiome has also spent many years researching the bacteria found in breast milk. As she explains, communities of bacteria that exist in the mother’s milk biome play a vital role in preventing conditions such as asthma and diabetes as children grow older, and yet until recently, research was thin on the ground. The company has identified the relevant bacteria, created a biobank and is now developing a drop that can be given to children.

“Everything we do is built on evidence, data and we will carry out clinical studies ahead of the launch,” she says.

Crucially, early funding for both Hertility and Boobybiome came from Innovate UK, the agency tasked with supporting science-led startups through grants.

“The Innovate UK grant that I got was transformational,” says Dr O’Neill. “It was a secondment grant. It enabled me to be seconded to industry for three years. So I was able to keep my academic post.”

But does rigour of the research make it easier to attract private funding from VCs. Dr Jones thinks it does.

“We have recently closed a $2.5m seed round. Being here at Greatt Ormond Street (hospital), surrounded by midwives and clinicians, you build a support system. Investors see that support system as invaluable. It helps you create a trusted brand in a space that is not very well trusted. It can expedite your route to market.”

Hertility has also had success, having secured Seed funding from LocalGlobe and Venrex, the company has gone on to raise $30 million in a mix of equity and grants.

Commercial Models

To successfully make the transition from lab-based research to investible company, the commercial model has to work for customers and VCs. For Boobybiome, there is a two pronged approach. Next year, the company will launch a device that preserves bacteria by removing oxygen from a container when women store their breast milk. This will be marketed to consumers via partnerships with bottle manufacturers. In 2029, the plan is to make drops available.

For its part, Hertility sells tests to consumers, with referrals as part of the package. It has also worked with companies such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton and Apple in Ireland to offer the service as a workplace benefit.

But what do VCs want? Dr Pooja Sikka is a venture partner at Cross-Border Impact Ventures, a fund that invests with a focus on women’s, children’s and adolescent health. The fund’s mission is to deliver impact, but Dr Sikka, stresses that investee companies must also be financially sustainable.

Product/Market Fit

“Our thesis is that we want companies with product/market fit and financial sustainability in high-income countries, but they must be able to travel to middle and lower-income countries,” she says.

In Dr Sikka’s view, interest in women’s health is rising. “The women’s health space is driving a lot of capital into it, A consumer lens is playing into this. Women are asking for themselves what they want – they are becoming self-empowered. We are catalysing that.”

As she acknowledges, there is still work to do. Solutions around, say, breastfeeding or reproduction might be taboo for some VCs.. Maybe that kind of attitude is rarer than it was, but male VCs may simply lack empathy or understanding about the seriousness of the issue.

One way forward is to demonstrate to potential partners that impact can sit side by side with returns. “We have a VC/private equity approach, and we negotiate deals in the same way as everyone else,” she says, adding: “These are hard yards. Someone has to lead and catalyse things.”

The landscape is changing. U.K. policy is prioritising life sciences and there is public support through Innovate UK and the British Business Bank. McKinsey has pointed to an economic opportunity. British scientists are bringing solutions to the market. There is, however, still a funding gap that is slowly but surely being addressed.