Women’s health investing is no longer a niche—it’s one of the most promising sectors in healthcare. The opportunity is vast with unmet clinical needs, overlooked markets, and strong patient demand. Yet, venture capital in women’s health has been underfunded, under researched and undervalued for too long. FemHealth Ventures is changing that. Founded in 2021, the returns-focused healthcare fund has redefined what constitutes women’s health and delivered top-decile returns in a challenging market. Backed by a strong exit, a clear investment thesis, and passionate leadership, FemHealth Ventures shows that advancing women’s health is good for society and good business.
From Personal Crisis To Leadership In Women’s Health Investing
FemHealth Ventures founder Maneesha Ghiya didn’t enter women’s health investing as a trend follower—she entered as a survivor. As a longtime healthcare investor with 25 years of experience in venture capital and hedge funds, Ghiya has always tracked the space. But it was a traumatic childbirth that propelled her into action.
While delivering her daughter at Columbia University, Ghiya suffered a life-threatening postpartum hemorrhage. After an emergency C-section, she bled internally for hours before doctors intervened. “The doctor told my husband I wouldn’t make it through the night,” she recalled. “At 1 a.m., they brought my newborn into the ICU for a photo, assuming it would be our last.”
She survived—but the experience exposed critical gaps in women’s care, even at elite institutions. “Clearly more needed to be done,” said Ghiya. “Creating a vehicle focused on women’s health was the most impactful way I could respond.”
In 2019, she and her team introduced a now widely adopted framework for venture capital in women’s health, grouping conditions into three categories: those that affect women only (e.g., reproductive), mostly (e.g., autoimmune), and differently (e.g., heart disease). “The big idea was the ‘differently’ category,” Ghiya explained. “Clinicians knew this, but investors weren’t thinking that way. We changed that.”
FemHealth set out to correct a broader misconception: that women’s health innovation was synonymous with niche markets or low-return impact investing. “We’re not sacrificing performance for purpose,” Ghiya emphasized. “We’re a returns-focused healthcare fund solving urgent, underfunded problems that affect half the population.”
Women’s Health Investment Surges, But Gaps Remain
Initially, this perspective met with resistance. Investors still saw women’s health as synonymous with fertility or as a sideline to impact investing. “People thought we were sacrificing returns for mission,” said Ghiya. “We’re not an impact fund. We’re a returns-focused healthcare fund that’s solving long-overlooked problems for half the population.”
Investment in women’s health-specific conditions surged 220% from 2019 to 2024, reaching $2.6 billion, according to Innovation in Women’s Health 2025 by Silicon Valley Bank. Investment in women’s health-adjacent conditions grew even more, rising 235% to $8.07 billion, reflecting increasing recognition of the broader market opportunity. By comparison, global venture capital investment grew just 8.7% over the same period, according to the Q4 2024 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor.
Despite recent growth, just 2% of health sector investment is focused specifically on women, according to The WHAM Report: The Business Case for Accelerating Women’s Health Investment.
Investment In Women’s Health Delivers Strong Returns In A Tough Market
FemHealth’s performance has proven the skeptics wrong. Its first fund, launched in 2021, closed at $32 million, above its $25 million target, even as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank disrupted venture markets.
As of January 2025, FemHealth Ventures achieved a 0.95x DPI (Distributions to Paid-In Capital), placing it firmly in the top decile of 2021 vintage venture funds. That level of performance is rare, especially in a market where most funds are still holding paper gains. “We reported a 0.95x DPI—making us one of the top-performing VC firms in our vintage,” said Ghiya. “That’s a stellar result in this environment.”
Portfolio companies are validating the strategy. One standout is Gynesonics, which developed a non-invasive treatment for uterine fibroids using radiofrequency ablation. The procedure eliminates the need for hysterectomy, an advancement that could benefit hundreds of thousands of women annually. “They go in through the cervix, no incision, ablate the fibroids, and most women are back to work the next day,” Ghiya explained. “It’s a billion-dollar market.”
In late 2024, Hologic acquired Gynesonics for $350 million in cash, returning significant capital to FemHealth investors. “As an investor, I am very excited about the strong investment returns and the meaningful health advances FemHealth Ventures is bringing to fruition,” said Dr. Greg Brown, CEO of Memgen and a FemHealth investor.
FemHealth also backs earlier-stage innovators like Reunion Neuroscience, which is developing new treatments for postpartum depression. “FemHealth Ventures has been a strong partner and supporter,” said Reunion CEO Greg Mayes. “We are excited to have them as an investor given their expertise in women’s health investing.”
Proving The ROI Of Women’s Health Innovation
Launching a venture firm in women’s health wasn’t without challenges. In addition to redefining the market and fighting stereotypes about return potential, the team faced timing challenges, including the Silicon Valley Bank crisis that froze institutional capital.
But Ghiya and her team persisted. “We closed the fund amid real market turbulence,” she said. “We overcame skepticism, underfunding, and macro headwinds—and still delivered.”
However, the most significant mindset shift FemHealth helped lead was repositioning women’s health innovation as a financial growth opportunity, not a philanthropic cause. “This is not a small market. Women’s health is a $1 trillion-plus opportunity globally,” Ghiya noted.
FemHealth Ventures is showing what’s possible when you bring smart investing to women’s health. With a clear strategy and a fresh lens on where the real opportunities are, the firm is proving that investing in women’s health isn’t just doable—it’s essential.
As the healthcare industry and investors continue to seek high-value opportunities, women’s health investing deserves a place at the center of that conversation. With a returns-focused healthcare fund like FemHealth leading the way, the message is clear: This is no longer a philanthropic endeavor. It’s an innovative, scalable, and overdue investment in half the population.
