Issue # 141 – India Surpasses Global Average in Women’s Health & Education; Abridge Secures $300M, Jaan Health Raises $25M to Boost Innovation.

✨Hey there! You’re reading the free edition of the FemTech India newsletter — your go-to source for the latest in women’s health, industry updates, and opportunities to help you navigate what’s next in your journey.

As per the latest global gender gap report, India is now ahead of the global average on women’s education and health. That’s a huge milestone proof that decades of progress in literacy, maternal care, and girls’ education are showing results.

👏🏽 That’s a win.

When it comes to economic participation and political empowerment, we’re still far behind.

Globally, we’ve closed 68.8% of the gender gap. But at this rate, it’ll take 123 more years to reach full parity.

That means: a girl born today may still be fighting for equal pay, leadership roles, and safe workplaces well into the next century.

So, what are we missing?

Meet Smita Asrani, she turned personal loss into purpose. After losing her sister Nayana to breast cancer, she co-founded the Breast Cancer Early Detection Coalition and now leads Partnerships at UE LifeSciences. She’s working to bring life-saving tools like iBreastExam to underserved communities globally. 

Her passion: ensuring early detection access for women—especially those under 40 who are often overlooked. With tech like Selfi (yes, an at-home breast check tool!)She’s making preventive care simple, affordable, and empowering. 

Because as she says, “Being healthy is powerful. It’s sexy. And it never goes out of style.”

Read her full story –

• Utopia Therapeutics, a Hyderabad-based biotech startup, has secured $1.5 million in funding from Whale Tank, an early-stage venture firm, to accelerate the development of its lead immunotherapeutic candidate, UT009, targeting obesity.
• US-based healthcare startup Abridge has raised $300 million in a Series E funding round to expand its clinical documentation platform currently used by more than 150 enterprise health systems across the United States. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Khosla Ventures. 
• Jaan Health, a NYC-based provider of an AI-powered proactive care platform, raised more than $25m in funding. The financing was capped by $15m in non-dilutive growth capital from Level Structured Capital (an affiliate of Level Equity).
• OutSee, a Cambridge, UK-based genomics and drug discovery company, raised £1.8M in Seed funding. The round was led by Ahren Innovation Capital and with investment from Kadmos Capital, Empirical Ventures and Panacea Ventures.
• SWARM Biotactics, a Kassel, Germany-based developer of bio-robotic systems based on fully controllable living insects for mission-critical operations, raised €10M in Seed funding.
• MDA – Medical Decision Alliance, a Leipzig, Germany-based healthcare company developing decision-making algorithms, raised €3.3M in Seed funding.The round was led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) with participation from private investors and entrepreneurs.
• Visby Medical has raised approximately $55 million with potential to reach $65 million in a funding round led by Catalio Capital Management to accelerate launch of its FDA-authorized at-home Women’s Sexual Health Test. The San Jose-based company develops single-use PCR diagnostics that deliver laboratory-accurate results within 30 minutes
• Commons Clinic has closed a $26 million Series B funding round to launch its Wholebody multi-specialty care platform, which integrates women’s health services alongside cardiovascular, metabolic, and oncology care. The Los Angeles-based company’s total funding now exceeds $60 million.
• PS Fertility has completed a $3.5 million Series A funding round to support the launch of PS Detect, a mail-order diagnostic test that measures phosphatidylserine levels in sperm cells. The company targets gaps in male fertility testing where standard semen analysis may miss infertility issues.

• Only about 1 in 10 common non-surgical treatments for lower back pain are effective, and many offer only marginal benefits over placebo, concludes an Australian study published in BMJ Evidence Based Medicine.
• A study led by Harvard Medical School, explored the reason that causes the rise of aortic aneurysms, thus offering vital clues for the treatment and prevention of these, which will also address another common condition, hypertension. 
• The US Food and Drug Administration gave its approval for the twice-yearly injection of lenacapavir, by Gilead Sciences, for the prevention of HIV infection in adults and adolescents who are at a high risk of contracting the virus. 
• The ill effects of smoking are known to many, but here is a study that has revealed evidence of how smoking can permanently impact your teeth.  A study by researchers from Northumbria University, UK, revealed the tell-tale signs that remain despite quitting the habit.  A tooth consists of three main hard tissues. They are enamel, dentine and cementum. The cementum covers the tooth root and develops characteristic ‘rings’ just like tree rings, that grow each year as we age. 
• Engaging in low or moderate-to-high-intensity exercise can slow cognitive decline in older adults with memory problems that increase their risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
• Posing as a global health threat, antibiotic resistance is estimated to cause more than 1.3 million deaths annually, as per experts at the University of Turku, Finland.  Antibiotic resistance is caused when antibiotics lose their effectiveness thus making it difficult or in some cases impossible to treat bacterial infections.  A recent study by researchers at the university presented some interesting facts on antibiotic resistance and how it was different between the genders.
  
• The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) will safeguard player rankings for those undergoing fertility procedures such as egg freezing and IVF, in what players have called a “safe space” for family planning.
• Pregnant women who vape are exposed to lower levels of toxic chemicals than those who smoke, new research led by scientists at City St George’s, University of London has found.
• Living with an autoimmune disease is linked to a near doubling in the risk of persistent mental health issues, such as depression, generalised anxiety, and bipolar disorder, with these risks higher in women than in men, finds a large population-based UK study, published in the open access journal BMJ Mental Health.
• Women who remain sexually active during midlife may experience fewer symptoms such as vulvar dryness, pain and irritation, new research suggests. The study, involving more than 900 women aged 40 to 79, examined the relationship between sexual frequency and genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) – a group of genital, urinary and sexual symptoms associated with falling oestrogen levels during and after menopause.

• Online Chikitsa Mitra (OCM), a healthtech startup focused on enhancing healthcare access, has launched its mobile app to extend digital consultations across India.
• Healthtech startup Janitri has announced the launch of Momi, a smart ring designed specifically for expecting and new mothers to monitor vital health parameters during pregnancy and postpartum recovery.
• Bharat Biotech and global biopharma company GSK slashed the price for the world’s first malaria vaccine, RTS,S, for children in endemic countries—by more than half to under $5 per dose by 2028.
• Hera Biotech, the leader in definitive, non-invasive women’s health detection and staging for endometriosis, acquired  HeraFem, a point-of-care cervical cancer diagnostic device developed by Hera Diagnostics.
• Global pharma major Lupin Limited (Lupin) announced the launch of prucalopride tablets, 1 mg, and 2 mg, in the United States, following the recent approval of its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) from the US FDA.
• Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (Viking), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders, announced the initiation of the VANQUISH phase 3 clinical programme for VK2735.
• Abbott, the global healthcare company, announced the launch of its laboratory-based blood test to evaluate mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), commonly known as concussions. The traumatic brain injury (TBI) test runs on Abbott’s Alinity i and Architect i1000SR laboratory instruments, which are available in major hospitals and laboratories such as Apollo, Hyderabad and Neuberg Supratech Laboratory.

• Oracle has announced the U.S. availability of its mobile extension tool, Oracle Health Community Care, which supports clinicians who deliver care in homes, rural areas, and mobile health settings.
• Dublin-based Cosmo Pharmaceuticals NV, a pharmaceutical company active in Healthtech AI, plans to initiate the first usability study connecting Medtronic GI Genius with Apple Vision Pro.
• In a move to improve patient convenience and expand digital health services, the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) has installed an automated healthcare machine on campus.

• The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has established a MedTech Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE) to support home-grown startups and address critical medical challenges.
• The Union health ministry has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) for establishing Cancer Technical Resource Hub (TRH) under the Center for Evidence based Guidelines to strengthen the uptake of best practices in cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, and palliative care across the health system.

📳 – Quick Reads: 

• How adolescent obesity is rewiring young brains and shaping mental health. The brain becomes hijacked by its inflammation, making the very behaviours that could help- like impulse control and long-term planning, increasingly difficult to access
• Study finds ‘Pharaoh’s Curse’ fungus can be a lifesaver in finding a cure for cancer. In a remarkable scientific feat, scientists have identified that the deadly fungus contains a cancer-killing compound.

🎉Have news to share? Publish a press release on FemTech India to reach industry-leading executives, investors, and passionate individuals.

See you next Friday, friends 👋
Navneet

[Sign up here to never miss on the latest updates.]