Issue # 147 – DITTO Daily Secures £1.35M, Ovum Debuts AI Women’s Health Platform, Gates Foundation Pledges $2.5B to women’s health.

✨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.

Harvard University Grad Invented a Headband for Period Headaches.

And not just any headband, it’s the world’s first wearable brain-stimulation device for menstrual pain and mood symptoms.

Why?

Because for too long, women have been told to “take a painkiller and push through” while silently battling cramps, migraines, fatigue, and brain fog every single month.

Emilė Radytė, PhD a Harvard University & University of Oxford trained neuroscientist who’s had enough of outdated solutions. She founded Samphire Neuroscience and built Nettle, a science-backed wearable that’s tackling period pain and PMS.

The market she’s entering?

It’s not just untapped, it’s massively undervalued:

• Up to 90% of women experience menstrual pain.
• Over 30% say it’s debilitating, affecting work, focus, and quality of life.
• $9B in lost productivity annually (and that’s a lowball estimate).

PMS/PMDD are part of a $1 trillion global productivity crisis, still largely ignored.

Listen to the full episode >

• Google has introduced SensorLM, a foundation model trained to analyze wearable sensor data and generate personalized health insights.
• Elon Musk’s brain implant company Neuralink will launch a clinical study in Great Britain to test its brain chip technology on patients with severe paralysis, the company announced on Thursday.
• OpenAI is rolling out new updates to ChatGPT aimed at promoting healthier usage and improving its response to users experiencing emotional or mental distress.
• A team of researchers at the University of Westminster’s Research Centre for Optimal Health (ReCOH) has developed an AI-driven model capable of predicting the early onset of 38 age-related diseases, using extensive health data from the UK Biobank.

• UK-based DITTO Daily has raised £1.35 million in pre-seed funding to expand its science-led supplement range targeting menstrual symptoms. The round was led by Eka Ventures, with participation from Jean-Baptiste Wautier and other investors.
• Australia-based Ovum has launched an AI-powered women’s health platform after raising $1.7 million in funding. The company was founded by Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks co-created with venture partner Nakatomi, with backing from Giant Leap, Antler, Alice Anderson Fund, and Wollemi Capital Group.
• Eating disorder telehealth provider Equip Health has raised $46.6 million in a new funding round, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings initially reported by Behavioral Health News. The company has now raised a total of $156.3 million, including this latest round.
• UK-based maternal health brand My Expert Midwife has secured £1.6 million in fresh funding led by Pembroke VCT, with existing angel investors contributing the remainder. The funding will support e-commerce development, retail expansion, and product innovation.
• The Gates Foundation has announced a $2.5 billion commitment through 2030 to accelerate research and development in women’s health, targeting more than 40 innovations across five priority areas. The investment focuses on maternal, menstrual, gynecological, and sexual health, particularly for women in low- and middle-income countries.
• Maxwell Biosciences, an Austin, TX-based health technology company providing a new category of immune-inspired small molecules called Claromers, raised $20M in funding.
• Apreo Health, a Menlo Park, CA-based clinical-stage medical device company developing a novel treatment for severe emphysema, raised $130M in Series B funding.
  
  Strand Therapeutics, a Boston, MA-based company which specializes in new mRNA-based therapeutics, raised $153M in Series B funding.
• Ambience Healthcare has announced a $243 million Series C funding round to expand its AI-driven documentation and workflow platform across health systems in the U.S.

• Pregnant women are being urged to get vaccinated against RSV, as NHS England warns of rising cases and expands pharmacy access for those from 28 weeks.Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common infection that can cause serious breathing problems, especially in babies and young children.
• A study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, found that frequent antibiotic use before the age of two is associated with an increased risk of developing asthma and food allergies later in childhood.
• Couples undergoing IVF may have up to double the pregnancy success rate in summer compared to colder months, new research suggests. A study of 1,100 women found pregnancy rates were significantly higher in warmer weather, with spring treatments 75 per cent more successful than those in winter.
• A study, presented at the joint congress of the European Society of Paediatric Endocrinology and the European Society of Endocrinology, examined the link between early antibiotic use and the timing of puberty. South Korean researchers studied antibiotic exposure in 3.2 lakh children aged 0–12 months and followed them until the girls turned nine and the boys ten.
• New mothers can now access breastfeeding support 24 hours a day after the government extended a national helpline. The National Breastfeeding Helpline provides free, evidence-based information day and night – supporting families to overcome challenges that might prevent mothers from successfully breastfeeding their baby.
• Women with more severe ADHD symptoms tend to experience worse menopausal complaints, new research has found. The study explored how ADHD symptoms and medication use relate to menopausal experiences and found that symptom severity, not diagnosis alone, was associated with greater difficulties.
• A baby has been born in the US from an embryo frozen in 1994, potentially making him the world’s oldest baby born from cryopreservation. Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born on 26 July in Ohio to Lindsey and Tim Pierce, using a donated IVF embryo that had been stored for more than 30 years.
• As per a recent study that was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, a 15-minute walk a day was associated to a nearly 20 percent reduction in total mortality.  “Regular walking, particularly fast walking, was associated with reduced mortality. These findings underscore the importance of promoting fast walking as a feasible and effective strategy to improve health outcomes and address health disparities among low socioeconomic populations,” mentioned the study. 
• A new Australian study published in Sports Medicine–Open reveals that heading a football can alter brain chemistry even if it doesn’t cause concussion. Football, the world’s most popular sport, has been linked to a higher incidence of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s among former professional players. 
• Getting those pesky kilos off, and maintaining a healthy weight, is a challenge that is all too familiar to many of us. Every day, there is new advice that streams in about what one needs to do to shed those extra kilograms—from new fad diets to workout regimes. The latest in this space seems to be a surprising but practical suggestion— controlled snacking on sweets can be helpful in looking after one’s health and weight.  

• Tempus AI has expanded its Tempus Next care pathway intelligence platform to include breast cancer, adding to its existing lung cancer capabilities. The AI-enabled platform integrates patient electronic medical record data with clinical guidelines to help physicians identify care gaps and deliver guideline-directed medical care.
• Sanofi announces the completion of its acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience, Inc. (Vigil). This acquisition strengthens Sanofi’s early-stage pipeline in neurology with VG-3927, a novel, oral, small-molecule TREM2 agonist, which will be evaluated in a phase 2 clinical study in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, the acquisition of Vigil’s preclinical pipeline will further strengthen Sanofi’s research in various neurodegenerative diseases.
• Vasa Denticity, India’s fastest-growing dental products company and parent of the Dentalkart platform, has announced the strategic acquisition of 51% stake in IDS Denmed, the country’s largest traditional dental distribution company.
• Melbourne-based Cartherics Pty Ltd, a biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf immune stem cell therapies focusing on high-impact women’s diseases, with lead programs in ovarian cancer and endometriosis, unveiled its new state-of-the-art cleanroom facility for clinical-scale manufacturing of cell therapy products.

• A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored clinical trial testing whether maternal consumption of peanuts and eggs during pregnancy and breastfeeding prevents babies from developing an early sign of allergies to these foods began.
• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has accepted the recommendation of its Multidisciplinary Committee (MDC) of Experts to reject an application by Sun Pharmaceuticals seeking a separate ceiling price for its antibiotic oral suspension in dual chamber pack with novel technology.

📳 – Quick Reads: 

• Fact Check: Does your body only repair itself during sleep between 11 pm and 4 am? It is undisputed that quality sleep is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. However, the relationship between sleep and the repair of the body is not simple.
• Does exercise before bedtime affect sleep? Late-night intense workouts may disrupt sleep—opt for light exercise instead to rest better and support your body’s recovery
• What is ‘Japanese Walking’, the latest fitness trend that you cannot miss: Japanese Walking is a popular new fitness trend that some experts say offers significant health benefits, including improved heart rate, weight loss, and enhanced overall fitness for people of all ages

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See you next Friday, friends 👋
Navneet

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