Issue # 153 — GG Ventures’ $30M Fund II Close, Doctronic’s $20M Series A, Birches Health Raises $20M

✨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.

Everyone loves hardware. It’s shiny, demo-able, and feels like product-market fit.

But here’s the truth.People don’t buy gadgets. They buy trust, care, and outcomes.That’s why so many fertility and FemTech devices, even those with millions in VC backing fail to scale. 

In our latest report by FemTech India I break down:

• Why hardware-first bets underperform in fertility & women’s health
• The unit economics that quietly kill device startups
• A data-backed checklist investors should use before writing a check
• Portfolio construction strategies for founders & investors
• The investor’s blind spot: why clinics, SaaS & services capture most of the value
• Practical due-diligence request list. 

👉 If you’re a founder, investor, or innovator in FemTech, this playbook will change how you think about hardware risk.

Playbook

• GG Ventures Announces $30M First Close of Fund II, Redefining the Multi-Trillion Dollar Female Performance Opportunity Through AI-First Healthtech. 
• New York-based AI healthcare platform Doctronic has secured $20 million in Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The funding round saw participation from Union Square Ventures, Tusk Ventures, Mantis VC, Seven Stars, and notable individuals such as Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Jay Desai, and Scott Belsky.
• Birches Health, a NYC-based national provider of gambling addiction treatment, raised $20M in combined Series A and Seed funding.
• Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas, TX-based de-extinction company, raised $120M in new funding adding to its $200M Series C, bringing this round of capital to $320M.
• Enhanced Genomics, a Cambridge, UK-based biotechnology company developing 3D multi-omics to identify genetically validated drug targets for common diseases, extended its Series A funding to USD$19M.
• Mamedica, a London, UK-based provider for cannabis-based prescription medicines, raised £4.5M in funding.
• OpenHealth Technologies, a Berlin, Germany-based B2B healthtech company building the central infrastructure for lab data, raised $3M in Seed funding.

• Researchers at University College London (UCL) and the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences have developed an ultrasound helmet capable of stimulating deep brain structures with unprecedented precision without the need for surgery.
• In a recent report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has highlighted the alarming impact of tobacco on child stunting, a condition affecting nearly 150 million children worldwide. Most cases are concentrated in Asia and Africa, and stunting is linked to delayed development, increased susceptibility to diseases, and even mortality. The report underscores that parental tobacco use, particularly maternal smoking during pregnancy, is a major factor impairing child growth. 
• A large UK-based study published in BMJ Open reveals that childhood verbal abuse can harm adult mental health as much as physical abuse. Globally, around one in six children experiences physical abuse by family or caregivers, which is linked to long-term issues such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, violent behaviour and chronic health problems like cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
• Giving postpartum mothers with hepatitis C the opportunity to start antiviral treatment while they are still in the hospital after giving birth, significantly increases their odds of completing the therapy and being cured. The authors of a recent study found that new mothers who saw an infectious disease specialist and received medication for hepatitis C during their hospital stay were twice as likely to be cured compared with mothers who got a referral to an outpatient follow-up appointment.
• A new synthesis of global evidence finds that experiencing gestational diabetes during pregnancy is linked with a decline in intellectual function among mothers, and may increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.
• Hormone therapy is safe for treating menopause symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats in women aged 50–59, but should not be started after 70 due to cardiovascular risks, research shows. The study analysed 20 years of data from over 27,000 women aged 50–79 with moderate to severe menopausal symptoms who received either treatment or placebo.
• Women who have survived cervical cancer face nearly double the risk of developing anal cancer later in life compared with the general population, new research shows. The study analysed data from more than 85,000 women diagnosed with cervical cancer and followed them over two decades to track secondary diagnoses. Researchers at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center found the risk increased with both age and time, with the highest rates among women aged 65 to 74 who were more than 15 years beyond their first diagnosis.
• Tripling the dose of semaglutide was found to significantly improve weight loss, along with related health outcomes, in two large-scale clinical trials. The study involved Novo Nordisk’s obesity treatment on the effect of increasing the dosage from the approved 2.4 mg to 7.2 mg. 
• Going to bed immediately after dinner can trigger indigestion, bloating, acidity, and disturbed sleep. Doctors advise finishing dinner earlier, walking for 10–20 minutes, and maintaining a 2–4 hour gap before bedtime for better digestion and sleep quality.
• At the 15th Annual Conference of the Clinical Infectious Diseases Society (CIDSCON 2025), leading infectious disease experts underscored the urgent need for judicious antibiotic use and stronger infection control to fight the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
• On his 75th birthday, PM Modi formally launched the Swasth Nari, Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh. This launch marks the rollout of a nationwide initiative focused on women’s and family health.
• Common fitness trackers may help track pregnancy complications by detecting heart rate changes that mirror hormonal shifts, new research suggests. The study found devices such as Apple Watch, Garmin and Fitbit recorded heart rate patterns that aligned with key pregnancy hormones including oestrogen, progesterone and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).

• Medicines360, a women’s health innovation organization announced that it has acquired global licensing rights to PeriPeach, an investigational medical device designed to prevent severe perineal tears during birth, from Fruits of Labor, Inc. PeriPeach will now advance through the 360 Innovation Hub, Medicines360’s platform for accelerating transformative women’s health solutions.
• Royal Philips and Masimo have announced the renewal of their multi-year strategic collaboration, continuing a long-standing partnership focused on patient monitoring technologies.
• Dentalkart, an online marketplace for dental supplies in India has announced the launch of its flagship and patented ApexKonnect dental implant system.
• Global pharma major Lupin Limited (Lupin) announced that it has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application for lenalidomide capsules, 2.5 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg, 20 mg and 25 mg. 
• Braun SE, a leading medical technology company, announced the full acquisition of True Digital Surgery (TDS), a company based in Goleta, California, specializing in digital robotic-assisted 3D surgical microscopy. This acquisition highlights B. Braun’s commitment to investing in the future of digital microsurgery and to expanding its market share in this growing segment.
• Tenax Therapeutics, Inc., a phase 3, development-stage pharmaceutical company using clinical insights to develop novel cardiopulmonary therapies, announced that the European Patent Office (EPO) has notified Tenax of its Intention to Grant a patent that will provide intellectual property (IP) protection for TNX-103 (oral levosimendan), and other formulations of levosimendan, as well as its active metabolites, for use in pulmonary hypertension resulting from heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (PH-HFpEF).

• Samsung Medical Center (SMC) has introduced an AI model designed to predict the recurrence risk of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) up to a year in advance.
• Oracle is introducing new AI capabilities to its Health Patient Portal, allowing patients to access simplified explanations of their medical records and interact directly with the system to clarify information.
• Leading pharma giants, Mankind Pharma, has announced its collaboration with OpenAI to integrate advanced artificial intelligence capabilities across its pharmaceutical value chain. Reportedly, the pharmaceutical company seeks to leverage OpenAI’s latest models, including GPT-5 to innovate in pharmaceutical arenas.
• Elsevier, a global leader in advanced information and decision support in science and healthcare, is developing a next-generation ‘end-to-end’ AI-powered solution for academic and corporate researchers, in collaboration with the research community. The solution aims to transform the research workflow – helping scientists move faster from insights to impact while safeguarding research integrity, transparency and trust.

• 300 of the existing healthcare centers are set to be upgraded and transformed into Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs, announced the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). As per reports, the entire cost of upgrading the centers is being funded by the Delhi government.
• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) have jointly unveiled the first batch of 39 standard in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) evaluation protocols to detect high risk diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, dengue, chikungunya, Zika virus, typhoid fever, various respiratory viruses, Chandipura virus and Nipah virus. 
• NIMHANS notes its initiatives N-SPRITE (NIMHANS Suicide Prevention, Research, Implementation Training and Engagement Centre) and USHAS (Urban Self-Harm Study) have brought down suicide rates  in Karnataka.

📳 – Quick Reads: 

• Are your favourite sugary drinks secretly causing hair loss? Diet and hair health are significantly intertwined, with new research linking sugary and alcoholic beverages to increased hair loss and premature greying.
• Do women need more sleep than men?  Women’s sleep needs are often greater than men’s due to hormonal fluctuations, menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, and additional societal pressures that disrupt sleep quality and duration.

🎉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

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