Issue # 88 – Celebrating FemTech: Highlights from Singapore

Happy FemTech Friday

This week, we bring you highlights from Singapore as we wrap up an amazing week attending two events: the Women’s Forum and FemTech Asia Connect.

Honoured to have been part of the panel on “Asia’s Most Innovative FemTech Companies” at Women’s Forum, alongside some of Asia’s most visionary founders. Thanks to our friend Lindsay David for leading the discussion!

From the left: Sastya Wardani (CEO- Plans), Mabel Yen Ngoc Nguyen (Co-Founder & CEO- EloCare Pte. Ltd.) Center: Navneet Kaur (Founder & CEO- FemTech India). From the Right: Mayra Hurtado (Co-Founder- Prelude Health (Hormony)), Lindsay Davis (Founder- FemTech Association Asia).

The Women’s forum invited us to a cocktail dinner at the French Embassy of Singapore. It’s been inspiring to connect with so many talented women dedicated to making a global impact. 

From the left: Lily Kong (President Singapore Management University), Minh Di Tang (The Ambassador of France to Singapore). From Right: Nannette Landond-Dufour (Women’s Forum President), Navneet Kaur (Founder & CEO- FemTech India).

Key Takeaways from both the events : 

• FemTech is gaining recognition, but it’s seen as pretty exclusive. 

• Asia is projected to be the fastest-growing market in the coming years.
• In addition to data and funding, education stands out as the primary barrier hindering growth.  

 I’m always deeply grateful to receive recognition for my work, especially for supporting other women in business beyond just the business I am building.

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• Mumbai-based health-tech startup Alyve Health has secured a Series A funding of $5.5 million. The funding was led by Axilor Venturesand saw participation from existing investor 1Crowd Fund and a healthcare-focused fund Inhealth Ventures. The company also raised a venture debt fund from Trifecta Capital as part of this round.
• Ahmedabad-based beauty and makeup brand Renee raised Rs 100 crore (around $12 million) in its Series B round led by existing investors Evolvence India and Edelweiss Group. The current funds were raised at a valuation of Rs 1,200-1,400 crore.

• Leo Cancer Care, a Horley, UK-based company developing medical devices, raised an undisclosed amount in Series C funding.
• Adcytherix, a Marseille, France-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel antibody drug conjugates (ADC), raised €30M in Seed funding. The round was led by Pontifax with participation from Pureos Bioventures, RA Capital Management, Dawn Biopharma (a platform controlled by KKR) and the management of the company.
• The US medical device company Axena Health has raised US$9.4m in funding to help women struggling with pelvic floor disorders. Axena Health offers a novel treatment for urinary incontinence and chronic faecal incontinence, underreported pelvic conditions affecting over 78 million and 12 million women in the US alone.

• Prostate medications might help reduce the risk of a specific type of dementia, a new study suggests. People were less likely to develop Lewy body dementia when taking drugs designed to treat urinary symptoms caused by an enlarged prostate, researchers reported in the journal Neurology.
• Two new studies offer reassurance that using the diabetes drug metformin before and during pregnancy is not linked to birth defects.The latest findings, which apply to men planning to conceive with their partners or women in early pregnancy, contradict a 2022 study that found metformin use by men in the three months before they conceived a baby was associated with a 40% increased risk of birth defects in their children.
• Depression during or after a pregnancy could be tied to a heightened risk for heart trouble in women decades later, new research warns. This so-called “perinatal” depression was linked to a 36% higher odds of developing heart disease within the next 20 years, reported a Swedish team led by Dr. Emma Bränn, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
• Depression can be sorted into six distinct types using brain scans, a revelation that could improve treatment for many suffering the debilitating mood disorder.Researchers analyzed brain scans to identify six different biological types of depression, based on differences in patterns of brain activity, according to results published June 17 in the journal Nature Medicine.
• Exercising in natural surroundings — a jog through a park, a bicycle ride along a trail — could be more beneficial than working out indoors, a new review suggests.However, access to natural areas that are public varies widely, with not everyone having the chance to exercise outdoors, the investigators noted.
• New research out of Australia shows that folks who started a walking regimen kept recurrent back pain episodes at bay for much longer than people who didn’t.
• A new US study has revealed the effects obesity and metabolic syndrome can have on breast cancer. Both obesity and metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions like high blood pressure and high blood sugar, increase the risk of breast cancer, but in differing ways for different subtypes of the cancer.
• A new smartphone tool could help paramedics identify a stroke in seconds by scanning the patient’s face.The AI-driven tool analyzes facial symmetry and specific muscle movements to detect subtle signs of stroke, researchers explained.
• A new AI-driven blood test could improve detection of liver cancer, which is one of the most fatal cancers because early diagnosis is difficult. The test looks for “fusion genes” — two different genes that have become bound together, producing proteins that can lead to cancer.
• The European Union’s top court said Thursday that products such as disinfectants can’t be advertised as “skin friendly.” The European Court of Justice issued its ruling after a German federal court sought its opinion in a case against a drugstore chain that sold a hand, skin and surface disinfectant with a label that, among other things, declared it “skin friendly.”

• Humm Care’s expert Jayanthi Iyengar hosted a free webinar on Father’s Day and spoke about practical ways to enhance a father’s bond with children
• BCOS Foods released a thoughtware titled “PCOS and Mood Swings: How does pOCS affect your mood”.

• Bionoid Pharma (OTC Pink: BINP), a Toronto, Canada-based bio-research company, announced is to acquire AiMaverickIntel.com, a Dallas, Texas-based provider of an audience acquisition platform empowered by artificial intelligence (AI).
• The Reykjavik-based start-up Sidekick Health has acquired the digital health company PINK! in a bid to expand its women’s health portfolio.This acquisition brings with it PINK! Coach, a digital application for breast cancer that aims to improve health-related quality of life and health literacy and address the psychological, psychosomatic and physical effects of breast cancer.
• The healthcare company ProgenyHealth has expanded its partnership with the women’s health solutions company Wildflower Health to improve maternal health outcomes.

• Anant National University recently announced the launch of a dedicated Healthcare Accelerator Programme, Swaastha, in association with India Accelerator (IA). This innovative initiative aims to support start-ups in the healthcare and allied domains registered in India with deployed or deployment-ready solutions.
•  IIIT-Delhi in collaboration with CHRI-PATH, Tata 1mg & ICMR, secures 2nd prize at the Trinity Challenge on Antimicrobial Resistance
• The Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s National Sample Survey pan-India portrays noticeable understanding on Ayush system of medicine across urban-rural areas of the country. This is the first exclusive all-India survey on ‘Ayush’ conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
• The drug control department in Tamil Nadu will soon introduce an action plan to contain antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and a stakeholders meeting is likely to be held very soon,

• Looking for Weight Loss? Go Nuts: Folks dieting to drop pounds should consider eating a fistful of nuts
• Trouble Getting Your Kids to Sleep? You’re Not Alone, Poll Finds

See you next Friday, friends 👋
Navneet

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