Meet 11 Female Scientists, Innovators And Entrepreneurs Changing The Narrative On Menopause

ForbesWomen Meet 11 Female Scientists, Innovators And Entrepreneurs Changing The Narrative On Menopause Marija Butkovic Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about health tech, women’s health and female entrepreneurship. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories.

Got it! Oct 24, 2022, 04:00am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin From scientists, to innovators, and entrepreneurs, these women have made it their mission to ensure . . .

[+] a better future for themselves and menopausal women globally VARIOUS By the year 2025, the number of postmenopausal women is expected to rise to 1. 1 billion worldwide, according to the North American Menopause Society. The United States alone had 50 million women over the age of 51 in 2020, and over 2 million U.

S. women enter menopause annually, with more than 6 million women worldwide. According to one of the recent studies conducted in conjunction between Imperial College London, Palacios Institute of Women’s Health in Madrid, Monash University in Melbourne, and The University of Sydney, 70% of the European women and 80% of the Australian women were menopausal, and many of them had bothersome symptoms.

Research has highlighted how “90% of Europeans and 97% of Australians experienced physical symptoms, and 55% of European women and 63% of Australian women reported psychological symptoms associated with menopause, while only 8% of European women reported experiencing no symptoms of menopause. ” In the U. K.

, less than 10% of women are happy with the menopausal care they receive. This systemic issue goes beyond healthcare, impacting women’s lifestyles and livelihoods with the CIPD finding that three in five menopausal women were negatively affected at work , while BUPA found that almost 900,000 women in the U. K.

had left their jobs due to associated symptoms. Women aged 40 to 59 have the highest rate of depression of any group based on age and gender in the U. S, and women have a 1 in 5 chance of developing cognitive diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s, compared to a 1 in 11 chance for men.

According to the Royal Osteoporosis Society in the U. K. , one in two women over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis, far more than men, because menopause is a key time for bone health: “women’s bone health is crucial at the time of menopause because estrogen levels (the female sex hormone that helps keep bones strong) decrease, so osteoporosis will put an increasing burden on the NHS – currently more than $5 billion a year and projected to rise steeply.

” Although movement related to female reproductive health, especially pregnancy and fertility has dramatically improved and brought some incredible innovations to our everyday lives, the needs of almost 1 billion globally who are entering perimenopause and menopause have been mostly ignored so far. MORE FOR YOU They Inherited Billions Upon Billions: Meet America’s Richest Heirs Book Review: Elderflora: A Modern History Of Ancient Trees Xi Jinping’s Power Grab Spooks China Investors Featured below, in alphabetical order, are 11 female scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs who have made it their mission to ensure a better future for themselves and menopausal women globally, through their advocacy, education, and pushing the boundaries of what life after 50 should look like for women. Colette Courtion, founder and CEO of Joylux When Courtion gave birth to her son, she experienced first-hand the intimate health issues that so many women go through.

Then, when menopause came, it hit her hard. “I come from a background in medical aesthetics, and I realized that the ground-breaking technologies we use to tighten, tone, and restore facial tissue could rejuvenate our intimate areas too,” shares Courtion. This was her “aha” moment that led to the creation of Joylux.

Joylux is a science-backed, women-owned company that improves women’s intimate health through all stages of life. Their hero product, vFit Gold, is the only home-use device that uses the patented combination of red light, heat, and sonic technology to restore vaginal tissue. To date, Joylux has raised over $20 million in funding, “mainly from incredibly supportive angel investors who understand the value of women’s health and see the enormous opportunity and unmet need in this category,” adds Courtion.

For Courtion, the first massive issue in this industry, but also an area of our life, is social media, as she and her team want to connect as many women as possible with life-changing products and education. Using accurate terms like “vagina” or “sexual health” is important to eradicating the taboo and clearly communicating health information, but these terms are often rejected. However, content about “manscaping” tools or erectile dysfunction medication is posted without these issues.

“We need social platforms to fix these issues and apply their policies fairly and logically to women’s health education, content, and products. Social media is withholding product information from women who need it most,” she explains. The second is physician training, and she is aware of the fact many healthcare professionals receive little to no menopause education, which is furthering the lack of education and information for women.

“We imagine a world where women are empowered to have honest conversations with their daughters, partners, doctors, and friends about their health. Women’s health goes beyond healthcare; it extends into everyday wellness,” she concludes. Elizabeth Gazda, CEO of Embr Labs What Gazda and her team are the most excited about is the magnitude of the impact that their technology can have on both an individual and societal level.

At the individual level, Embr technology is a radically new natural solution not only for women in menopause but for men and women experiencing hot flashes as they undergo chemotherapy associated with prostate cancer treatment, and can also help with stress and sleep. “Relief for these consumers for hot flashes and sleep is immediately available with no downside or side effects. Hearing every day from customers who tell us that our product has been life-changing is the best part of our job and a continuous source of energy and motivation,” shares Gazda.

Validated by J&J innovation , with a signed partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance, as well as major distribution agreements with three divisions of McKesson , the product is now featured in several retail channels in the U. S. , too, including CVS and Walmart.

The company has raised $21. 5 million to date through a combination of investors that include Digitx Partners, Safar Partners, Esplanade Ventures, and Bose Ventures, and has just completed 18 months of research that resulted in their ability to predict a menopausal hot flash 30 seconds before it occurs. “We will be able to stop or mitigate the hot flash before it starts.

This is a major breakthrough in women’s health; we are creating a world in which a woman never experiences a hot flash at all. We also conducted a study examining hot flashes in men with prostate cancer,” adds Gazda. By the time a woman arrives at menopause, she is likely at the top of her career, acts as the head of the household, and has arrived at the greatest earning potential of her career.

She is finally liberated from the demands of pregnancy and child-rearing when she is struck with the symptoms of menopause. Numerous studies have shown that women will suffer from a never-ending cycle of anxiety, hot flashes, and insomnia – for well up to a decade – that can ultimately force women out of the workforce. Across government, corporations, healthcare, academia, and NGOs, many women in leadership positions will simply “step out” rather than cope with symptoms that can make work untenable.

“Menopause costs U. S. employers as much as $6,500 per woman per year and globally, the healthcare burden for hot flashes is approximately $660 billion; productivity losses can total over $150 billion.

The combined total is more than $810 billion . The statistics are undeniable,” explains Gazda. She agrees that it’s imperative to invest more in solutions that allow women to beat the symptoms of menopause and remain in key leadership roles to fully leverage the investment that they have made over the course of their careers.

“This has an impact on women who are leaving money on the table when they step out of the workplace, but also decision-making becomes more male-dominated and fails to leverage diverse thinking,” Gazda concludes. Gloria Kolb, cofounder and CEO of Elidah Elidah is a woman-owned medical device company and maker of ELITONE, an external, home-use treatment for female urinary incontinence. Founded by a team of engineers from MIT and Stanford, with specific expertise in urology and wearable therapeutics, Elidah designed ELITONE specifically for women by women and garnered approvals from FDA, CE-Mark, and Medicare.

“We have 9 patents and we have thousands and thousands of users. Our first product focused on stress incontinence (weak pelvic floor muscles), but we are finishing up our clinical study with great results for urge incontinence, also known as overactive bladder (OAB). Many people consider OAB even more bothersome and frustrating,” explains Kolb.

For this context, urinary incontinence is the main symptom of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) and is often associated with sexual dysfunctions. Menopausal urinary tract occurs in over 50% of menopausal women, and GSM is a hypoestrogenic condition with external genital, urological, and sexual implications. “I think there is more education on menopause, more grassroots efforts to get the information out, and more companies emerging to address the specific needs that arise with the changing bodies than before.

However, it is still quite fragmented which means that women don’t quite know where to go to look for answers. Many of the typical common sources talk about the symptoms and treatments in a very general way. ” adds Kolb.

In the future, Kolb hopes that more women will be more aware of the importance of taking care of their health beyond diet and exercise and be more mindful to take preventative and earlier care. She agrees that more information than ever is at our fingertips, but women, unfortunately, tend to take care of themselves last or deem their health not worth the dollars. “For example, in our clinical study for the ELITONE device, women were incontinent on average for 11 years! Women are waiting too long and suffering for it.

One customer confessed she was not going to buy ELITONE to treat herself due to cost until she realized that she easily spent more than that on her dog’s health! This just doesn’t make sense and we are here to change that,” she concludes. Gwen Floyd, cofounder and CEO of Wile Taking an integrated approach to perimenopause, shifting hormonal stigmas while looking at women and formulations holistically, and using naturopathic and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wile is a company that recognizes that stress is a huge part of this life phase. “In fact, we call cortisol the ‘other’ female hormone (and it is inextricably tied to overall hormone regulation after 35).

So stress, emotional wellbeing, and nervous system management are woven through our entire line,” shares Gwen Floyd, cofounder and CEO of Wile . The common advice women hear all the time to “just get through it” is unacceptable. Floyd and her founding team are among these 30+ million consumers between the ages 40ish – 60ish, ignored by brands and the medical establishment, yet overburdened with expectations and the natural symptoms associated with perimenopause.

“We deserve information, products, and support to feel good. My co-founders and I knew there was a gap in the market, medical industry, and culture. Once I started to experience perimenopause, I realized that the landscape of accessible care and information had not evolved in the 30 years that had passed since my mother experienced early onset, severe perimenopause, and was underserved and gaslit by the medical establishment.

Women’s lifespans have increased by 30+ years in the last century. Wile believes the life phase that starts around 40, is the best, most aspirational time of a woman’s life,” adds Floyd. A Mayo Clinic study revealed huge knowledge gaps when it comes to physicians-in-training learning to manage menopause symptoms in their patients, and a Johns Hopkins study found that fewer than one in five obstetrics and gynecology physician trainees receive formal training in menopause medicine.

Yet, grown women – the ones who feel unseen – are the leading category spenders in many areas and carry heavy loads in work and life. In May, Wile closed a $3 million pre-seed round just ahead of debuting in all Whole Foods Markets. Serena Ventures was joined by Springdale Ventures, angel investor Sara Bright and Coyote Ventures in the raise.

The company has a firm intention to be the leader in hormonal and emotional wellness for midlife women. “We want to support women with a range of products and resources throughout their 40s and 50s so they can feel and be their best, at their highest power yet. ” Heather Jackson, cofounder of GenM For Jackson, menopause isn’t an illness to be fixed, it’s a life stage to embrace.

She agrees that some do have a really tough time during menopause, but many have milder experiences, too. “Our focus is on equipping women and all in menopause with the understanding to make informed choices on how best to manage their menopause in a way that suits them. ” One of the key goals for the company is working to build the confidence that midlife women have in brands and ensure that this underserved audience truly is seen and heard.

Their research such as The Invisibility Report is stimulating this and showing brands that there is a market to be served. “Many women in our research say that their menopause experience is “not that bad”. But don’t women in the 21st century deserve more than this? Don’t they deserve to be the best version of themselves through this life stage?” she asks.

According to GenM research, a huge 87% of menopausal women feel overlooked by brands and society at large, while a further 90% wish brands were more inclusive of menopause. Looking at how much money and effort goes into catering to the vegan market – less than 4% of the U. K.

– compared to 20% of the population who are currently in menopause, the opportunity is clear here. “This audience deserves signposting to products, informative and uplifting campaigns, and support in the workplace, they are demanding to be seen. Just like with meat-free or gluten-free consumers, brands can make strategic gains by serving this market and using their platforms and resources to normalize the conversation.

Embracing menopause is mutually beneficial for brands and their customers,” explains Jackson. GenM exists to empower brands to use their platforms to normalize the conversation surrounding menopause and improve how they respond to menopause in every area of business from product signposting to marketing to HR. They officially launched last October with 31 partner brands secured, and the last 12 months have seen that blossom to around 70, and Jackson admits proudly that one of their biggest milestones has been bringing in some of the U.

K. ’s biggest brands on board as partners such as Marks & Spencer, Next, Co-op, Boots, QVC and Royal Mail. Another huge milestone is the recent launch of their recognizable ‘menopause-friendly’ symbol (similar to vegan or gluten-free logos) to make it easy for consumers to find products and take control of their menopause.

“We partnered with Boots for its initial launch across stores and online and will be making it available to other Partners in the future. This first-of-its-kind initiative is making a huge difference in normalizing menopause in society and improving the menopause experience for millions,” adds Jackson. Jackson is adamant that menopause is more than simply a medical issue, a workplace issue, or even a gender issue – it’s the sum of all parts.

Brands need to treat it as a business issue that affects all areas of an organization, whether it’s signposting, marketing, product development, workplace policy, or employee morale and retention. Kristen Tribby, Head of Global Marketing and Education for FUN FACTORY FUN FACTORY is an award-winning German pleasure product manufacturer, and the first brand to create a rechargeable sex toy, the first to use medical-grade silicone on a vibrator, the first to make a waterproof vibrator, and the first to win a Red Dot Design Award for a sex toy. Their recent survey on women aged 40+ has shown that not only can orgasms alleviate menopause symptoms but that women’s libido has just as much chance of increasing during menopause as it does of decreasing busting the myth that women don’t want sex after menopause.

The survey also has revealed that 42% of women aged 40+ need longer to orgasm and that orgasms can help with menopause symptoms like vaginal dryness and atrophy, irritability, low libido, and loss of sleep. This has resulted in FUN FACTORY and vulvovaginal wellness brand Momotaro Apotheca joining forces and creating a new range of menopause-focused sex toys and vulvovaginal care products that can help women with their individual menopause experiences. The new curated line of sex toys, salves, and balms is designed to help women have the sex life they deserve in midlife and beyond.

“Unfortunately, popular attitudes about menopause have been slow to change. In part, that’s because social media, which has the potential to amplify messages from outside the mainstream, censors lots of sex education. That means that many people with uteruses feel unheard and in the dark,” explains Tribby.

Tribby explains how one of the key aims of the FUN FACTORY brand but also other brands in the industry, should be to equip people with information about what happens to the vagina, the libido, and the rest of one’s body during menopause. For example, vaginal muscles can atrophy, so lots of people benefit from toys that build strength, like the brand’s Kegel balls. Infections like bacterial vaginosis and candidiasis can also arise and make sex less enjoyable, but probiotic supplements can help correct the problem.

“Lots of wellness brands totally ignore this phase of life, contributing to shame and ageism. There is a lack of storytelling that is centered around sexual wellness and relationships. Even talking about menopause openly, and promoting the healthy sexuality of women in their 50s and older, is taking a step forward! I think that the market for sexual wellness will keep growing.

Millennials and Gen Z want eco-friendly products, and brands will face increasing pressure to adopt sustainable practices. Transparency in terms of labor practices will also continue to be critical,” concludes Tribby. Marina Martinic Kavur, Head of R&D at GlycanAge GlycanAge is on a mission to unlock the full potential of the human glycome for advancement in preventive health and longevity.

They’ve created the first consumer-available product based on glycans – a science-based home-test kit that measures how fast you are aging by looking at the rate of your inflammageing (accumulation of low-grade chronic inflammation through time). The test can be sent by post to any location worldwide. From their research, Martinic Kavur and her team learned that men and women age differently, but through having access to actual people and being able to talk to them about their experiences, they also learned that the dramatic increase in aging that we see in women around menopause actually happens years before they lose their final cycle, indicating a transitional period of loss of hormone regulation known as “perimenopause”.

“This prompted us to go back to research and study glycans in 2,000 twins going through menopause which validated our observations and found a set of glycans that could enable better diagnosis of perimenopause, as well as management and monitoring of menopause interventions for long-term health impacts,” she adds. She explains that the future potential of glycans as markers of health decline and impending disease decades before we experience any symptoms is vast. For example, CVD events, hypertension, insulin resistance, and rheumatoid arthritis, and this is just some of the work coming from their lab, all of which is patent protected.

The company is currently working on the commercialization of many scientific findings made on over 200,000 analyzed samples in the last 10 years. Some but not all include MenoAge (test for perimenopause and menopause management), CardioAge (test for cardiometabolic aging), and MetaAge (test for metabolic aging). It is also profitable and they’ve tripled their initial investment in revenue already (they raised £800,000 in external funding from angels and funds, including SQ Capital, Pareto Holdings, Hub71, Atomico Angel Maud Pasturaud, Inaki Berenguer, Tim Marbach, Ingrid Kukuljan, and others).

Innovation in this space has been slow, primarily due to a lack of clear guidelines and misconceptions about menopause, according to Martinic Kavur, and there are no universally accepted measures to diagnose and monitor perimenopause aside from age, vasomotor symptoms, and period cycles. Hormonal tests are sensitive to daily hormone fluctuations, and often require multiple testing points, making them inconvenient. “Innovation has been stepping up increasingly to fill this gap, but aside from monitoring devices and apps, most of the innovations are not yet universally applicable or globally available.

GlycanAge already has one home-test kit on the market that is available worldwide, and our current aim is to further develop and make accessible glycan-based tests designed for the detection and management of (peri)menopause from the comfort of your home. ” Maryon Stewart BEM, founder and CEO of Femmar Health Corp Stewart, often referred to as the pioneer of the natural menopause movement, is the author of Manage Your Menopause Naturally and 27 other books on the topic of menopause and a world-renowned healthcare expert. Over the course of the last three decades, she has helped millions of women around the world overcome PMS and menopause symptoms without using drugs or hormones.

Her company Femmar was established to become a leading provider of natural menopause solutions to women both in and out of the workplace. She has had her own TV and radio shows as well as contributed to many other shows and series in the U. K.

and currently contributes to PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) in the U. S. “We partnered with PBS and The Health Chanel in the U.

S. with a TV Series on Maryon Stewart’s Menopause Moments which is currently airing, and the bigger series Maryon Stewart’s Menopause Makeover, airing in early 2023 – a potential audience of 100 million women we can reach through these channels. With her team at Femmar, she has also recently partnered with the National Council on Aging in the U.

S. to provide regular articles, webinars, and fireside chats to raise awareness about solutions for menopause and long-term wellbeing – an audience of 25 million women that we can reach through these activities,” she adds. The company also has a partnership with GenM in the U.

K. , which has brought 70+ brands into their community, as their natural menopause delivery partner in the workplace. Stewart knows this is only the start, and there is still a long way to go “especially in the U.

S. , where stigma still makes menopause hard for many women to take on board”. In order to make informed choices, women need a road map containing all the scientific ways to manage menopause symptoms, including the natural approach.

In one of their surveys conducted on 1100 women, 37% of women were prescribed antidepressants for menopause, but 84% felt this inappropriate as they didn’t have clinical depression. 41% percent were prescribed HRT. Of those who took it, 62% reported coming off it due to adverse side effects.

“Women and their employers need to understand that research shows they need midlife refuel which will help them feel like the best version of themselves rather than menopause feeling like the end of life as they knew it. Menopause needs to be destigmatized so that women feel comfortable at work about managing their menopause and companies need to provide real solutions and not just a desk fan and an ‘M’ badge. The cost of keeping a woman in the workplace by providing a solution is far cheaper than rehiring and losing institutional knowledge and expertise, providing a win for both women and the economy,” she concludes.

Nina Kuypers, founder of Black Women in Menopause Kuypers describes herself as someone who set up ‘Black Women In Menopause’ in the U. K. , to challenge, and disrupt the status quo, to change and to educate.

“BWIM is a safe community to air concerns, share our experiences, and give us confidence whilst learning from Black professionals on how to treat and manage menopause,” she shares with me. The menopause space, conversation, and education will continue to evolve, that is the nature of life itself. She highlights, though, that the difference now is that health inequalities and disparities between men’s and women’s health which have plagued society are slowly being addressed.

For her, It is also clear to see that the menopause space is still overwhelmingly white, though we are gradually adding a splash of color. “The failure to consider different group(s) variations not only diminishes the importance of their experiences but also leaves their understanding of menopause disjointed. Ignoring cultural factors in menopause can lead to miscommunication, discomfort, and mistrust,” she explains.

And yet, menopause and women’s health, in general, is becoming a space in which many are seeing an opportunity for wealth, rather than the principle of improving people’s health. There is always going to be a fine line between the two, and she foresees that will see menopause products and services having exponential growth in the upcoming years due to demand. “We also need to be wary that some innovations are not always affordable or accessible.

Menopause happens to women regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and education, yet how a person responds and experiences it, are poles apart due to many variables. The response is not uniform; for myself, it is about broadening the accessibility of information and menopause care across society, so that not only those in decision-making roles recognize, acknowledge, and champion wider inclusion as it is important in bringing parity to menopause for all. ” One of her key messages and her own lessons was that we also need to not paint menopause as a time to be fearful.

Menopause fears whether real or perceived is the most powerful manipulation of all in this conversation and the fear of menopause is reinforced by a plethora of products and services. Stasa Stankovic, University of Cambridge human reproductive geneticist Dr. Stankovic is part of a research team at the University of Cambridge exploring the genetic architecture of reproductive aging and fertility, and their link to later-life diseases in women.

Their work led to the discovery of over 300 genetic signals that influence the age women begin menopause and the first evidence of our ability to, through gene manipulation in a mouse model, extend reproductive lifespan by 25% and improve fertility. “Human genomics holds enormous potential to revolutionize the way we predict woman’s natural fertility window and menopause timing, and pave the path towards novel therapeutic approaches to extend fertility and prevent menopause-related disease. This is especially crucial for the extreme versions of it, as in the case of primary ovarian insufficiency, i.

e. menopause below 40″ she shares with me. “Until recently it has been very difficult to study the biology of menopause and fertility because a woman’s supply of eggs is formed before birth and studying it in adult humans often means taking a sample of ovarian tissue, which is so precious – however, this has changed with large-scale human genomic data,” she explains.

With the Cambridge team, she works with almost half a million women and uses cutting-edge genomic technologies to read their DNA, which enabled them to identify genetic signals that could help explain why some women are predisposed to early menopause, the health consequences of going through menopause early and whether these implicated genes can be manipulated in animal models to improve fertility. “It is like a lottery that we are born with – it is down to a woman’s unique genetic combination, where you have a battle of many mutations that each shift menopause timing in one direction or another, earlier versus later. Genetic signals that we discovered individually had an effect to shift menopause timing from ~3.

5 weeks to ~6 years , an effect larger than most variations currently tested in clinical genetics for premature ovarian aging. The power of this information is that in the future we may be able to build the first genetic prediction test that will inform every woman about the timing of her menopause. ” Ultimately, Cambridge scientists have shown that they can start to predict which women might have an earlier menopause and therefore struggle to get pregnant naturally, as fertility starts declining on average 10 years before menopause.

This information is increasingly becoming relevant due to the secular trend of delaying parenthood to later maternal age at childbirth, especially in Western populations, which resulted in increased demand for fertility treatments, which are often unaffordable, invasive, and with limited success. “What a life-changing experience would be for women to know their reproductive expectations, so they can be informed and plan their fertility journey, as well as start with the timely prevention of all diseases that come hand in hand with menopause. It is likely that we will arrive at that position by combining endocrine, imaging, and, especially, genetic information present from birth.

” These findings are critical as improved knowledge of the underlying mechanisms may also allow their manipulation, more specifically halting or temporizing the process of the loss of ovarian follicles , and provide a new direction for therapeutic approaches that might seek to treat infertility. Although current work made significant progress, one important limiting factor is that most of the insights have been restricted to women of European descent due to the lack of available large-scale studies in other ancestry groups. “Notably, menopause timing varies across ethnic groups, suggesting that different modifiers might exist in different ethnic backgrounds.

More specifically, African and African-American women have earlier, while Japanese later average menopause timing, as compared to women of European. Due to potential distinct reproductive profiles and thus different risks for important health outcomes, it is important to be inclusive when deciphering the genetic architecture of this universal reproductive event,” she concludes and hopes that future studies will address this issue. Sylvia Kang, cofounder and CEO of Mira Mira ’s company’s hero product is an AI-powered device that helps women to track their reproductive health from the comfort of their homes, and currently, is the only home-testing product that can measure multiple hormones and track women’s health comprehensively with laboratory-grade accuracy.

Currently, the device tests for the concentrations of LH (luteinizing hormone), which is an indicator of ovulation; E3G (estrogen), which is a key component in understanding reproductive health; and PdG (the urine metabolite of progesterone), which confirms ovulation, and FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) helping to evaluate fertility status and predict approaching menopause. hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) is coming soon. OB and IVF clinics widely use Mira to obtain continuous hormone data to make diagnostic decisions, saving in costs of frequency blood drawing and providing a better experience to the clinic and patients.

So far, Mira helped over 80,000 women around the world reach their fertility goals. “We have recently significantly expanded the capabilities in at-home hormone testing by introducing the new Mira Ovum wands, which aim to help women track their FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) levels to predict approaching menopause. We also recently launched a breakthrough product for women who are trying to conceive: Mira Fertility Max Wand, which tests LH, E3G, and PDG all together on one test.

It gives information on all key hormones in a woman’s cycle in a very affordable and convenient way,” shares Kang. The company has recently finalized another trial with IVF patients in collaboration with Olive Fertility – one of the largest IVF clinics in Canada. Among other Mira, partners are Sama Fertility, one of the fastest-growing IVF clinics in the U.

S. , and Genea, the largest IVF clinic in Australia. Before its public launch in 2018, Mira had raised $6 million from angel investors, then quickly reached self-sufficiency and grew at the expense of profit, which is a very rare occurrence in the new and young femtech market today.

With more people delaying their pregnancies and prioritizing careers, Kang sees demand for tools helping to spot early signs of menopause that may begin as early as the age of 35. “We have a bunch of wearables on the market to track sleep, body temperature, and even ovulation patterns. Still, I’m most excited about seeing what is happening on the hormonal level.

At-home hormone tracking and testing are becoming a new norm for women who want to be aware of their reproductive health status. ” According to the Mira survey, 59% of menopausal women experience hot flashes, and this symptom is the #1 they’d like to address. No surprise that more cooling devices and clothes are heading our way—Primark recently launched a menopause clothing line to deal with hot flashes at night.

And while it’s not really an innovation, it’s good to see a leading clothing retailer join the conversation. “Menopausal women crave information, and surprisingly, TikTok is becoming a forum for that discussion. I’m thrilled to watch 50+-year-old creators shifting the narrative around menopause, removing the stigma around symptoms, treatments, etc.

My team at Mira has recently analyzed Google search requests for “perimenopause symptoms. ” Surprisingly, it has grown by 1,638% since last year in the US. So yes, education and conversation around the topic are definitely evolving over the past year,” she concludes.

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