Startups focused on what women want

by Startacus Admin

Innovative startups and businesses designed and focused on empowering and embracing female consumers.

Most products are still made by male-dominated companies. Some products for women either don’t exist yet to fill a need or they are utilitarian and don’t feel like they’ve been designed for an actual human being to use.

One obvious solution to this is for women to take control of these things. And that is just what these femtech entrepreneurs and femtech focused businesses have done….

Knix

Knix is a line of underwear for women, from everyday wear to athletic wear, and with two lines specifically tailored for adults and for teenagers. Knix underwear has a leak-proof option that is capable of absorbing as much liquid as two tampons, and even the everyday ones are moisture-wicking and breathable. They work with their engaged customers involve their community every step of the way and by listening and iterating, aime to create intimate apparel that women love to wear.

HANX

HANX is a condom startup consisting of two women who saw a problem with the way packaged, marketed, and sold. HANX are vegan, fair trade, clean scented, and can be bought in shops or delivered to your door on a subscription frequency of your choosing. Co-founders Sarah and Farah have created a product they say is discreet yet stylish, safe, and the kind of thing no woman would feel embarrassed to carry.

Elvie

Elvie is the world’s smallest and smartest Kegel trainer, created when CEO Tania Boler noticed that there was more support for women in France than the UK for taking care of their bodies after childbirth. Elvie gamifies Kegel exercises, making it more fun and therefore easier to keep up these exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor, as well as keeping you apprised of your progress and ensuring that you are doing the exercises correctly. After an amazing $6m Series A round in March 2017, Elvie’s most recent big success has been a contract with the NHS to make the device available for no cost to women through the healthcare service.

Ava

Ava is a fertility tracking bracelet worn at night to easily track your cycle. Not only does the bracelet accurately detect 5 fertile days per cycle, but it tracks your overall health: sleep, stress levels, resting heart rate, breathing rate, and more, all in real time. Accurately tracking fertility can double the chances of pregnancy, and once you are pregnant, the bracelet and companion app helps you to know what to expect week-to-week, and continues to track your overall health.

Maven

Maven believes that high quality healthcare is a necessity and critical to improving women’s lives, and is determined to put an end to women being left out of the conversation about their own health. Maven Clinic is an app that allows women to video chat or message all kinds of practitioners, from gynaecologists and pediatricians to therapists and nutritionists. It is an on-demand clinic available all hours of the day and night, and is also available to employers to include in their benefits. Maven has raised over $15m so far.

Ellevest

Ellevest is an investment platform created by women (specifically former Wall Street CEO Sallie Crawcheck). The platform’s specific Ellevest Impact Portfolios invest up to half of your portfolio in companies that power positive social change by advancing women and funds providing loans to support women-owned businesses and companies that provide community services – child education, performing arts, housing and care for seniors and individuals in need.

Keen to highlight female focused innovation, this article has been written in collaboration with, and sponsored by Knix.

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• #consumers

Published on: 19th September 2018