Portfolia has helped women invest in women’s healthcare innovations. Since launched its first fund in 2015. and pioneered a FemTech Fund in 2018, Portfolia worked to demystify the venture capital industry for women-accredited investor, driving investment in sectors that are traditionally underfunded.
Despite this, there are still challenges, such as inadequate funding from VCs, limited partners and regulatory barriers which could hinder progress. In order to continue advancing women’s health innovation, educating and involving more women as investors is essential.
While the current state of FemTech and women’s health investment is promising, there is still much work to be done in order to realize their full potential. Portfolia, led by its CEO and founder Trish costello, focuses its mission on leveraging the financial strength of women and peoples of color to create a VC investment landscape that is more inclusive and impactful.
Improving Women’s health and the diversity of VC investments
Portfolia encourages women accredited “sophisticated” investors by demystifying VC, which empowers them to navigate the landscape confidently. Women have a different perspective when it comes to investing in VC. This is according to The Way Women (and Men!) Invest*.
Over the past decade, Portfolia helped diversify the investor pool, increase the gender balance of VC-backed entrepreneurs, and focus the attention of investors on sectors that have traditionally received less attention – products and services that improve women’s lives including women’s healthcare.
In the last five or seven years, a group of women and people of colour who are accredited investors have invested in funds managed by people like them who understand their unmet need. These funds offer women and people of colour the opportunity to build wealth by investing.
The number of high net worth individuals investing in women’s health as LPs is not the only metric that has improved. The Biden administration has approved $300 million for women’s research. This will allow researchers to explore promising but uncertain avenues that have high breakthrough potential. This initiative lays a foundation for the President’s $12 billion Women’s Health Fund proposal. A bipartisan group is also focused on funding for women’s midlife health. The bipartisan Women’s Health PAC’s recent announcement will help keep women’s healthcare a national priority.
FemTech Investment: The Evolution
PitchBook defines FemTech products as a range health software and tech-enabled health products that cater to women’s biological needs. It is a subsector within women’s healthcare. FemTech investment grew by 58% between 2018 and 2023. FemTech companies that have at least one woman founder saw an increase of 121%, while companies founded solely by women saw a 345% increase.
The FemTech industry has undergone an incredible transformation. Early on, the sector focused on reproductive healthcare with limited recognition. The term “FemTech”, however, helped to spark a wave in innovation for women’s health. The investment boomed, but it was still a small drop in the bucket of healthcare investments. Technological advances fueled the development personalized solutions. The future of FemTech promises greater personalization, data driven insights, inclusivity and sustainability.
Porfolia FemTech I investments have changed as the sector has grown. Fund I investments focused on early-stage companies, as so few had reached the later stages and on conditions that affected only women. Fund III invests in a variety of companies from pre-seed to pre-IPO that are focused on diseases and conditions that affect women.
- Menstruation and menopause are only women’s problems.
- Like autoimmune diseases and Alzheimer’s, these disorders primarily affect women.
- Cardiovascular disease, for example, affects women differently from men.
- Even though they are designed for men, these products can improve the lives of women. For example, a daily nonhormonal birth-control pill for men. Or a quick evaluation of sperms and testses. This is because women often undergo fertility treatment for a year and half before a thorough analysis of their male partner.
In the beginning, there was no network of accredited or VC investors to invest in women’s health. Portfolia was instrumental in building one. The network is not yet fully built.
The Challenge of Fundraising for Women’s Health Innovations
Women make up more than half of the population but their healthcare is underfunded. We’ve barely scratched the surface of the products and services available to improve women’s healthcare.
A male founder, for example, looked at conditions causing widespread pain. He focused on a chronic disease that primarily affects women, and has few treatments. Portfolia invested. The founder didn’t realize that raising money for women’s health causes would be much harder than for men.
Costello sighed, “To get more money into women’s healthcare we just have tell the story,” said Costello. “Educating and evangelizing other VC firms on the importance of investing early in a venture.
It is true that investing in VC as LPs by women accredited investors is the fastest way to fund women’s health. Their investments demonstrate to larger investors the potential for the product or service. Women need to be empowered if they want to ensure that women are healthy.
Costello said, “Money is a powerful tool and women have a lot of money.” “We can create a world we want if we understand the power of wealth and our investment capital.
The SEC’s consideration of raising income and wealth criteria to become an accredited investor is a cause for concern. Costello said that anything that would discourage women and people of colour from investing will hinder the introduction of solutions to the market. It is important that the leaders of government and regulation who are examining these issues understand there could be unintended effects.
Costello said that “sophistication doesn’t translate into wealth, either income or owned.” “Women and persons of color are in some ways more disciplined investors. They invest in what they are familiar with, like Warren Buffett or Peter Lynch.
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