Technological advances are radically changing how we think about health, from the natural process of aging to cancer treatment. One of the newer, emerging fields in this realm is “femtech,” or the application of new devices, software, and technology to women’s reproductive health and physiology.
The fields of obstetrics and gynecology have been historically underserved and largely ignored by technological advances, but this trend seems to be ending. The femtech industry is expected to reach more than $53 billion by the end of 2027 as more engineers begin focusing their skills on the needs of half the world’s population.
One company leading this charge is Elvie. Here’s what you need to know about this business:
A New Focus on Female-Forward Technology
Tania Boler is a women’s health expert with significant public health experience through the United Nations and various non-governmental organizations. In 2013, she launched Elvie, which has since grown into a leading femtech company. After having a child of her own, Boler realized how systematically silenced women’s health issues are across the world.
While she did not initially intend to focus on femtech, she noticed an important problem that needed to be addressed. The devices available to women to help with their health are often inconvenient and unpleasant to use. Boler asked herself how difficult it would be to design something that was actually useful and enjoyable to use.
After quitting her job to pursue this new passion, Boler assembled a strong team consisting of Alexander Asseily from the consumer electronics business Jawbone, engineers from Dyson, and the head of marketing from Apple. More than 60 percent of her staff consists of women.
Boler intended to bring together innovative engineers to work on a problem that gets very little attention to see if they could come up with a better solution. In addition, Boler recognized that the path forward would mean changing how people think about women’s health. Instead of viewing it as a medical issue, she pushed to reframe women's health as a lifestyle. Thus, Elvie products could be incorporated more naturally into people's lives and feel less medicalized.
A Tech Solution to Pelvic Floor Disorders
Elvie introduced its first product to the market in 2015: the Trainer. It is designed to help build muscle strength in the pelvic floor through Kegel exercises. Pelvic floor muscles play an important role in bladder control and core stability. Keeping pelvic floor muscles trained helps women avoid many common health concerns that are naturally encountered as people get older.
About 25 percent of women in the United States have pelvic floor disorders and about half of women 80 and older face this issue. These health problems are often preventable with exercises, so Boler saw a key opportunity in the market.
The Elvie Trainer is a small, waterproof, medical-grade device. Women can insert it in the vagina with the help of an external tool. The Trainer connects to a smartphone vie Bluetooth. Various exercise programs are available depending on the needs of the user.
The device gamifies exercise and provides metrics so that people can continue to push themselves harder with their workup regimes. These metrics let people see the benefit they are getting through exercise. This encourages them to keep up with the workouts. One of the big problems with Kegel exercises is that women cannot see the progress they make, which may cause them to lose motivation. The Trainer addresses this.
A Re-Envisioned Pump for New Mothers
Since the release of the Trainer, Elvie has slowly been expanding its offerings. In 2018, the company introduced the Elvie Pump, a silent and wireless device that fits into a nursing bra. Breastmilk pumps often need to be plugged into an outlet and are both noisy and painful to use. Since 80 percent of new mothers use pumps, they were in need of a revision.
The Elvie team behind the project set out to create a product that was silent, discreet, hands-free, and easy to use. Most importantly, the company wanted women to feel dignified using it. The Pump is only five-by-four inches and is very lightweight. Users can assemble it in a matter of seconds. Moreover, the device connects to a free app that allows women to discreetly monitor milk production in real team and track the pumping history of each breast.
The Elvie Pump exemplifies the soul of femtech. Previously, tech products for women were largely designed by men who did not appreciate the emotion elicited by such intimate products. Elvie’s devices are designed for a positive experience that negates the shame some women have felt in using tech devices.
As Boler set out to do, Elvie is making this tech part of a lifestyle rather than something that gets medicalized and hidden. These products meet the needs of women while allowing them to celebrate their female identity. Moving forward, it will be extremely exciting to see what products the company releases.
