In 2022, Singapore secured its position as the leading market and hub for femtech innovations with 32 companies founded and operating in the country, a 45 per cent increase from the previous year. Its neighbouring country Malaysia caught up as runner-up with 12 companies; this number is a 500 per cent increase from the previous year in the country.

According to a report released by women’s wellness solutions provider Fermata, there was a steady growth in femtech companies across the Southeast Asian (SEA) region, including the Philippines (nine companies), Thailand (six companies), Indonesia (five companies), and Vietnam (four companies).

However, for emerging markets such as Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, the growth had been stagnant since last year, when the report acknowledged difficulties in finding femtech companies operating in the countries through desktop research.

For these markets, the report pointed out that there is a need “to be more focused on general public health issues, period poverty, and hygiene safety” which might be the reason why femtech industry is not growing rapidly. Political instability such as the Myanmar coup in 2021 also further escalated the issue of period poverty as women struggled to afford period products due to rising prices.

Also Read: Femtech: VC interest grows as new frontier for women’s health beckons

Coined in 2012, femtech (“female technology”) was defined as an industry of tech companies that addressed women health’s needs. Companies in the sector can be divided into the B2C and B2B categories, each of them with its own unique products and target audiences.

B2C companies mostly provided services and products related to sexual wellness, sexual health and intimate care, fertility and infertility, period health, perimenopause and menopause, pregnancy and post-partum, and general women’s health. These companies might implement an element of e-commerce in how they distribute their services and products to customers.

In the B2B sector, tech companies worked together with institutions in the medical industry to provide tools for diagnostics and testing.

From policy to social media

This led to a big question: What did it take to build a robust ecosystem for femtech startups?

Singapore was already well-known as a leading startup ecosystem on a global scale, according to various reports. However, in the case of femtech, there were several factors that helped secure its status as a femtech hub.

There were commonly known factors such as Singapore’s ability to become a “great” test bed for new innovation before a company can further expand to another market. But Fermata highlighted “societal, legislative, and governmental forces that have created new avenues for dialogue in women’s health and wellness.”

Also Read: Overcoming advertising woes and other challenges for the femtech industry

There were two ways in which these conversations were being brought to the public:

1. Research and Development

In December 2020, The Singapore National Research Foundation launched the Research Innovation Enterprise Plan 2025 (RIE 2025) with an approximate S$25 billion (US$18 billion) budget. There were two research domains that are relevant to the femtech industry: Human Health and Potential (HHP) and Smart Nation and Digital Economy (SNDE).

“Supporting research and development funding in this field is critical to tackling the issue of women’s health at the root,” the report stated.

2. Social and media conversation on fertility

There were several notable moments in social media and media that helped to skyrocket the discussion on women’s health, creating further awareness and opening up new business opportunities. In early 2021, following a report about Singapore’s declining fertility rate, social media was rife with a conversation regarding fertility and family planning. This included an online petition and Instagram account MyEggsMyTime by user Emma Zhang.

What is next for femtech in SEA?

Seeing how the femtech industry in SEA had progressed in the past few years, Fermata predicted that the industry will continue to grow in SEA.

There were several points that the report believes will be relevant:

1. Education and awareness activities will continue to focus on taboo and stigmatised topics in women’s health. This includes events and conferences on women’s health

2. Funding programmes for research on women’s health and reproduction will continue to flourish

3. A greater variety of B2B solutions in the femtech industry

“We will see industry players rethinking existing and established markets, while others explore completely uncharted or ‘white space’ opportunities,” the report closed.

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