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- Intuition Pumps #3
Hi to healthcare geeks!
It’s the 3rd edition of Intuition Pumps, a media about healthtech in Latin America.
Let’s talk about the female health market and more.
Female health is biased. And yes, stigmatized.
Female health is much bigger than just pregnancy and motherhood.
At the moment, almost 1 billion women go through menopause, and most of them don’t even know what the symptoms mean. Menopause marks the end of menstrual cycles, women mostly experience it in their 40s.
What’s the trouble with it? As we know, the cycles are dependent on specific hormones. When the hormonal balance starts to drastically change, women get a cascade of issues - anxiety, memory loss, recurrent urinary infections, just to name a few.
Though 80% of women in menopause report it hugely worsens personal life and work, the condition remains embarrassing to discuss, and almost nobody thinks of solutions.
Let’s look even bigger: women and men have lots of gender-specific predisposures.
For example, more women than men die of heart disease every year. This difference is largely related to the size of the heart, which is smaller in females than in males. The smaller female heart pumps less blood with each beat and needs to beat at a faster rate compared to the larger male heart's output.
Yet treatment for women is regularly delayed and their conditions are often misdiagnosed. As per this McKinsey research, only 1% of research goes to female health beyond oncology.
Looking at the global changes, fertility rates are dropping as never before, and almost 80M couples, or 8%-10% of all couples, struggle to have children.
In Latam, the rate is down 66% in 70 years. Reproductive care needs more accessibility, both in costs and approaches.
Market Map
Well, with the gaps discussed, what teams are working on solutions?
Some insights:
Geo:
🇧🇷 10 companies in Brazil are leading the move: Theia, Gestar, Bloom Care, Fertably, Daysy, Oya Care, Plenapausa, PHP Biotech, Huna, Linda;
🇲🇽 4 in Mexico: Plenna, Daisies, Nume, Sin Reglas;
🇦🇷 2 in Argentina: Mamotest, Bionirs;
🇪🇨 1, Warmi, is from Ecuador;
🇨🇱 And 1 based in Chile - Palpa, which I featured in the previous article on cancer care.Predominantly gynecology and maternity niches, with clear opportunities in multiple others;
Talking about maternity, we can see mostly products for pregnancy and postpartum stages. Given the scale of infertility and pain millions of families experience, there’s a vast need for products;
Almost no coverage of cancer besides breast - most common female oncologies include cervical and ovarian cancer, both can be prevented.
Deeper Look
Excited to highlight some of the companies - though all of them make a huge impact.
After the mother of Catherine and Imanol Daran was misdiagnosed numerous times and found cancer, the idea of Daisies was born.
Instead of isolated visits, the app provides a network of doctors who collaborate to understand the real condition of a patient. Daisies’ plan costs 299 Mexican pesos per month and includes dermatological, ob-gyn, nutrition, and mental health teleconsultations.
By 2030, there will be more than 1 billion women in menopause. At Plenapausa, Márcia Cunha and Carla Moussalli develop products to support women with the symptoms.
Today, the app targets a big menopause issue, muscle and joint pain, which affects 80% of women. “Our thesis is treatment via hormonal or herbal medicines and lifestyle changes with diet and physical activity”, says Márcia. Plenapausa also sells 3 kinds of herbal pills that regulate symptoms, and bring women more energy and better sleep.
Opportunities
Women’s health market is estimated to reach $1.19 trillion by 2027 globally. Many of the niches like cardiovascular or uterine are blank spaces for innovation:
As for the US, some companies change healthcare way beyond one geography.
For example, in 2021 Maven Clinic became the first unicorn in the female health sector and has raised more than $300M. The company provides virtual clinic services for women and families across areas such as fertility, maternity, pediatrics, and menopause. Maven has more than 15 million covered lives in over 175 countries.
Job Alerts
Clivi Health is looking for a Chief Operations Officer, 📍Mexico City
Leve Saude is hiring a Product Manager,📍Rio de Janeiro
Latam Flywheel
🇧🇷 Bionexo, a Brazilian healthcare SaaS raised $20M from Bain Capital to make new acquisitions and expand the verticals.
🇧🇷 Zenit, a platform with wellness programs based in Brazil, closed a crowdfunding round of $260,000.
🇧🇷 Conexa, one of the largest telemedical companies in Brazil, announced a merger with Zenklub, a Brazilian provider of mental health consultations.
🇨🇴 Selia, a Colombian mental health startup, raised $300,000 from Forbes and Bad Bunny at the Forbes 30 Under 30 Latinx Pitch Competition in Ohio, US.
🇲🇽 Prosit, a Mexican startup that automatizes medical processes, got $100,000 in funding from Google for Startups Program.