Image: HIHI
Femtech @ Health Innovation Hub Ireland wants to create an ecosystem of entrepreneurs and investors in the sector.
A new initiative in Ireland aims to create a network of individuals in the femtech industry developing technologies that focus on women’s health.
Launched by the Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI), the initiative aims to bring together essential players in the femtech industry, from entrepreneurs and clinical experts to business leaders, to stimulate and support growth in the sector.
HIHI is a Government-backed body based in University College Cork that supports businesses in Ireland innovating in health-related fields. In the past five years, it has supported more than 400 Irish health-tech companies.
Now, Femtech @ Health Innovation Hub Ireland wants to extend this network and build an ecosystem entrepreneurs and experts driving innovation in femtech, supporting women founders (by whom a majority of femtech companies are led) and attracting more investors to Ireland.
Femtech companies focus on a wide range of issues related to women’s health. This can range from menopause and fertility to endometriosis and female-specific cancers.
Some of the companies working in this area include Galway-based Atlantic Therapeutics, which develops a wearable neuromuscular electrical stimulation device to treat urinary incontinence, and Aveta Medical, which has developed a device to treat vaginal atrophy.
Another Galway medtech, Nua Surgical, has developed a C-section retractor, which has been designed so that obstetricians and their assistants can gain hands-free unobstructed access to the uterus during surgery.
“These solutions will impact the health and wellbeing of 50pc of our population, create a geographical femtech focus and build an ecosystem of experts and entrepreneurs supporting, driving and innovating in femtech,” the HIHI says on its website.
Tech companies, entrepreneurs and investors are now being encouraged to join the network.
Earlier this year, HIHI published a list of Irish companies that are disrupting the health-tech sector with new innovations.
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