Resources
Springboard Enterprises, in collaboration with Accenture, is excited to share our latest report, the “State of Women’s Health.” Our in-depth report dives into the current state of women’s health, highlighting key areas where innovation and funding is urgently needed.
At Springboard Enterprises, empowering women entrepreneurs is central to our mission. Our Women’s Health Innovation Accelerator Program, serves as a collective voice to drive women’s health innovation, investment, and research. The Program gathers key industry leaders to promote gender-specific health data transparency and spur investment in women’s health innovation to produce better health outcomes for all.
The “State of Women’s Health” report is our way of shining a spotlight on the complex world of women’s health. For too long, women’s health has been underfunded, under-researched, and misunderstood. While female founders and women’s health advocates are aware of these challenges, women’s health issues face a lack of public understanding and action. Our report aims to raise awareness, spark action, and promote positive change in funding, research, and innovation.
Check out the “State of Women’s Health” report and join us in our mission to advance women’s health innovation. Let’s create a healthier future for women everywhere!
“We believe that the most powerful change comes from solid data. Our report provides a data-driven foundation for understanding and addressing the most pressing health issues women face today. The business case for research and investment in women’s health is perfectly clear in this report. Women’s health is gaining significant attention in the public eye, but we need to keep the momentum going.”
Women’s health receives a fraction of the funding it deserves. In 2023, only $1.1B of the $26.5B VC capital invested in healthcare went to women’s health companies. This funding gap leads to gaps in research, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. A $300M investment in women-centric research could generate a $13B return, cutting healthcare costs and boosting global workforce productivity and quality of life.
Most research and development is gender-neutral or focused on men. Women are often left out of clinical research, despite making up nearly half the population and the prevalence of conditions that differently, disproportionately, or distinctly impact women. Gender bias leads to delays in diagnosis and worse health outcomes for women. Clinical trials must accurately reflect the population’s health burdens.
There’s a significant gap in understanding women’s health. Medical education often ignores fundamental differences in women’s physiology, resulting in misdiagnosis and lower quality of care. Menopause affects 1.1B women worldwide but is widely misunderstood. The $26.6B economic impact of menopause symptoms highlights the need for better understanding and new approaches.
Invest in Women-Centric Research
Boost funding to drive research focused on women’s unique health needs.
Match Clinical Research to Disease Prevalence
Ensure clinical trials reflect the population’s health burdens.
Challenge the Status Quo for Inclusivity
Break down historical biases and collaborate with stakeholders to foster a deeper understanding of women’s health needs.
These statistics are why Springboard exists. We connect women-founded and women-led enterprises to the human and financial resources that are so often lacking in the venture capital community. Learn about how Springboard is impacting women-led organizations and how you can help.
Herself Health provides value-based care to women 65+, prioritizing their visibility and elevating their voice as they age. Utilizing a holistic approach, Herself Health considers various aspects of patients’ wellbeing, including mobility, mental health, social and behavioral factors, life journey, and quality of life. The company is dedicated to ensuring each patient receives comprehensive support and attention as they transition through life’s stages.
Kristen Helton
CEO, Herself Health
Women’s Health Innovation 2024
Bone Health Technologies is revolutionizing bone health in postmenopausal women with an easy-to-use wearable device. Bone Health Technologies’ OsteoBoost, is the only FDA approved non-pharmalogical therapeutic device, tailored to counteract bone density loss in postmenopausal women. It delivers gentle mechanical stimulation to enhance bone strength in the hips and spine. Current drug therapy has low utilization (10%) and high discontinuation rate. Osteoboost provides a high compliance alternative at 83%, with no serious adverse events.
Laura Yecies
CEO, Bone Health Technologies
Women’s Health Innovation 2024
Mymee uses self-tracked data to reduce autoimmune disease flares and enhance disease management. Until there is a cure, Mymee provides patients with uncontrolled symptoms access to self-evidence-based personalized trials & care. Mymee’s clinically validated proprietary digital application isolates potential triggers and effectively links them to symptoms, providing invaluable insight to improve health in an average of 17 weeks.
Mette Dyhrberg
Founder & CEO, Mymee
Health Innovation Hub: Digital Health 2018
AOA Dx is reshaping oncology care, from diagnosis to treatment, employing artificial intelligence to pinpoint biomarkers of malignancy. AOA Dx’s AI-enabled platform, GlycoLocate, pioneers the use of gangliosides as a tumor marker for early cancer detection and allows for differentiation based on tissue of origin. AKRIVIS GD, the inaugural diagnostic test created with the GlycoLocate platform, utilizes tumor marker ganglioside technology to offer a non-invasive liquid biopsy test, shown to have high sensitivity and specificity across all stages, for ovarian cancer detection.
Oriana Papin-Zoghbi
Co-Founder & CEO, AOA Dx
Health Innovation Hub: Life Sciences 2021
Celmatix, a preclinical-stage biotech, uses data to help drive discovery and the next generation of solutions to promote better ovarian health. Celmatix’s leading “multi-omic ovarian health platform,” contains data on ovarian health and outcomes from over half a million women, serving as the foundation for its groundbreaking pipeline of first-in-class therapies. Celmatix is pioneering advancements in
ovarian health, developing a pipeline of drug programs including an AMHR2 agonist program focused on ovarian aging, novel melatonin agonist program for PCOS, oral FSH for infertility.
Piraye Yurttas Beim, PhD
Founder & CEO, Celmatix
Health Innovation Hub: Life Science 2020
Braincheck develops tools to help provide comprehensive cognitive care focused on early assessment, function tracking, and care coordination. The BrainCheck platform is an assessment and management application that assists decision making about cognitive health concerns through a “comprehensive set of cognitive health assessments, screeners and digital biomarkers.” BrainCheck Screen, a 3 minute screening tool, assess multiple cognitive domains and suggests further testing if needed. A validation study demonstrated 92% sensitivity and 74% specificity in screening for cognitive impairment.
Yael Katz
Co-Founder & Former CEO, BrainCheck
Tech Innovation Program 2016
