Women’s health tech ‘less likely’ to get funding if woman is on founding team

Flo Health, a period-tracking app founded by two men, recently became Europe’s first femtech unicorn after raising a record $200m. Photograph: Vladyslav Yushynov/Alamy

Healthcare technology designed to target a wide range of women’s issues is less likely to get funding if there is a woman on the founding team, according to research.

Female founders of femtech products – short for female technology – are also less likely to secure funding if they use “advocacy” words in their funding applications, including “women’s rights”, “take control” or “freedom”, the analysis showed.