Jayant Pal Singh, Co-founder of FemTech India, Discusses the Nature and Services of the FemTech Startup

StartupTalky presents Recap'22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

FemTech, short for "Female Technology," refers to technology and products that are specifically designed to meet the health and wellness needs of women. This can include products such as period-tracking apps, fertility-tracking devices, and telemedicine platforms for women's health consultations. FemTech is a growing field, as technology is increasingly being used to address gaps in healthcare and improve access to information and resources for women.

The global FemTech market is projected to reach $50 billion by 2025 with a CAGR of more than 20% during the forecast period. The growth of Femtech is driven by the increasing number of women in the workforce, rising awareness of women's healthcare issues, and the growing adoption of digital technologies in healthcare.

For this Interview, we invited Jayant Pal Singh, co-founder of FemTech India, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the FemTech industry.

StartupTalky: Jayant, What services does your company provide? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

Jayant Pal Singh: FemTech India is an authority on all things FemTech. The platform recognizes the need that no professional in the FemTech industry should exist in a vacuum and has created a repository of content, and curated experiences to enable the professionals to step up. FemTech India also offers curated community-based events, inspiring podcasts, exclusive databases, and cutting-edge industry insights for our audience which is reflective of the current times that we live in.

The driving motivation to launch the platform was to raise awareness about women’s health issues, provide access to exclusive databases, and also give a roundup of contemporary news. We also aim to be a significant contributor to the women’s health technology ecosystem.

StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of your products/services?

Jayant Pal Singh: FemTech India offers a host of services. Some of the unique opportunities include- a convergence of domestic and global companies. The platform provides a unique opportunity for domestic companies to scale up in the international market and conversely enables global companies to step into the Indian market. The platform enables students, and FemTech enthusiasts to network and build their eminence in the space. The platform also offers hands-on workshops to FemTech Companies to help them scale up. The flagship ‘Mentorship Program’ includes individual mentorship with successful FemTech entrepreneurs as well as workshops with prominent experts. Additionally, FemTech India is also building the largest community for doctors, and FemTech enthusiasts, to foster a spirit of community building.

On the whole, FemTech India offers an opportunity for everyone to learn from women’s health experts, share information and support each other in a safe ecosystem.

StartupTalky: What other products/features/services you are planning to add in the coming year?

Jayant Pal Singh: FemTech India’s flagship weekly newsletter –‘FemTech Friday’ is a snapshot of the industry insights on a weekly basis. The newsletter covers everything related to Indian FemTech and Healthcare and offers insights on new product launches, job alerts, and funding insights, among others.

FemTech India also has its ‘Podcast Series’, which is India’s first podcast series
focusing on creating awareness about women’s health. The podcast brings real stories from FemTech founders, health experts, legal professionals, and Industry leaders, among others. The podcast brings out inspiring stories in the form of freewheeling chat, which makes the podcast all the more relatable to the audience.

Additionally, FemTech India also serves as a hub for Indian and Global companies to launch their products. Our platform provides a unique opportunity for FemTech
companies to easily scale up in the geographies of their choice. We also have ‘Investment Relations’, in the pipeline to help companies get access to details of upcoming investment opportunities.

StartupTalky: Can you share the name of some industry players associated with you?

Jayant Pal Singh: We have FemTech companies as part of the company directory with well-known FemTech startups like Mylo, Allo Health, Sirona, Peesafe, Hummcare, Kindlyhers, Salad, Femisafe, CervAstra, Sassiest, Elda Health, Mind My Mind, Newmi, Femisafe, Prev, Mywelme, Savage Club, Healthfab and many others. These startups deal with personalized solutions for women’s menstrual hygiene products, Perimenopause, menopause, contraceptive, Pregnancy, Post-partum, sexual health, Motherhood, fertility, mental wellness, Hormone health, diagnostics, and other areas related to women's health overall.

We have also recently done a market entry for one of the global startup relationship apps - Coupleness (An app for your relationship). We strongly feel that relationship has a powerful influence on our health. We as a platform want to empower women’s health overall to bring positive collaborations to make a change.

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StartupTalky: How has the femtech industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

Jayant Pal Singh: While the term FemTech is no longer new, the industry is booming and is welcoming newer players, and the landscape is poised for a positive uptrend. In the course of just a few years, it has grown to encompass a range of technology-enabled, consumer-centric products and solutions. Depending on the scope, estimates for FemTech’s current market size range from $500 million to $1 billion and are expected to grow at a CAGR of 15-17% by 2030. Forecasts suggest opportunities for double-digit revenue growth. On the digital health front, FemTech companies currently receive 3 percent of all digital health funding.

In the Indian market space, there are a lot of companies that are launching new
products and services. Additionally, with the user adoption rate in the industry on the positive side, FemTech India senses a lot of opportunity in the ecosystem. With
companies looking for smooth and streamlined ways to enter and scale up the market, most of them are driven by passion, but they lack a complete understanding of the market entry strategies in the region. FemTech India serves as the perfect strategic partner. like to offer numbers, insights, surveys, and trends in collaboration.

StartupTalky: How do you stay up-to-date on the latest trends and developments in the femtech industry?

Jayant Pal Singh: FemTech India has strategic advisors on board, who bring with them deep industry experience and expertise. They have roots in different countries, and each of our advisors brings a strong niche area of expertise. Through regular stand-up meetings and team check-ins, we collectively benefit from each other’s wisdom. Our advisors and team members meet regularly to discuss and analyze market trends and industry insights.

StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced throughout the inception journey and how did you face it?

Jayant Pal Singh: Since the concept of FemTech is new in India, and aiming to be the first FemTech company in India to be the platform for resources on Women’s health innovation, onboarding partners was a mild hiccup for us. Further, there were mild challenges in explaining and illustrating the concept of FemTech in newer markets.

Since the concept of ‘FemTech’ is still catching up, it was initially challenging to get
people to open up and boldly speak up about the issues in the FemTech space. Investors are looking at most money-making segments in Femtech versus attractive segments; quick ROI is the new mantra.

StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

Jayant Pal Singh: Currently, we have been relying on social media platforms to build a niche for our brands. We have been building a strong profile for ourselves on varied platforms, for instance-we share all major updates and news through LinkedIn, which is one of the largest platforms for us to connect with professionals. On the podcast front, we have been receiving a lot of traction as we are currently the first podcast dedicated to raising awareness of women’s health.
Additionally, we have also been holding virtual and in-person networking events.
Both the virtual strategies and in-person networking events have been yielding
good results for us.

StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in the femtech industry in India and the world? What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

Jayant Pal Singh: With the world opening up newer avenues, there certainly seems to be a lot of changes. People are pivoting towards opening up in seeking to get awareness about FemTech-related issues. Further, with the awareness getting spread in the digital medium, it is becoming a lot easier for us to disseminate information. The market is poised for positive growth.

On the business front, there is also a lot of traction on the B2B front, which will open up newer avenues of growth. E-Commerce platforms, B2C products, customized diagnostic solutions, innovative products in the women’s health category, and products that are backed by science all are likely to see an uptick in the near future.

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StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past years and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

Jayant Pal Singh: Since we are less than a year old in the market, we are still in the nascent stages of growth. We are waiting to spend some more time in the market to devise future plans and strategies.

StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, SKUS, and team base in the future?

Jayant Pal Singh: In terms of future plans, we are taking one step at a time. At this point in time, we are focusing on our existing Go-To-Market strategy which focuses on building the community and bridging the ecosystem together. Currently, we have over 40 companies on board and are looking to partner with and onboard newer companies on our platform.

We are also starting workshops, which would be available to founders, academics, and any of those who are passionate about FemTech.

StartupTalky: With so much hype around D2C brands spending on ads, What will be your growth strategy organic or inorganic? How to plan to work around SEO and content marketing?

Jayant Pal Singh: Right now, we are aiming to foster a spirit of community and are working on building an excellent ecosystem for FemTech. Right now, we are focusing on the community-building aspect, and are not focused on advertisement-oriented SEO or content marketing strategies.

StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with other founders in the industry?

Jayant Pal Singh: We are really new to the industry and still learning. All we can say is FemTech for us is more than women’s health, it’s about women’s safety, and freedom, and making decisions about your body is a basic human right. We don’t look at FemTech as a competition, we believe that we have to be collaborative and not competitive.

FemTech is driven by passion. Since we are all working towards one unified goal – to make women’s health better. By supporting one another, and by collectively having each other’s back. According to us, we can all achieve better as a community. The only way ahead is great partnerships and collaborations.

We thank Jayant Pal Singh for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

You can read other Recap'22 Interviews here.