{"id":439,"date":"2025-02-15T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T07:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/?p=439"},"modified":"2025-02-15T12:06:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T12:06:33","slug":"womens-healthcare-is-broken-i-started-my-business-to-fix-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/15\/womens-healthcare-is-broken-i-started-my-business-to-fix-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s healthcare is broken \u2013 I started my business to fix it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Women’s healthcare is in crisis. Headlines about endless waiting lists and a lack of funding<\/a> are just the tip of the iceberg for women’s health, which has been repeatedly deprioritised.<\/p>\n

The rise of “femtech” startups<\/a> – companies creating technology solutions for women’s health – is addressing these longstanding gaps in the healthcare industry. From fertility tracking to menopause management, femtech companies like my own business, Hormona<\/a> are largely consumer-centric, empowering women to take control of their health.<\/p>\n

Projected to be worth $60 billion by 2027, the growth of the femtech industry<\/a> reflects a growing awareness of the need for innovation in women’s health. Yet, femtech isn’t a tech trend. It’s a response to the gender health gap that has persisted for decades, and an ongoing conversation about how we treat half of the global population.<\/p>\n

Hormonal health, in particular, has been overlooked, despite affecting 80% of women<\/a> globally. It’s not just a “pain gap”. It’s a systemic failure of which the stakes are personal. Lack of care can result in years of suffering, and lives put on hold; as I know only too well.<\/p>\n

“Doctors dismissed my pain as stress”<\/h2>\n

My own journey into women’s healthcare began out of necessity. In my mid-20s, I found myself battling unexplained depression, brain fog, fatigue, and weight fluctuations. Every morning felt like a battle just to get out of bed.<\/p>\n

I saw countless doctors, yet I was routinely dismissed. My symptoms were attributed to “stress”, a story which I know is all too common (one in three<\/a> women with female health conditions are forced to wait three years or longer for a diagnosis).<\/p>\n

The frustration of not knowing what was wrong weighed on me just as heavily as the physical symptoms themselves. It wasn’t until I was finally referred to a specialist that I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid, which was the result of a hormonal imbalance.<\/p>\n

Within weeks of starting the correct medication and supplements, I felt like myself again, like a cloud had lifted. For the first time in years, I had the energy and optimism to move forward with my life. But it was bittersweet. Why had it taken me so long<\/em> to get the help I needed?<\/p>\n

“Hormona is the solution I wish I’d had”<\/h2>\n

My experience sparked a passion<\/a> for learning everything I could about hormones and their impact on women’s lives. I was shocked to discover how prevalent hormone-related conditions, like PCOS and PMDD, receive little attention in mainstream healthcare.<\/p>\n

It became clear to me how urgent it was to address hormonal health for women as a topic, and yet I was horrified to find just how underfunded, under-discussed, and underreported it was. This lack of attention needed to be addressed. I knew I had to be part of the solution.<\/p>\n

Together with my childhood best friend, Jasmine, we set out to create the solution I wish I’d had in those early days when I was suffering. Hormona<\/a> was born from that mission: we’re the first end-to-end solution for hormonal health, designed by endocrinology, gynaecology, and nutrition experts that empower women with tools to better understand their hormones.<\/p>\n

Our app combines AI-driven insights with daily tracking, giving women a clear picture of how their hormones influence their mood, energy, and overall health.<\/p>\n

Our first-of-their-kind at-home tests provide actionable insights that previously required multiple specialist appointments, and we recently launched our first supplement, Hormone Support<\/a>, formulated to alleviate common hormone-related issues.<\/p>\n

“It’s about breaking the cycle”<\/h2>\n

Today, Hormona is used by women in 185+ countries. We’ve created a community that allows women to manage their hormonal health on their own terms, without the need for constant doctor’s visits or waiting months to get answers.<\/p>\n

Our ultimate goal, though, is to break down barriers and continue to make hormonal health accessible to women across the globe, offering personalised and actionable solutions.<\/p>\n

We’ve seen how Hormona has already made a difference to the lives of women, with users frequently sharing how Hormona has helped them to identify a hormonal imbalance and enabled them to seek the right treatment. This is the kind of impact that fuels our work.<\/p>\n

This isn’t just about tech, either. It’s about breaking the cycle of dismissing women’s health issues, and providing women with the knowledge they need to advocate for their health.<\/p>\n

“Femtechs can drive systematic change”<\/h2>\n

I’ve seen firsthand how woefully inadequate traditional healthcare has been for women’s health, and I firmly believe the femtech industry has the potential to drive systemic change. But it will require more investment, better education, and solutions that put women first.<\/p>\n

The term “femtech” is limiting, we’re part of a much wider solution that is working to change a broken industry. Hormonal health isn’t a niche topic, either – we’re all affected, men and women. More than ever, this needs to be at the forefront of medical research and innovation.<\/p>\n

To fellow founders in this space, my advice is simple: stay true to your mission statement<\/a>. Don’t let preconceived ideas about what “femtech” should be limit your ambition. We need bold ideas, fearless execution and urgency. The future of women’s healthcare depends on it.<\/p>\n

\n
\n \"Karolina <\/div>\n
\n


\n By Karolina Löfqvist, CEO and co-founder of Hormona <\/span><\/p>\n

Hormona is a hormone-tracking app and the first end-to-end solution for hormonal health that uses AI and at-home tests to help women optimise their cycles and address women’s hormone-related symptoms. It featured in the 2025 Startups 100 Index earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Learn more about Hormona <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Women\u2019s healthcare is broken – I started my business to fix it<\/a> appeared first on Startups.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Women’s healthcare is in crisis. Headlines about endless waiting lists and a lack of funding are just the tip of the iceberg for women’s health, which has been repeatedly deprioritised. The rise of “femtech” startups – companies creating technology solutions for women’s health – is addressing these longstanding gaps in the healthcare industry. From fertility […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":440,"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions\/440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timsvideostore.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}