A new report, Femtech in Ireland: The Case for Prioritising Women’s Health Research and Innovation, has identified major opportunities for the State to become a global leader in femtech, the growing sector of technology, research and innovation focused on women’s health.
Produced by Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University College Cork (UCC), the report argues that stronger support for women’s health innovation and entrepreneurship could unlock economic potential, address persistent health inequities, and strengthen the State’s life sciences and technology sectors. It also highlights how, with the right support, Irish innovators could capture a share of a $97 billion global market by 2030.
The authors frame this as both a health equity challenge and an economic opportunity. Women make up more than half the population yet live more years in poor health despite longer lifespans. Closing that gap, the report notes, could contribute as much as $1 trillion a year to the global economy by 2040.
At its simplest, femtech is any medical technology that aims to improve the health of women, says Dr Brendan Boland, head of medtech consulting at EY Ireland.
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“In some cases, that is a treatment that is solely for females,” he explains. “However, the definition also encompasses technology that has been developed to address female-specific forms of illness that affect both women and men.
“For example, femtech may refer to clinical technologies that have been developed to improve specific outcomes in OBGYN [obstetrics and gynaecology] conditions that may have previously been neglected in terms of new innovations.”
In other cases, femtech is about recognising and treating female-specific symptoms of conditions commonly affecting both men and women, such as cardiovascular disease or dementia, he says.
The HIHI report categorises the field into three broad groups: conditions exclusive to women, such as reproductive health, endometriosis and menopause; conditions that disproportionately affect women, such as autoimmune diseases where 80 per cent of cases are female; and conditions that affect women differently, often leading to misdiagnosis, such as cardiovascular disease, where symptoms can present differently in women.
This approach highlights why women’s health innovation is not a niche pursuit but a broad, systemic one. As Boland puts it, femtech is “at the leading edge of patient-specific clinical innovation” and part of a wider shift toward more personalised medicine based on sex, genetics, lifestyle and geography.
The femtech sector here is still at an early stage, but the opportunity is real, says Dr Catherine Caulfield, chief executive of Ovagen, a biotech company pioneering germ-free egg technology. “Ireland already has a world-class life-science and medtech industry, backed by universities and research centres of international standing. It also has a strong record of entrepreneurship, including women-led start-ups.
“With the right focus and financial support, Ireland could become a leading European hub for femtech innovation.”
Caulfield points to the work of Prof Michael Kerin, chair of surgery at the University of Galway and director of the Cancer Managed Clinical Academic Network (MCAN) for HSE West and North West, who is internationally recognised in breast cancer management. She also highlights the work of Croí, the heart and stroke charity based in Galway, which runs programmes on cardiovascular disease prevention and recovery, and actively challenges the perception that heart disease is primarily a male issue.
Heart disease kills roughly the same number of women as men each year. Caulfield argues that education, prevention and innovation in this area are vital examples of how femtech can improve outcomes across society.
But she stresses that femtech is not just about health. “It is also about equality and economic impact,” she says. “Better health outcomes for women mean greater workforce participation, higher productivity and stronger communities.”
Innovation in health begins with the identification of unmet clinical needs, says Boland. “It starts by taking a new look at an existing condition, listening to those affected, understanding the views of those currently treating the condition, and then inventing a new solution.”
Ireland, he notes, has “phenomenal clinical practitioners, from rural public health nurses to hospital consultants and everyone in between who has patient contact”. These professionals are well placed to spot gaps and are already supported through programmes such as BioInnovate, the Spark Innovation Programme, HIHI, and financial support from Enterprise Ireland, Local Enterprise Offices, and EU funding.
Caulfield agrees that there are strong foundations but argues that supports are still too general. “Femtech founders face specific challenges around regulation and clinical validation, so more targeted programmes and funding would help to unlock their potential.”
The HIHI report echoes this point, calling for dedicated funding streams for women’s health research and innovation, mandatory sex and gender analysis in research design and a national femtech innovation hub giving start-ups access to clinics, clinicians, patients and data.
It also emphasises the need to ensure women are equally represented in clinical research and trials, to reduce inequities and build stronger evidence bases. Since its launch in 2022, HIHI’s Femtech@HIHI programme has supported 34 companies working on women’s health innovation and has built a dedicated innovation network.
One of the first steps to improving support, Boland says, is greater recognition. “Underserved female health conditions need to be recognised and identified. This can be achieved by increased clinical awareness, more robust clinical studies, optimised clinical education, facilitating new clinical assessments and an amplified patient’s voice.”
He notes that in life sciences innovation, “all too often the voice of the patient isn’t heard”, and that listening to the lived experiences of women is a crucial starting point.
This links directly to the report’s finding that women’s health has historically been underfunded and under-researched. Globally, femtech investment lags far behind other healthtech sectors, with very few “unicorn” companies valued at more than $1 billion despite the scale of the market.
For Ireland to compete, the report stresses the importance of collaboration between government, academia, investors and industry, with women’s voices at the centre.
Framing femtech as both a health and equality issue strengthens the argument for investment. Poor health outcomes for women have knock-on effects across the workforce and wider economy.
The HIHI report cites analysis from McKinsey estimating that closing the women’s health gap could boost the global economy by $1 trillion every year by 2040. That potential reflects not only reduced healthcare costs, but also increased workforce participation, productivity and innovation.
For the Republic, this means that prioritising women’s health is not only the right thing to do for patients, but also a strategic move for the economy.
Globally, femtech is gaining serious momentum, and the State has the ingredients to become a leader if it chooses to act.
“In Ireland, we will see more overlap between biotech, digital health, and women’s health,” says Caulfield. “As investors and policymakers pay more attention, more companies will emerge. The future is about delivering solutions that are personalised, accessible, and affordable.”
Boland agrees that the outlook is bright, provided targeted supports are introduced. “All of the key elements are already here in Ireland, including great clinicians, engineers, scientific researchers, governmental support, as well as strong connections to the worldwide life sciences ecosystem. Ireland has an incredible opportunity to be at the forefront of this huge but currently underserved industry.”
The HIHI report situates its recommendations within the Republic’s wider health policy, including the Women’s Health Taskforce and Women’s Health Action Plan, which highlight areas such as menopause, fertility and gynaecology. At the launch of the report, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill described it as a call to action, urging that innovation be harnessed to elevate care standards and better serve patients.
Whether the State seizes this opportunity will depend on decisions made in the coming years on funding and research priorities, and if women’s health is treated as a central issue rather than a specialist niche.
What is clear is that femtech represents more than gadgets and apps. It is a fast-growing field with the power to reduce inequities, improve quality of life and create economic value. With the right focus, the State could not just participate in this $97 billion market but could lead it.
