NICHE OR NOT: In pursuit of capital, 'FemTech' inventors look for appeal beyond narrow gender norms.

• Author: Penrod, Emma

NANA EWUSI-EMMIM HAD ALWAYS PLANNED TO breastfeed her children because, after all, breast is best. But within a few weeks of the birth of her first child, she took her son to the hospital to determine why he was crying incessantly.

"They basically told me I'd starved him," Ewusi-Emmim says. She hadn't intended to, but she wasn't producing enough breastmilk. Hospital staff told her she'd have to use formula.

But Ewusi-Emmim wanted a different answer. At the time, she was working on her MBA at the University of Utah and decided to sign up for a class on starting new ventures. Her homework required her to speak with pediatricians and other specialists to get a sense of the market.

"It was almost like everyone wanted something better," she says, "but they were waiting for the big companies to come up with it."

Big companies, according to founders in an emerging business sector colloquially known as FemTech--that is, technology companies that cater to women's needs--have long neglected the unique interests of slightly more than half of the world's population. The absence of products that solve uniquely feminine problems has led to the emergence of a whole new industry in recent years, with dozens of new companies emerging in Utah alone.

There's just one problem, say these founders: the business of venture capital remains predominantly male. Many investors often fail to see the potential of women-specific businesses, most of which are tied to a single product that may lack the ability to scale up to a larger audience.

But some newcomers to the space have a different perspective. It's not just that investors lack experience with women's needs, they say. The founders behind FemTech companies often lack previous business experience themselves, and that may make it difficult for these emerging entrepreneurs to understand what today's venture capitalists are seeking.

"A lot of FemTech starts with a good idea, but it has a tight, tight application," says Steven Hane, CEO at Prima-Temp, maker of the Kindara fertility app. "Investors are going to say, if it's a tight application, I have to exit fairly quickly."

FEMININE REVOLUTION

At the time of her trip to the hospital, Ewusi-Emmim says, there were essentially two products on the market designed to increase breast milk production. Both devices were similar in form and function--they attached to a woman's breast and stimulated the production of additional milk. But neither were particularly comfortable, nor convenient, for a woman to use.

"I did try them," Ewusi-Emmim says, "but it's too bulky and messy. It's basically useless. We buy [these products] because we're desperate."

So Ewusi-Emmim set out to create her own support device, redesigned to simplify the technology and make it more comfortable to wear. Ewusi-Emmim's story is typical among FemTech founders...