ccording to Frost & Sullivan, with

50% of the global population as target customers

, a market potential of

$50 billion by 2025

, spurred by almost $1 billion in funding over the last three years, and a positive regulatory environment, female technology (FemTech) is emerging as the next big disruptor in the global healthcare market. ‘FemTech’ refers to software, diagnostics, products, and services that use digital technology to improve women’s health.

Frost & Sullivan identified the following insights on women’s economic power and customer behavior:

• 90% of women are primary healthcare decision makers for their family and key influencers for friends;
• 80% of the household healthcare spending is done by women. Working-age females spend 29% more per capita on healthcare compared to males in the same age group;
• 50% of global healthcare customers are women and they are the primary care givers for the elderly and children;
• 66% of women internet users look online for healthcare information. Women are 75% more likely to use digital tools for healthcare than men;
• 80% of healthcare professionals are women. Most are nurses, and <40% are in executive or managerial positions; and
• 4% of CEOs and 21% of Board Members at Fortune 500 Healthcare companies are women and this is expected to increase #PressforProgress

TimesUp! Women’s health is often side-lined as a niche market; however, tides are changing and this can be attributed to the rise of the ‘she-economy’, where women are not only playing an increasingly influential role across the healthcare continuum, but also have higher purchasing power,” says Shruthi Parakkal Frost & Sullivan’s Transformational Health Senior Research Analyst. “For instance, the economic contribution of women is expected to outpace the combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of China and the United States by 2020. “

In addition, the increasingly influential role of women across the healthcare continuum as

consumers

,

decision-makers

,

healthcare professionals

and

caregivers

, is pushing healthcare companies to actively develop specialized, interactive digital applications for women’s health. The Femtech market currently has an interesting mix of market participants including specialized

Femtech companies

that are offering interactive

digital health

applications for women’s health. “Femtech is not limited to a product or a service, it is an

end-to-end solution

that can positively impact women’s health and wellbeing,” adds Parakkal

. “

Femtech applications target reproductive, maternal and general women’s health and wellness, including mental health issues, elderly care, and chronic diseases and communicable diseases.”

“

Personalized wellness and consumer healthcare technology has been a

top-5 investment area

in digital health for several years now,” said

Paljit Sohal

, Frost & Sullivan’s Transformational Health Principal Consultant. “It will also play a key role in making care more accessible and affordable to women across the globe with its ease of scalability, which will enable it to expand the user base without compromising on performance.“