Ever heard the term femtech? A portmanteau of female technology, the term was coined in 2016 by Danish entrepreneur Ida Tin, co-founder and CEO of women's health app Clue. The app, which has about 12 million users in over 190 countries, allows women to track their period, discover patterns in their menstrual cycle, and learn about reproductive health.
Femtech refers to technology that's focused on improving the lives of women through innovations on products, services, software, and more to fill gaps in women's health care and wellness.
In Singapore, there are a slew of femtech startups that are on a mission to empower women and democratize women's sexual and reproductive health care, offering services like at-home testing for sexually transmitted infections and diseases, tailored teleconsultations, and fast deliveries of birth control and emergency contraception.
Here are four femtech startups in Singapore that are on our radar!
Dear Doc
Dear Doc, founded by Shruti Dwivedi in 2020, is Singapore's "first one-stop healthcare solution" for women to make access to health care hassle- and judgment-free, discreet, and affordable. Launched during the first year of the pandemic, Dear Doc has allowed Singaporean women to access sensitive medical care from the privacy of their homes, from consultations with women doctors and medication delivered straight to one's doorstep.
Dear Doc's services range from birth control and STI/STD consultations, sexual health counselling, and STI/STD self-tests to standard and express deliveries of birth control pills, birth control patches, and emergency contraception.
Ferne Health
Ferne Health is a Singapore-based company by China-born Xi Liu that delivers at-home consulting and screening services for sexual health. Founded in January 2020, Ferne Health offers a myriad of modern services, such as at-home tests for common STDs, urinary tract infection, fertility, cervical cancer, and more. It also offers tele-consultations, and delivery of birth control (contraceptive pill and patch, and the morning-after pill) and treatments for cold sores, genital herpes, yeast infections, and UTI relief.
Ease
Ease Healthcare, founded by couple Guadalupe Lazaro and Rio Hoe, came from the twosome's own experience in trying to access sensitive health services like contraception and STI testing. Ease, like Dear Doc and Ferne Health, is a Singaporean digital health platform offering sexual and reproductive health services so no one in the city-state would be left without a choice, or just one option. Ease offers birth control and emergency contraception to Singaporean women, as well as teleconsultations, STI testing, and treatments for UTI, yeast infection, and bacterial vaginosis.
Since its conception in May 2020, Ease has seen more than 20,000 women join its platform as members.
ZaZaZu
ZaZaZu believes in the adage "knowledge is power" – and we do, too. ZaZaZu calls itself the "first personalized sexual wellness hub in Asia Pacific," offering products, a safe community, and educational materials to help women understand their bodies intimately with no shame. Apart from webinars and corporate workshops, women may purchase "pleasure boxes" or individual intimate toys on ZaZaZu's site, as well as book consultations with its panel experts to learn more about sexual wellness and health.
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