FemTech Focus

Sateria Venable is a patient advocate who was diagnosed with fibroids at the age of 26. After receiving the recommendation of a hysterectomy in her 20s, she was prompted to explore other options to manage her fibroid diagnosis. She began a quest for information, which led her to found The Fibroid Foundation. The Fibroid Foundation is a non-profit taking a multi-faceted approach to Fibroid education. By developing a collaborative partnership with fellow patients and healthcare providers, they are fostering a supportive relationship where informed women have proactive conversations with trusted providers on a regular basis. As a patient-founded organization, their unique insights layered with a unique mix of digital and in-person outreach drives exponential change. Sateria has been featured in the Washington Post and Huffington Post, and is published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. She holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Carnegie Mellon University. We discussed the variety of symptoms of fibroids, how women can get diagnosed and the fibroid bill.

Check out the Fibroid Foundation at www.fibroidfoundation.org

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Lilly Sparks is the Co-Founder and COO of Afterglow, a porn company centered around female pleasure and the unabashed enjoyment of sex. Afterglow merges adult media and sexual wellness. Their mission is to create a comfortable home for pleasure on the internet and to cultivate the unabashed enjoyment of sex. Lilly is a serial entrepreneur who's grown 4 early-stage companies to millions of revenue. She saw a huge untapped opportunity in women's sexual wellness and decided to create afterglow and make porn that's good for you. We discussed how common it is for women to watch porn, women's spending power for adult content and helping women feel comfortable with their sexuality.

Check out the Afterglow at www.xoafterglow.com

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Aagya Mathur is the Co-Founder & CEO of Aavia, a smart pill case and app that learns and improves pill-taking habits. The Aavia smart pill case knows when a user takes their pill and sends reminders to your app if it hasn't been taken your pill and will keep sending reminders until it's actually taken. The app automatically records what time a user takes the pill so they can visualize how they are managing their birth control pills over time. They are also regularly rolling out new features that allow users to gain personalized insights about their hormonal cycle over time with use. Aagya earned her Bachelor's in Neuroscience from the University of Virginia and her MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has been honored Forbes 53 women-led startups disrupting health tech, Top 100 Women in FemTech and HealthTech, MedTech Boston 40 under 40 Healthcare Innovators, and BostInno's 50 on Fire. We discussed, what it means to "build in public", the Aavia smart pill case and the consequences of irregular intake of birth control.

Check out the Aavia at www.aavia.io

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Cindy Gallop is the Founder & CEO of Make Love Not Porn, the world's 1st user-generated, human-curated social sex video sharing platform. Cindy has a significant reputation as a highly compelling and inspirational speaker at events and conferences all around the world. Cindy’s 30 years of experience in brand building, marketing and entrepreneurialism, combined with a razor-sharp analytical mind, wide-ranging business experience, future-forward approach to technology, a compellingly charismatic presence and a uniquely inspirational approach, equip her perfectly to address the theme of leadership and inventing the future across a range of business sectors. She earned her Master of Arts from University of Oxford and currently serves as an advisor for Awkward Essentials. We discussed MakeLoveNotPorn, the psychology of porn and starting a Sextech company.

Check out the MakeNotLovePorn at makelovenotporn.tv

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Kristen Carbone is the Founder of Brilliantly, a company improving the lives to women that have been impacted by breast cancer. Brilliantly recently launched Brilliantly Warm, their first wearable designed for women who have had implant reconstruction after a mastectomy and feel constantly cold. Prior to Brilliantly, Kristen spent ten years working in the curatorial departments of museums throughout New York and New England, founded an artists' advocacy business and acted as the project manager for two business consulting companies. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Art History from Skidmore College. We discussed breast implants, preventative mastectomies & breast reconstruction, fundraising during COVID-19.

Check out the Brilliantly at brilliantly.co

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Blythe Karow is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of Evren Technologies. They are working to advance the treatment of PTSD and other related issues through discreet, wearable products that fit into the user's daily life. They developed Phoenix, an earbud device that will be used to reduce symptoms of long-term PTSD, speed recovery from traumatic events, and improve quality of life by delivering tVNS therapy that responds to your own body’s signals. Blythe has over 20 years of experience in medical device strategy, product development, product launch, and marketing. Her prior experience includes work both as a consultant and with medical device companies, ranging from startups to Fortune 100s, including Medtronic, J&J, and Boston Scientific. She holds an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. We discussed neural modulation, neurostimulation, PTSD and treatments for trauma.

Check out the Evren Technologies at www.evrenvns.com

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Dr. Gabriela Gutiérrez is the founder, CEO & CSO of Microgenesis, a biotech company helping women discover the causes behind their fertility problems and recover to their full potential in order to get pregnant. Dr. Gutiérrez is a scientific researcher and molecular biologist by training and spent 15 years working on complex fertility cases globally with a main focus on Latin America and Spain. She holds a PhD in medicine from the University of Buenos Aires. We discussed the impact of microbiota on fertility, the importance of the microbiome, intestinal health and mRNAs.

Check out the Microgenesis at www.microgenesis.net/en/

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Evi Heilbrunn is the CEO of Privy, the first, women-led, feminine care company developing innovative and clinically proven solutions for women’s health issues ranging from bladder leaks to UTIs and yeast infections. The company was founded to bring to market the Finess softpatch, the first FDA-cleared, over-the-counter product that prevents light to moderate bladder leaks before they happen. Evi is a digital health leader and investor in FemTech. She has a proven track record of scaling early-stage products and audiences whether for health consumers or providers. She has worked for some of the largest digital health companies & brands in the world. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania. We discussed causes of bladder leaks, preventing bladder leakage & women having options for incontinence products.

Check out the Privy at www.privywoman.com

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Ida Tin is the co-founder and CEO of Clue, a mobile app that enables women and people with menstrual cycles to make good choices for themselves and live full lives not in spite of their biology but in tune with it. The app’s mission is to help people all around the world benefit from insights into female health. Ida is credited with coining the term "femtech". She was a speaker at prestigious conferences such as TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, LeWeb in Paris, Slush in Finland and many more. We discussed the need for "FemTech", how the term came about and her journey of building Clue.

Check out the Clue at www.helloclue.com

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Since starting the podcast in early 2020, the listenership and FemTech Focus community has grown so much since then. In this episode, Dr. Brittany Barreto discusses the year in review from our successes to new discoveries.

Check out FemTech Focus at www.femtechfocus.org

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