In this episode of LERMA/’s Loud and Clear podcast, host Francisco “Pancho” Cardenas speaks with Lindsay Davis, founder and CEO of One Bee Consulting and founder and CEO of FemTech Association Asia. Lindsay shares her path from multicultural advertising in Dallas to luxury and international leadership in London, then relocating to Singapore in early 2020, where she discovered FemTech while moderating panels and reading Invisible Women. She describes FemTech as “female technology”—apps, SaaS, medical devices, wearables, and services spanning women’s health across life stages, and emphasizes Asia as a large but still untapped market.The conversation outlines major barriers holding women’s health back: it has been under-researched, underserved, and underfunded; stigma remains high (including a cited figure that 52% of women in Southeast Asia are uncomfortable discussing health needs openly due to fear of judgment or shame); awareness is low (42% don’t use FemTech due to lack of awareness and understanding); and funding gaps persist (2.3% of total VC funding goes to women-founded companies, and only about 24% of VC decision makers in Southeast Asia are women). Lindsay also raises systemic content censorship, where women’s health content is treated as risky or sexual—leading to downranking, shadowbans, and rejected ads—sharing examples like a breastfeeding support app removed for “nudity” and restrictions on terms such as “vaginal cancer,” with 95% of founders reporting content suppression.A central theme is how marketing and advertising can play a stronger role in education and normalization. Lindsay urges agencies and brands to start in-house by improving benefits, ERGs, and workplace support (including maternity return), and by offering inclusive health education programs. She argues advertising shapes culture and can drive health literacy through advocacy, PR, and more inclusive briefs that reduce gender bias. She suggests large agencies press major healthcare and pharma clients on their women’s health strategies, while smaller agencies can support FemTech startups through affordable, fractional or retained marketing models aligned to early-stage budgets. Lindsay notes that in Asia many startups scale via corporate partnerships, and her association has grown into a cross-country network spanning 10 Asian markets, funded through corporate engagements and programming aimed at building awareness, trust, and access in women’s health.
Useful Links:
Linkedin.
Instagram.
Web FemTech
Linkedin Femtech
Instagram Femtech
UN report.
Guest: Lindsay Davis, Award-Winning Founder-FemTech Association Asia I Strategic Partnerships I Community Building I Customer Experience I Milken Institute I UN ESCAP I UNFPA I Tatler Front & Female Award I Board Advisor I Moderator/Speaker
Producers:
Victor Cornejo Tell Me More Studios & Pranav Kumar at LERMA/
Host:
Francisco Cardenas, Executive Director, Brand Integration at LERMA/