One year of the "Female Health Incubator"
Hanover, August 5, 2021: Women and men are not the same - a fact that has long been ignored in medicine. This is where the Female Health Incubator (FHI) from hannoverimpuls has been working since September 2020, supporting start-ups in realizing business models related to female health. With KindCare, another of the companies from the FHI has managed to enter the market, and numerous other promising business ideas have emerged. Birgit Honé, Lower Saxony's Minister for Federal and European Affairs and Regional Development, used her summer trip for an on-site visit.
From dosage recommendations for taking tablets to implants for the shoulder or knee - much has so far been based on the male body despite the huge differences in tolerability or size. "There is immense business potential in leveraging market areas related to women's health. I am very pleased to see how diverse the entrepreneurial ideas are that have been developed here in Hanover. In terms of the necessary gender-equitable solutions in the healthcare sector, this is great progress," says Birgit Honé, who, as Minister, also includes regional development among her responsibilities and was able to see for herself on site.
Optimized mouth and nose protection for women in the healthcare sector (Zight), a digital offer with a wide range of services for histamine intolerance - which affects 80 percent of women (HistaFit), a new digital care portal that connects relatives, care facilities and companies (KindCare) or a digital prevention offer for postpartum depression (Mara): All of these entrepreneurial ideas are the result of tailor-made support from hannoverimpuls. The start-ups behind them have been supported by hannoverimpuls' new "Female Health Incubator" since September 2020. This supports individual female start-ups, female team start-ups and start-ups in mixed teams to realize business models that focus on female health. The focus is on "Femtech" and "Digital Health".
"We are proud that the Female Health Incubator, our latest instrument of regional business development, is already making such a noticeable impact on the market," emphasizes Doris Petersen, Managing Director of hannoverimpuls GmbH. The focus of the business development agency for the city and region is on supporting women who are starting their own businesses. "We are very pleased that KindCare, another start-up funded by the FHI, was recently able to successfully enter the market," adds Ms. Petersen.
Over the project period of six months in each case, teams will receive intensive support in a total of three rounds through coaching, workshops and more, as well as networking with investors and experts - round one, which also includes KindCare, started in September 2020 with five teams, and four more start-ups have been in the intensive coaching phase since May of this year. The third FHI is scheduled to start in January 2022. The funding is designed in such a way that it is also suitable for part-time work and adapts to the individual life situation of the female founders. The teams in the Incubator program can apply for a start-up grant from NBank for six months to develop their entrepreneurial idea and make it marketable. Certain criteria must be met for this. The six-month intensive period is followed by a three-month fade-out phase. The Female Health Incubator is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) as part of the "Social Innovation" project.
"The extensive feedback from professionals and the exchange with each other were absolutely central to our market entry," reports Alexandrea Duesmann, Managing Director of KindCare. "We really honed our offering over the six months and developed key new ideas at the FHI."
The four teams that have been receiving intensive support in developing their business ideas for six months in the second Female Health Incubator since May 2021 all have a central focus topic that is not only of great importance after more than a year of enduring the pandemic: mental health. The "Mara" team is developing a digital prevention service for postpartum depression - Deutsche Depressionshilfe assumes that more than 10 percent of women suffer from this after giving birth.
"It's great to present your ideas to other founders and to receive such intensive constructive feedback from the mentors," says Aileen Marske, part of Mara's three-person team, explaining the working atmosphere at the FHI.
"With a view to technical innovations, the healthcare sector in particular will benefit from well-trained female founders with the relevant expertise in the future," Mario Leupold, Head of Start-ups & Entrepreneurship at hannoverimpuls, also emphasizes the market-oriented focus of the Female Health Incubator.
Innovation is the engine of a flourishing economy and is more important than ever, especially in times of crisis. Data shows that it pays to invest in female start-up teams: For every VC dollar invested in them, female founders generated 78 cents in revenue, compared to 31 cents for men, according to a study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group last year. The market for femtechs dealing with women's health products is huge. After all, half of the world's population is female.
The results after one year of the Female Health Incubator in Hanover are already more than impressive, as everyone agreed during the Minister's visit here today: "We are clearly on the right track," summarizes hannoverimpuls Managing Director Doris Petersen.