> **来源：[研报客](https://pc.yanbaoke.cn)** # Women’s Health Investment Outlook: 6% of Funding for Nearly 50% of the Population – Not Just a Gap, but Untapped White Space INSIGHT REPORT JANUARY 2026 # Contents Foreword 3 Executive summary 4 Introduction 6 1 Case study: IVF 8 1.1 Proof of scale: investment and market maturity 8 1.2 Where the investment flowed, and where gaps remain 9 1.3 Access as a limiter of full market reach 9 1.4 Lessons for investors 9 2 The Women's Health Investment Index 11 2.1 The investment gap in women's health 13 2.2 Signals of investor success 16 3 Areas prime for investment 19 3.1 Women's cancer therapeutics 21 3.2 Virtual women's healthcare and benefits management 22 3.3 Remote maternal health monitoring 24 3.4 Women-focused mental health platforms 26 3.5 Women-first longevity and wellness concierge services 27 3.6 Wearable devices and platforms for women's metabolic health 29 3.7 Summary 30 4 Call to action 31 Conclusion 34 Appendix A: Methodology 35 Appendix B: Additional figures 38 Contributors 41 Endnotes 42 # Disclaimer This document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders. © 2026 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. # Foreword Trish Stroman Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group Shyam Bishen Head, Centre for Health and Healthcare; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum Gender equality has advanced, yet the gap between health outcomes for men and women remains substantial. Limited investment – alongside disparities in research design, clinical data and access to care – continues to entrench this divide. The result is not only a public-health shortfall but a market inefficiency on a historic scale. The macroeconomic case for women's health is increasingly clear. Targeted investment can strengthen productivity, resilience and long-term growth. The returns are embedded in the core drivers of economic performance: when women's health improves, labour participation rises, productivity expands and systematic market risks may decline. Momentum is building. Across sectors and asset classes, investors are increasingly recognizing that women's health is no longer a niche segment but an undercapitalized growth frontier. Regulatory and policy catalysts, together with demographic shifts and consumer demand, are aligning to de-risk innovation and attract capital. New ventures are redefining healthcare technology, data science and preventive care. The investment case is both empirical and compelling: women drive most healthcare decisions globally and are central to household, community and macroeconomic stability. A healthier population underpins a stronger and more resilient economy. Achieving equity requires coordinated investment in research that centres on women's health; in sex- and gender-disaggregated data; in equitable access to care; and in financing models that reward long-term value creation. This report provides an outlook on the women's health market – its scale, momentum, barriers and opportunities – and examines how capital, policy and innovation are beginning to reshape its trajectory. # Executive summary Women's health receives only $6 \%$ of private healthcare investment – a striking imbalance that underscores both the magnitude of the gap and the scale of the opportunity. Women's health represents a large and undercapitalized opportunity in global healthcare. Despite women and girls representing nearly half the world's population, women's health has captured just $6\%$ of private healthcare investment. The fundamentals are strong, but funding remains limited and narrowly focused, historically confined to reproductive and maternal health. This narrow focus has overlooked major areas of unmet need and opportunity across high-burden, high-prevalence conditions that affect women uniquely, differently and disproportionately, such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, menopause and Alzheimer's. The potential is considerable: a recent analysis by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) estimates that effectively addressing these four therapeutic areas for women in the United States could unlock a $100 billion-plus market opportunity by 2030. Unfortunately, limited investment and the resulting lack of products and services that meet the needs of women and girls exacerbate health disparities. Women may live longer than men, yet spend $25\%$ more of their lives in poor health or with a disability, $^{2}$ an imbalance that erodes well-being and workforce participation. To quantify private investment flows in women's healthcare (including conditions that affect women uniquely, differently and disproportionately) over the past five years, this report introduces the Women's Health Investment Index. The analyses conducted for this report revealed: - Chronic underinvestment: Women's health receives only $6\%$ of private healthcare capital, and companies focused exclusively on women's health capture less than $1\%$ . - An early-stage market: $50\%$ of private investment in women's health-specific companies remains at the earliest stages (vs. $32\%$ across healthcare). Capital concentration: $80\%$ of funding events and $90\%$ of capital flow to three areas - reproductive health, maternal care and women's cancers, leaving significant white space in women-specific conditions, as well as high-prevalence, high-burden conditions that affect women differently and disproportionately. Emerging horizontal, cross-therapeutic solutions: Nearly half of women's health companies operate in cross-therapeutic or functional areas, such as diagnostics, digital platforms and pharmaceuticals. - Geographic imbalance: North America and Europe dominate deal activity, while low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) are underrepresented despite high disease burden. Proof of scale: The in vitro fertilization (IVF) market shows what is possible in women's health; when scientific reliability, reimbursement and policy align, a niche market can become a multibillion-dollar, high-growth industry.[3,4] The report also spotlights six high-potential areas that serve as exemplars of where current activity and forward signals point to investment opportunity: women's cancer therapeutics; virtual women's healthcare and benefits management; remote maternal health monitoring; women-focused mental health platforms; women-first longevity and wellness concierge services; and wearable devices and platforms for metabolic health. What is needed now is targeted, multistakeholder action across six fronts: Build a demand-driven evidence base with sex-specific research and real-world outcomes to de-risk pipelines - Mobilize blended capital to bridge the translational “valley of death” and attract private investment - Modernize regulatory and clinical end-points to accelerate market entry - Expand reimbursement to establish predictable revenue models - Encourage participation from adjacent incumbents with the capabilities to address women-specific needs - Increase transparency on economic returns and clinical outcomes to enable investors to accurately assess market potential and make informed investment decisions The business case for women's health is clear and compelling. Significant white space remains across therapeutic areas and delivery models, offering investors the chance to shape a high-growth, underdeveloped market. Aligning capital with innovation will not only unlock meaningful financial returns but also create durable value across the broader health economy. # Introduction Underinvestment limits evidence and innovation, reinforcing the perception that funding women's health is high-risk. Even though women represent nearly half the global population and make the majority of household healthcare decisions,[5,6] women's specific health needs are chronically underfunded. Women tend to live longer than men but spend $25\%$ more of their lives in poor health or with a disability,[7] a disparity that erodes individual well-being and dampens economic productivity. This burden extends far beyond reproductive and maternal health. Many diseases and conditions affect women uniquely, differently and disproportionately. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), for example, is the leading cause of death among women,[8,9] yet is often misdiagnosed because clinical standards historically have been based on male physiology.[10,11] Autoimmune disorders disproportionately affect women,[12] and an estimated 1 in 10 women self-reports missing work due to menopause-related symptoms.[13] Collectively, women lose an estimated 75 million years of healthy life each year, equivalent to a week of health lost per woman per year.[14] Closing this gap is a public health imperative – and it can also unlock substantial economic and social returns.[15] # A large, underserved private market with significant commercial opportunity While women's health has attracted only $6 \%$ of private healthcare capital over the past five years, the imbalance becomes even more pronounced in sectors such as health tech, where women's health companies captured just $2 \%$ of $41.2 billion in venture health- tech funding in 2023. $^{16}$ Funding gaps persist in research, as well. National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for men-dominant diseases is approximately two times higher than for women-dominant diseases.[17] Five conditions unique to or prevalent in women (endometriosis, maternal health, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), menopause and cervical cancer) account for $14\%$ of the female disease burden but have received less than $1\%$ of relevant research funding in recent years.[18] What's more, men's health has long been the default baseline for research and product development, with clinical standards, trial designs and innovation pipelines often calibrated to male physiology and needs.[19] This approach systematically sidelines conditions that affect women uniquely, differently or disproportionately, leaving critical areas underfunded, under-researched and underserved. Without a robust understanding of women's underlying biology, it's harder to build, validate and scale effective products for women. This evidence gap drives a perception of higher investment risk and lower return on investment, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of underinvestment. Yet the commercial potential is significant. BCG research shows that proper screening and better care for US women for just four conditions – menopause, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular disease – could unlock more than $100 billion in market value.[20] # The momentum: Early signs of scale In recent years, funding for women's health has come from a broad mix of investors, including early-stage and mission-driven groups. - Venture capital: In 2024, women's health start-ups raised $2.6 billion – up 55% from the prior year.[21] Including conditions that disproportionately affect women, the total reached$ 10.7 billion,[22] signalling that women's health is breaking into mainstream venture portfolios. - Institutional investors: In 2022, institutional and private investors[23] invested more than $1 billion in women's digital health companies. - Philanthropy: In 2025, the Gates Foundation pledged $2.5 billion over five years to accelerate women's health research and development (R&D) $^{24}$ – the largest philanthropic commitment the foundation has made towards women's health – targeting underfunded areas such as menstrual, reproductive and maternal health. - Private equity (PE): Investors are driving consolidation in fertility care, bringing smaller clinics together under larger networks, with nearly all large in vitro fertilization (IVF) networks now PE-backed.[25] - Blended finance and catalytic capital: Global partnerships are piloting risk-sharing models that blend donor, public and private funds to create catalysts for new investment in women's and girls' health.[26] In women's cancer care, guarantees and concessional capital are unlocking private participation in areas once deemed too risky.[27] These trends point to the emergence of a broader, more durable investment base. With stronger data, faster R&D and wider participation, this momentum could progress into sustained capital flows powering a high-growth market. # Why underfinancing persists Key barriers include: - Limited foundational science: Until 1993, US clinical trials did not require the inclusion of women, skewing evidence towards male physiology. Many large studies still fail to report sex-disaggregated outcomes.[28] - Reimbursement gaps: Coverage for women's health is inconsistent and often limited to narrow benefits, leaving many treatments and preventive services uncovered.[29] - Fragmented financing: Women's health has no clear "home" in mainstream capital markets. Funding is dispersed across public budgets, philanthropy and small impact funds, leaving no centre of gravity to aggregate at scale. - Measurement gaps: Inconsistent data on prevalence, outcomes, capital flows and return on investment (ROI) make market sizing difficult. - Regulatory friction: Standards based on male physiology, combined with exclusion of pregnant and lactating women from trials, extend timelines and increase risk.[30] Many women's health areas also lack validated surrogate end-points (e.g. endometriosis),[31] while others overlook outcomes most meaningful to women, such as pain, function and quality of life.[32] Pipeline bottlenecks: Despite rising interest, $70 - 80\%$ of women's health deals are early-stage, vs. two-thirds in broader healthcare,[33] leaving few scaled assets to attract institutional investors. In the US, cuts to the Women's Health Initiative34 and constrained federal innovation funding, including the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant programme, $^{35}$ have compounded these pressures. In the United Kingdom, the withdrawal of national funding incentives for women's health hubs $^{36}$ had a similar effect, perpetuating the cycle of underfinancing despite clear demand. # The Women's Health Investment Index To provide greater transparency into global investments in women's health, this report introduces the Women's Health Investment Index - a comprehensive tool that tracks private-sector capital flows - across therapeutic areas, industry areas and type of investment. Inspired by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)'s Global Landscape of Climate Finance report, the index is designed to clarify a fragmented, opaque investment landscape. Before the CPI's climate mapping, climate finance also suffered from fragmented data, unclear value pathways and perceived risk. Once transparent data emerged, climate investments nearly doubled.[37] The goal here is to enable a similar acceleration in women's health. By offering standardized, data-driven insights, the index reduces the information barriers that have long hindered capital flows into women's health. It captures the current state of the women's health market relative to the broader healthcare landscape, highlighting where capital is concentrated, where white space remains, and which areas show favourable conditions for investment. The index can help investors identify underserved markets with strong growth potential, pinpoint saturated spaces where new technologies could gain an edge and evaluate the commercial outlook of emerging segments. Ultimately, the index provides a shared evidence base to understand the women's health investment landscape, including its bottlenecks and exemplar areas where growth and investment potential are strong. It supports evidence-informed decision-making for investors, with the aim of directing greater financial backing towards women's health R&D and enterprises, scaling innovation and improving health outcomes for women. 1 # Case study: IVF IVF illustrates how scientific innovation, increased demand and policy support were able to transform a once-stigmatized experiment into a global, multibillion-dollar industry. The world's first IVF birth in 1978 marked the start of a revolution in reproductive medicine (see Figure 1). In its early years, the field was fragmented and costly, with inconsistent results.[38] Today, more than 12 million children worldwide have been born via assisted reproductive technology (ART),[39] and the IVF sector has become one of the most commercially mature areas of women's health. Its evolution demonstrates how science, demand and policy can support market growth and scale. Yet, the story is far from complete: the next wave of market expansion will come from advancing innovation and expanding access – two forces that can unlock new demand, improve outcomes and sustain long-term growth across the sector. # 1.1 Proof of scale: investment and market maturity Based on BCG research,[40] the global ART market was estimated at approximately $13 billion in 2024 (see Figure 2), comprising$ 9-10 billion in treated fertility procedures and an additional $3-4 billion in ancillary services. A total addressable market of approximately $32 billion was estimated for 2024, reflecting the $13 billion market size, plus approximately $11 billion in remaining fertility procedure opportunity and $8 billion in ancillary opportunity. Between 2021 and 2023, deal activity surged, with 257 identified transactions totalling $9.2 billion. PE has played a dominant role: by 2025, nearly all large IVF platforms were backed by PE investors.[41] Roll-ups and growth-stage investment helped standardize operations, expand scale and elevate visibility. Several drivers supported the evolution of the ART market, which provides lessons for other segments in women's health: Scientific advancement and outcome transparency Breakthroughs such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in 1992, vitrification for egg and embryo freezing in the 2000s and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) gradually improved outcomes.[42] Transparent reporting by entities such as the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) provided verifiable benchmarks, helping patients, payers[43] and investors assess quality and build confidence.[44] These improvements transformed IVF into an investible, scalable segment of healthcare. Increased demand driven by cultural, demographic and lifestyle shifts IVF use grew not only because the science advanced, but because culture, demographics and lifestyle needs aligned. Demographic and social shifts – delayed parenthood, rising infertility for both men and women, and inclusive family-building among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer populations – broadened demand. In 2012, removal of the “experimental” label for elective egg freezing $^{45}$ further expanded the addressable market and normalized fertility care. Payment, policy and reimbursement catalysts Regulatory reform, self-pay dynamics and the gradual expansion of benefits each played a catalytic role in enabling the IVF industry to scale. In the US, the market's early commercial traction was driven largely by self-pay patients, making reproduction one of the earliest outlier fields to attract venture capital and PE interest.[46,47] Over time, state-level coverage mandates expanded gradually, while employer-sponsored IVF benefits rose from $13\%$ to $32\%$ between 2016 and 2024, and employer-sponsored fertility medication coverage rose from $8\%$ to $32\%$ over the same period.[48] Progyny's 2019 IPO[49] demonstrated the commercial viability of integrating reproductive health into employer-sponsored insurance, catalysing broader adoption. In Europe, public funding now covers one to six or more IVF cycles, depending on the country.[50] As coverage expanded, predictable reimbursement and lower out-of-pocket costs made IVF financially viable for more patients and laid the foundation for long-term market growth. # 1.2 Where the investment flowed, and where gaps remain Much of the capital flowing into fertility to date has gone to care delivery, diagnostics and platform infrastructure, largely driven by PE roll-ups of clinics into larger provider groups. Meanwhile, there remains a significant gap on the scientific and R&D front, with limited funding for translational research and the development of new targets and therapeutics.[51] Most fertility drugs still rely on hormonal protocols developed decades ago, albeit with incremental improvements to drug delivery and oral formulations now in development.[52,53,54,55] Though early-stage innovation is emerging – including induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-derived ovarian cells[56] and oral embryo implantation enhancers[57] – these remain the exception. A recent pipeline review called the fertility therapeutics space "sparse",[58] pointing to significant room for greater investment in discovery-stage innovation. # 1.3 Access as a limiter of full market reach While reimbursement has fuelled growth, increasing access remains a critical frontier. Use remains concentrated among higher-income, privately insured and disproportionately white populations.[59] Only $24\%$ of infertile couples have access to the full range of care.[60] Globally, ART access is even more constrained. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), availability is limited to urban, private centres – often at significant out-of-pocket cost.[61] Expanding access and coverage represents an untapped lever for long-term market growth. # 1.4 Lessons for investors IVF provides a valuable roadmap for how scientific reliability, increased demand and regulatory and reimbursement traction can turn a niche market into a multibillion-dollar global industry. Investors played a defining role – not just by funding growth, but by shaping the ecosystem. They standardized delivery models, consolidated networks and proved that profitable growth and improved access can reinforce each other. FIGURE 1 IVF investment timeline and key milestones Note: HFEA = Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority; CDC/SART = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART); ASRM = American Society for Reproductive Medicine; ICSI = intracytoplasmic sperm injection; PGT/PGS = preimplantation genetic testing/screening. Source: Pitchbook; Yuzpe (2019). JOGC; IVF Worldwide FIGURE 2 Global treated fertility procedures and ancillary services market, $ billion Note: 1. New Zealand; 2. CAGR = compound annual growth rate Source: Boston Consulting Group research and analysis $^{62}$ 2 # The Women's Health Investment Index With $90\%$ of capital flowing into just three areas – women’s cancers, reproductive health and maternal health – this leaves significant white space in high-prevalence, high-burden conditions that affect women uniquely, differently and disproportionately. To better understand the overall investment landscape in women's health, the Women's Health Investment Index has been developed to provide an overview of private-sector investment activity between 2020 and 2025 across companies active in women's health. It draws on leading commercial databases to map trends in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), minority stakes, private investments and public offerings (see Appendix A for the full methodology). For the purposes of this analysis, "women's health" refers to conditions that affect women uniquely, differently or disproportionately. The analysis covered all identified companies active in women's health, including those focused exclusively on women's health conditions ("women's health-specific companies") and broader-based players with women's health-specific assets. The results reveal a chronically undercapitalized market: small in scale, fragmented in structure and concentrated in a few familiar areas. Yet beneath the surface, the sector offers early signals of areas where targeted capital could unlock outsized returns. <table><tr><td rowspan="2"></td><td colspan="11">Funding overview, past five years</td><td colspan="2">Burden (global, 2023)</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3">Number of events (#)</td><td colspan="3">Total capital raised ($B)</td><td colspan="2">Funding event type</td><td colspan="3">Private investment stage</td><td>DALYs (M)6</td><td>Prevalence (M)6</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Total WH</td><td>WH-specific</td><td>All health</td><td>Total WH</td><td>WH-specific</td><td>All health</td><td>Total WH</td><td>WH-specific</td><td>Total WH</td><td>WH-specific</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>All health</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>109,609</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>2,870</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Total women's health (WH)</td><td>3,3323</td><td>1,497</td><td>-</td><td>175</td><td>23</td><td>-</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Women's cancers</td><td>1,203</td><td>228</td><td>-</td><td>127</td><td>8</td><td>-</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>46.8</td><td>32</td></tr><tr><td>Reproductive health</td><td>906</td><td>619</td><td>-</td><td>22</td><td>8</td><td>-</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>12.4</td><td>955</td></tr><tr><td>Maternal health</td><td>572</td><td>343</td><td>-</td><td>9</td><td>4</td><td>-</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>15.6</td><td>11</td></tr><tr><td>Generic women's health1</td><td>280</td><td>86</td><td>-</td><td>11</td><td>1</td><td>-</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Not applicable</td><td>Not applicable</td></tr><tr><td>Mental health</td><td>156</td><td>127</td><td>4,678</td><td>1.4</td><td>0.1</td><td>109</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>92.6</td><td>661</td></tr><tr><td>Endometriosis</td><td>82</td><td>45</td><td>-</td><td>1.7</td><td>0.6</td><td>-</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>1.9</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>PCOS2</td><td>39</td><td>27</td><td>-</td><td>0.1</td><td>0.1</td><td>-</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>0.7</td><td>68</td></tr><tr><td>Infectious diseases</td><td>24</td><td>4</td><td>2,482</td><td>0.4</td><td>0.01</td><td>143</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>202.5</td><td>2,707</td></tr><tr><td>Endocrine disorders</td><td>15</td><td>2</td><td>214</td><td>2.2</td><td><0.01</td><td>19</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>8.6</td><td>314</td></tr><tr><td>Urological disorders</td><td>12</td><td>6</td><td>1,078</td><td>0.03</td><td><0.01</td><td>89</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>22.0</td><td>434</td></tr><tr><td>Menstrual health</td><td>11</td><td>3</td><td>-</td><td>0.1</td><td><0.01</td><td>-</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>8.2</td><td>980</td></tr><tr><td>Cardiovascular disorders</td><td>11</td><td>3</td><td>4,182</td><td>0.01</td><td><0.01</td><td>319</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>188.4</td><td>344</td></tr><tr><td>Metabolic disorders</td><td>8</td><td>3</td><td>4,203</td><td><0.01</td><td><0.01</td><td>301</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>82.8</td><td>2,668</td></tr><tr><td>Menopausal health</td><td>6</td><td>1</td><td>-</td><td>1.0</td><td><0.01</td><td>-</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>5.9</td><td>1,0005</td></tr><tr><td>Neurological disorders</td><td>4</td><td>-</td><td>3,727</td><td>0.01</td><td><0.01</td><td>188</td><td></td><td>-</td><td>Other4</td><td>-</td><td>71.4</td><td>1,848</td><td>1,848</td></tr><tr><td>MSK2and pain disorders</td><td>3</td><td>-</td><td>1,811</td><td><0.01</td><td><0.01</td><td>74</td><td></td><td>-</td><td>Not disclosed</td><td>-</td><td>100.4</td><td>1,243</td><td>1,243</td></tr></table> Funding event type: Private investment Minority stake Public offering Merger/acquisition Private investment stage: Pre-seed/seed Early Later Note: 1. Generic women's health therapeutic area (TA) includes companies active in women's health in broad or multi-vertical ways, rather than in a narrowly defined TA (e.g. women's health supplement companies, digital health platforms for general women's health); 2. PCOS = polycystic ovary syndrome, MSK = musculoskeletal; 3. Only 1,872 funding events disclosed dollar value raised; 4. Includes non-equity assistance, grants and debt; 5. ~1 billion menopausal individuals by 2025 (Mayo Clinic); 6. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), IHME Data (2023) Source: Pitchbook, CaplQ, Crunchbase, IHME data (2023), Boston Consulting Group # 2.1 | The investment gap in women's health The data in the index paints a more detailed picture of where and how capital is flowing into women's health – and which areas continue to be underserved. It reveals a market still constrained by early-stage concentration, persistent underfunding of women-specific conditions and a lack of sex- specific strategies in high-burden conditions that affect women differently and disproportionately. At the same time, new patterns are emerging: horizontal business models, diversified players and geographic gaps that, if addressed, could define the next frontier of investable opportunity. FIGURE 4 Private-sector financing events in healthcare (2020-2025) Source: Pitchbook, CaplQ, Crunchbase, Boston Consulting Group # A fragmented, early-stage market Most private investments in women's health remain concentrated in early development, particularly for women's health-specific companies. Between 2020 and 2025, $50\%$ of identified private investments in women's health-specific companies were at the pre-seed or seed stage, $22\%$ at early stage and $28\%$ at later stage. In contrast, private investment into the broader healthcare sector shows a more even distribution, with $32\%$ at pre-seed or seed, $27\%$ at early stage and $41\%$ at later stage. Overall, investment in women's health-specific companies remains roughly 18 percentage points more skewed towards early-stage investment. Additional analyses found that although women's health investment remains heavily weighted towards early-stage funding, median company ages are roughly on par with the broader health market across all funding stages. From pre-seed to later rounds, women's health companies are not "younger" than the broader healthcare market (see Appendix B, Figure 17). This suggests that the challenge may lie in the ability of women's health innovations to progress beyond early validation. The hypothesis for this report is that women's health faces a "leaky pipeline" in scaling innovation, where promising discoveries, particularly from academia and early research, struggle to attract venture capital or growth funding. With few later-stage opportunities currently visible, capital has gravitated towards early validation and proof-of-concept rounds, potentially reinforcing fragmentation and limiting pathways to scale. Whether this pattern reflects a shortage of scale-ready assets, a lack of investor appetite or structural barriers (such as regulatory uncertainty, reimbursement gaps, evidence and innovation not aligning with investor demand, and constrained access to growth capital), the outcome is the same: a market where early innovation outweighs later-stage scale. This dynamic presents a clear opportunity for targeted engagement and growth capital to help bridge the gap and unlock the next phase of market maturity. # Concentration in familiar areas Private-sector funding in women's health remains concentrated in reproductive health, women's cancers and maternal care, which together represent roughly $80\%$ of identified funding events and $90\%$ of identified capital between 2020 and 2025. This concentration reflects investor familiarity with established therapeutic and delivery models and the presence of proven demand – but it also underscores where unmet need and emerging opportunity remain across under-represented conditions. The data on funding patterns also reveals clear intersections between therapeutic focus and industry modality (see Appendix B). Women's cancers are primarily anchored in biopharmaceuticals (biopharma) and therapeutics, led largely by major oncology portfolios, with fewer than $25\%$ of identified companies being women's health-specific. In contrast, reproductive and maternal health attract a broader mix of investment across care delivery and health services, diagnostics, digital health and platforms, consumer health and wellness, and medical technology (medtech) and devices. These segments show a higher concentration of women's health-specific companies (68% and 61%, respectively). This reflects both their established demand base and their alignment with consumer- and technology-driven innovation. # Persistent underfunding of women-specific conditions There is a clear misalignment between private-sector funding flows and disease burden. High-prevalence, women-specific conditions – such as endometriosis, menopause, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and menstrual health – represent less than $2 \%$ of identified women’s health funding: approximately $1.7$ billion for endometriosis, approximately $\$ 1$ billion for menopause, approximately $\$ 0.1$ billion for PCOS and around $0.1 billion for menstrual health. These conditions affect tens of millions of women worldwide but continue to attract only a fraction of total private-sector investment. For investors, this underscores a missed opportunity – the chance to expand beyond familiar categories and deploy capital into underfunded but high-growth areas with substantial unmet need and long-term market potential. FIGURE 5 Private investment into women's health by funding stage, ordered by burden Note: 1. "Other" funding types comprise post-IPO equity, corporate round, debt financing and convertible note Source: Pitchbook, CaplQ, Crunchbase, IHME data (2023) # Limited women's health-specific approaches in major diseases When looking at the therapeutic areas that affect women differently and disproportionately (mental health, infectious diseases, endocrine, urological, cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological and musculoskeletal) as a whole, it is apparent that approximately $1\%$ of identified funding events (233 out of 22,375 funding events) and less than $1\%$ of identified capital flows ( $4 billion out of$ 1.2 trillion) went to women's health (see Figure 3). From 2020 to 2025, identified private-sector funding in women's cardiovascular health remained limited, with just 11 transactions totalling $10 million, accounting for less than $0.01\%$ of overall cardiovascular funding. Investment in women's metabolic health was even less, with only eight identified transactions totalling $4 million, less than 0.01% of total metabolic health funding during the period. Cardiovascular disease and metabolic conditions are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in women globally, underscoring the need for women-specific solutions given clear evidence that these conditions affect women differently from men. This misalignment between capital flows and women's health needs highlights a missed opportunity to build differentiated solutions in areas that drive high disease burden. # Emerging horizontal, cross-therapeutic solutions Natural language processing (see methodology, Appendix A) shows that nearly half of identified women's health companies $(45\%)$ identify first as cross-therapeutic or functional areas, such as diagnostics, digital platforms and pharmaceuticals, rather than distinct therapeutic categories. Half of all identified companies active in women's health are diversified players that include women's health-specific assets (rather than focusing exclusively on women's health). This diversification suggests emerging potential for scalable business models that integrate across multiple conditions and delivery models. It also points to a growth opportunity for cross-therapeutic approaches that can expand addressable markets, diversify revenue streams and create efficiencies across R&D, care delivery and commercialization – making women's health increasingly attractive to investors seeking scale and broader portfolio alignment within healthcare. # Geographic concentration North America and Europe dominate identified funding activity, while LMICs are under-represented, even though they often carry the greatest women's health burdens (see Figure 6). This geographic disparity risks widening global inequities in innovation and access. Circle size represents total capital raised by city (\$B) Source: Pitchbook, CaplQ, Crunchbase Boston Consulting Group # 2.2 Signals of investor success Between 2020 and 2025, there were just over 500 exit events (instances where investors realized returns through company sales or public listings) identified in women's health, the majority (approximately $80\%$ ) through M&A and the remainder through initial public offerings (IPOs). Roughly $40\%$ of these exits were for women's health-specific companies. While women's health accounts for a small portion of total healthcare exits (approximately $4\%$ ), the proportion of exits to overall funding events is consistent with the broader healthcare market. Within women's health-specific companies, M&A activity was led by reproductive care delivery, followed by maternal care delivery and consumer reproductive health. Among IPOs, women's cancer therapeutics was the most prevalent subsector. Data on identified capital flows indicates that returns in women's health are generally in line with those in the overall healthcare market. Beyond the aggregate data, several proof points illustrate what is possible when capital flows into women's health (see Box 1): a prenatal and oncology diagnostics company scaled with reimbursement-backed recurring revenues; a strategic acquirer paid a multibillion-dollar sum for a women's pelvic health asset; a PE firm pursued a category leader in diagnostics and breast health with a take-private offer; and a biopharma company focused on women's health conditions delivered competitive public-to-private returns. These examples demonstrate that women's health can deliver the growth stories and ROI investors seek, while also revealing the conditions that enable success – credible reimbursement pathways, strategic acquisition interest, institutional participation and innovation that addresses clear clinical and economic need. The following cases illustrate what is possible and scalable when more capital flows into the women's health space. # Example # Diagnostics scale story - reimbursement-backed growth A leading diagnostics company in prenatal and oncology testing has delivered approximately $30\%$ annual growth, $60\%$ -plus gross margins and recurring demand anchored in clinical guidelines and payer coverage. Investor signal: Reimbursement and standard-of-care adoption are creating defensible, predictable revenue streams, positioning diagnostics as a scalable subsector in women's health. # Example # Strategic exit precedent – $3.7 billion acquisition underscores value A global strategic acquirer purchased a pelvic-health medtech company for approximately $3.7 billion, highlighting the value placed on women's health solutions addressing large, underpenetrated markets. Investor signal: Attractive exit multiples demonstrate that large strategic companies are actively expanding into women's health. # Example 3 # PE leaning in - institutional appetite emerging A diversified women's health leader in diagnostics and breast health received a definitive agreement to be acquired, which placed the company's enterprise value at approximately $18.3 billion. Investor signal: Even without a completed transaction, the bid indicates the rising institutional appetite for large cash-generating platforms and confirms women's health as a scalable, multibillion-dollar investment category. # Example 4 # Biopharma investor returns - competitive public-to-private upside A biopharma focused on uterine fibroids and endometriosis delivered approximately $80\%$ investor returns from IPO to a $1.7 billion all-cash acquisition. Investor signal: Biopharma assets addressing women-specific conditions are producing competitive exit multiples and liquidity events, comparable to broader biotech benchmarks. To complement the investment landscape analysis, a review was conducted of the top 100 global healthcare companies by revenue across pharmaceuticals, medtech and diagnostics, to understand the extent and nature of their participation in women's health (see Box 2). The findings show that, while some progress is emerging, women's health remains a relatively underdeveloped strategic focus across the industry. An assessment of the top 100 global pharmaceutical, medtech and diagnostics companies by revenue reveals limited, uneven participation in women's health. Only a minority demonstrate meaningful activity, and even fewer position women's health as a distinct commercial or research priority. # Key findings - Limited sector participation: Roughly one-quarter of the top 100 global healthcare players have a dedicated women's health business unit, at least one active R&D programme targeting a women's health indication or a commercial product line focused primarily on women's health. Only a handful of those firms operate a distinct business or portfolio explicitly branded around women's health. - Sparse R&D investment: Very few companies publicly disclose a women's health R&D carve-out; most embed it in broader R&D lines. Where figures are available, annual investment typically ranges between $200 million and $600 million per company. Functional focus in diagnostics and imaging: Roughly $80\%$ of reported spend is directed to diagnostics and screening technologies, particularly in breast and cervical cancer imaging, fertility and IVF services, and prenatal testing. Therapeutic focus is limited to a few high-profile areas: Engagement is strongest in maternal and foetal care, sexually transmitted infections and vaginitis, cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV), fertility and IVF, breast imaging and cancer, contraception, gynaecological surgery and menopause. Few companies invest meaningfully in endometriosis, PCOS or chronic gynaecological and autoimmune conditions with a high female disease burden. Interestingly, menopause receives greater attention from these large companies than from the broader private-sector investment landscape, where there are limited identified capital flows in companies that were specific to menopause. However, it is possible that some investments may have been classified as "generic women's health" rather than "menopausal health", particularly where companies span multiple therapeutic areas. As a result, the actual level of investment in menopause research or programmes in the included dataset may be understated. - Programmatic initiatives remain modest: Some large companies have launched global women's health programmes, including one commitment for $200 million over five years and another for $650 million, but these are exceptions rather than the norm. # Implications Women's health represents a major untapped commercial opportunity for large healthcare incumbents. - Untapped commercial opportunity: This under-representation of women's health in the top 100 companies suggests an opportunity to leverage core capabilities for women's indications that share similar scientific foundations with broader healthcare areas, as well as for high-burden conditions that require women-specific approaches. - Need for defined accountability: Greater transparency and dedicated budgeting for women's health R&D would improve investor confidence and help benchmark progress towards closing the women's health gap. - Potential for catalytic impact: Beyond the commercial upside, increased participation from major healthcare players could help unlock system-level scale, strengthen investor momentum, de-risk innovation and signal confidence in women's health as a defined and investable market segment. # Areas prime for investment Six opportunity areas reflect a broad spectrum of market maturity and funding potential, underscoring the diversity of the women's health investment landscape. Building on the landscape analysis, six opportunity areas prime for investment have been identified. This selection combines: (1) analysis of the global health burden across conditions that affect women uniquely, differently or disproportionately; (2) representation from each of these three categories to reflect the breadth of the women's health market; and (3) insights from stakeholders across the ecosystem. While not exhaustive, these six areas represent prime opportunities for investment, each appealing to different investors based on their priorities across current market activity and future growth potential (e.g. early-, growth- and late-stage investors). FIGURE 7 Areas prime for investment # Women's cancer therapeutics Biopharmaceutical treatments for cancers that uniquely or disproportionately affect women, such as breast, cervical, ovarian, uterine and endometrial cancers; includes targeted antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), immuno-oncology therapies and other innovations advancing precision medicine. # Virtual women's healthcare and benefits management Integrated, digital-first platforms that deliver integrated women's health services, including reproductive, fertility and menopausal care, through employer-sponsored or hybrid care models. # Remote maternal health monitoring Digital and connected-care solutions, such as wearables, AI and telehealth, to track key indicators such as glucose, blood pressure and foetal health across prenatal and postpartum periods. # Women-focused mental health platforms Digital platforms addressing women's unique disorders, such as PMS, perinatal depression, menopause-related mood changes and hormonal disorders. # Women-first longevity and wellness concierge services Integrated, preventive, hormonal and lifestyle care models for midlife and postmenopausal women. These offerings combine medical interventions with wellness services, often supported by concierge-style access and data-driven personalization. # Wearable devices and platforms for women's metabolic health Wearable technologies and digital health platforms for prevention and management of conditions such as PCOS, gestational diabetes and insulin resistance, through continuous tracking and behaviour-based coaching. Two dimensions were analysed to assess the opportunities: the level of current market activity (the number of financing events and companies financed, the research and evidence base, scale of players and reimbursement status) and the strength of forward opportunity signals (disease burden trends, policy changes, regulatory shifts, scientific breakthroughs, demographic drivers and early investment signals). Current activity shows how established the market is today. Forward signals capture where momentum is building.[63] The following section provides high-level takeaways for the six areas, including current activity, forward opportunity signals, reasons for optimism and points of caution for investors. FIGURE 8 | Dimensions for assessing the maturity of the women's health landscape Investment opportunity areas fall into one of four quadrants, based on the following conditions: Current activity: indications of scale and diversity <table><tr><td>Financing events</td><td>High investment activity (number of financing events)</td></tr><tr><td>Companies financed</td><td>Large number of active players (number of companies)</td></tr><tr><td>Research/evidence base</td><td>Recognized standards of care, presence of late-stage trials or real-world evidence</td></tr><tr><td>Scale of players</td><td>Presence of large incumbents</td></tr><tr><td>Reimbursement status</td><td>Established and predictable reimbursement pathways</td></tr></table> Forward signals: indications of future growth and momentum <table><tr><td>Disease burden trends</td><td>Rising prevalence, DALYs or unmet need signalling future demand growth</td></tr><tr><td>Policy changes</td><td>Recent or forthcoming policies prioritizing women's health (e.g. national strategies)</td></tr><tr><td>Regulatory shifts</td><td>Movement towards accelerated pathways or surrogate end-point adoption</td></tr><tr><td>Scientific breakthroughs</td><td>New discoveries, validated mechanisms of action or enabling technologies</td></tr><tr><td>Demographic drivers</td><td>Expanding affected population segments (e.g. perimenopausal cohorts)</td></tr><tr><td>Early investment signals</td><td>Growth in pilot projects, venture or catalytic funding and philanthropic bets</td></tr></table> # 3.1 Women's cancer therapeutics # Current activity Women's cancers are among the most commercially active segments in global oncology, with a total addressable market estimated at approximately $25 billion in North America and approximately$ 70 billion globally in 2025. Between 2020 a