Issue #122- Bringing Menstrual Health Awareness to the Streets!

From the Kardashian Sisters to MrBeast, India’s iconic auto-rickshaws have long been a must-do experience for world-famous celebrities and ordinary travellers alike. More than just a mode of transport, the auto-rickshaw—commonly referred to as an “auto”—is an integral part of Indian culture, symbolizing the vibrancy of bustling city life. These three-wheeled vehicles provide affordable, convenient short-distance travel and are deeply embedded in the everyday experience of millions.

Inspired by this cultural phenomenon, Flo, the world’s leading period-tracking app, has taken to the streets of Bangalore with a bold new initiative to make menstrual health awareness as accessible and effortless as hailing a ride in a busy metropolis. As part of its mission to empower women globally, Flo has rebranded a fleet of 100 auto-rickshaws in bright pink advertisements, inviting passersby to download the app and take control of their reproductive health. 

This initiative is a part of Flo’s Pass It On campaign, widely launched in partnership with FemTech India, which ensures that all Android users can access the premium version of the app for free—removing financial barriers to essential health-tracking tools.

This campaign is a perfect example of how brands can connect with local markets by blending cultural relevance with impactful marketing. By using one of India’s most recognizable transport modes, Flo is making menstrual health awareness visible, engaging, and accessible—beyond just the digital world!

For more information about the Pass It On campaign and to download the Flo app, visit https://flo.health/pass-it-on-project 

👉 This is how FemTech India helps brands make a real impact. Ready to take your brand local? Let’s connect!

We’re celebrating women’s health champions!  Our Community Spotlight Series runs until March in honor of Women’s Day, highlighting incredible women from our community who uplift, support, and amplify women’s health space. 

Today, we’re highlighting Saki Oshima, a powerhouse in the venture capital space dedicated to amplifying women’s health. After earning her MBA from the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego in 2018, she launched her VC career at Scrum Ventures, where she championed investments in women’s health and built strategic partnerships with leading Japanese corporations.

In 2024, Saki took her commitment a step further by joining NEXTBLUE—Asia’s first fund dedicated to women’s wellbeing and female founders—as a U.S.-based Partner. Since then, she has already led five U.S. investments in space! Recognized for her deep expertise in the U.S.-Japan women’s health ecosystem, Saki is a sought-after speaker at global events like the APEC FemTech seminar and a respected voice in Japanese media. 

Join us in celebrating Saki’s impact in shaping the future of women’s health! 💙

• Vyld Introduces the World’s First Seaweed Tampon in Germany! 🇩🇪
• Google has announced a new partnership with the Institute of Women’s Cancers, a collaboration between Institut Curie. 
• The German parliament has strengthened maternity protection for women who have suffered miscarriages. The new regulation would entitle women who miscarry after the 13th week of pregnancy to maternity leave.
• Amazon to expand beauty and personal care online offerings in Europe while opening first physical store in Italy

• Nivaan Care, a multidisciplinary chronic pain management clinic chain, has raised $4.25 million in seed funding led by Endiya Partners, with participation from existing investor W Health Ventures. The funding will support the company’s expansion into 10 new clinics across two cities and the introduction of regenerative medicine treatments.
• Healthy protein bar maker The Whole Truth on Tuesday said it raised Rs 133 crore in a Series C funding round led by Sofina Ventures. The round also saw participation from existing investors Peak XV Partners, Matrix Partners and Sauce.vc.
  
• Hyderabad-based IXP, a life sciences-focused venture capital (VC) firm backed by JV Ventures, launched its first fund, IXP Lifesciences Catalyst Fund, to invest in early-stage biotech startups. It has a corpus of Rs 200 crore, with an additional Rs 100 crore greenshoe option to support companies from pre-seed to Series A stages.

• Neurocare Group, a Munich, Germany-based provider of a mental health platform, raised EUR 19.3M in funding. Backers included Impact Expansion and TVM Capital Healthcare.
• Avelios Medical, Munich, Germany-based provider of a hospital information system (HIS), €30M in Series A funding.The round was led by Sequoia Capital alongside existing investors Revent and HTGF.
• Coral, a Montréal, Canada-based women’s digital health startup, raised $4.1M in Seed funding. The round was led by Brightspark, with participation from Diagram and The51.
• Smile Digital Health, a Toronto, Canada-based company which specializes in FHIR®-based health data solutions, received $15M in credit financing. The round was led by FirePower Capital.
• Modern Synthesis, a London, UK-based biotechnology company advancing microbially-derived biomaterials, raised $5.5M in funding.The round was by Extantia Capital with participation from Artesian, Collab Fund, and others.
• REEV, a Boston, MA- and Toulouse, France-based medical technology startup, raised $9.2M in funding. The round was led by Newfund Heka, Polytechnique Ventures and Irdi Capital, with participation from Techstars and a group of business angels and health care operators.
• Health tech-focused VC Nina Capital, which aims to drive “impactful healthcare innovation”, has announced the first close of its €50m fund. This brings the total assets under management at the firm to over €100m.
• Barcelona-based Nina Capital has announced the first close of its €50 million third fund, targeting early-stage healthtech companies across Europe, the US, Canada, Israel, and Australia. The female-founded VC firm has secured commitments from LPs including Seven Two Partners, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals from the US and Europe, bringing its total assets under management to over €100 million

• Breast, ovary removal improves survival for patients with breast cancer genes. A global study revealed that young breast cancer patients with high risk BRCA mutations can have their risk of cancer recurrence reduced significantly by undergoing mastectomy and/or ovary removal, offering new and better insights for cancer-risk management strategies
• A study of 48 people with signs of moderate alcohol-use disorder found that those taking low doses of semaglutide – the generic name of Ozempic – for nine weeks saw significantly greater reductions in how much alcohol they drank, as well as cravings for alcohol, compared with people on a placebo. The results were published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
• Children with milder forms of peanut sensitivity may be able to overcome their allergy by consuming increasing amounts of store-bought peanut butter, a new study suggests. All of the 32 children in the study, who received 18 months of this immunotherapy, were able to consume the equivalent of three tablespoons of peanut butter without experiencing reactions, according to the report published Monday in NEJM Evidence.
• Measuring blood sugar has joined sleep and exercise tracking as wellness trends, with some longevity experts claiming that reducing fluctuations throughout the day can help protect against heart disease, even for people who don’t have diabetes.
• Drinking alcohol if you have a large belly or diabetes more than doubles the risk of serious liver damage, while having high blood pressure and drinking nearly doubles the risk, a new study found. Those are important health risks to consider, said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado, who was not involved in the study.
• Depression hits the whole body, speeding the onset of long-term physical ills as people age, new research contends. “People who’ve experienced depression are more likely to develop long-term physical health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes,” noted a team led by Kelly Fleetwood, a statistician at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. 
• If you’ve got a big belly, diabetes or high blood pressure, you may want to limit your alcohol, experts warn, as drinking could significantly raise your odds for serious liver disease. The research, published recently in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, found that people with belly fat or diabetes who drink more than moderate amounts of alcohol were more than twice as likely to develop liver scarring or damage. 
• The most common formulation of birth control pills has been linked to a doubling of relative risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study finds. Contraceptive vaginal rings and skin patches formulated in the same way were also linked to higher heart risks. 
• Too often, ADHD and autism coincide in children. New research finds that for many of those kids, this dual diagnosis continues into adult life. Having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) alongside an autism diagnosis was also linked to worse health outcomes overall for adults, the study found.
• Patients with advanced cancers who checked in daily with their care teams electronically gained a better quality of life, a new study concludes. This “patient-reported outcome” (PRO) strategy did not improve patients’ survival, the study found. But it did help their care teams spot and treat issues such as pain and frailty earlier, easing daily symptoms.
• You may be less likely to develop an especially lethal form of colon cancer if you’re a longtime consumer of yogurt, new research finds. Folks who ate two or more servings of yogurt per week for years had a 20% lower odds for an aggressive type of tumor typically found on the right side of the colon, researchers reported Feb. 12 in the journal Gut Microbes.
• New links between frequent snoring and decreased success rates in IVF, and a heightened risk of early pregnancy loss, have been uncovered by researchers. The study analysed data from 632 women undergoing IVF treatment and found that those who snored had fewer available eggs and a higher risk of early pregnancy loss.

• Liva Healthcare, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based provider of a digital health technology platform, acquired Discover Momenta, a London, UK-based company that provides and licenses digital, virtual, and in-person healthy lifestyle programmes to National Health Service (NHS) organisations, local authorities and other third parties across the UK, including subsidiary Momenta Newcastle.
• LinusBio, a New Jersey-based startup, on Thursday launched the test, called Clearstrand-ASD, which it says can help physicians rule out autism in children 1 to 36 months old. The test requires just a single strand of hair. 
• Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing allogeneic cell therapies for serious neurological conditions, announced that the company has initiated the DOSED (Delivery of Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells (OPCs) for Spinal Cord Injury: Evaluation of a Novel Device) clinical study.
• Hinge Health’s digital ‘Women’s Pelvic Health Programme’ has reported a 44 per cent reduction in pelvic pain after four weeks of use – and 53 per cent after 12 weeks. The probability of the intervention group screening for moderate to severe depression was significantly lower by 11 per cent compared to the control group.
• Pharma giant Novartis and Danish digital health firm Dawn Health have teamed up to develop a new app to support breast cancer patients. Cora BC provides patients with tools to track their health, “offering clarity and insight into their experiences”, its creators say.

• The scheme for Strengthening of Medical Device Industry (SMDI), launched by the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers in November last year, is proposed to see the budget allocation doubling to Rs. 360 crore in the fiscal year 2025-26, from Rs. 166 crore in the Revised Estimates (RE) for the fiscal 2024-25.
• The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has asked the Ministry to ensure timely roll out and implementation of the BPaLM regimen for multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) across the country and adopt a strategic approach to the research works to bring in newer diagnostics methods and drug regimens.
• The Ministry of Ayush has issued a draft amendment to the Drugs Rules, 1945, to restructure and update the list of poisonous substances under Ayurveda, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, and Unani Systems of medicines under the Schedule E(I) of the Rules.

📳 – Quick Reads: 

• Can exposure to passive smoking alter children’s genes? Secondhand smoke or passive smoking causes significant health damage among children and adults.
• Increase your daily steps to fight depression. A study analysed that walking and depression are inversely related – the more an individual walks, the less the risk of depression is.
• What is multimorbidity? How can genes common to co-existing chronic conditions help treat it. Multimorbidity is a condition that is considered a challenge for health systems as the cases significantly rise among the ageing population.

See you next Friday, friends 👋
Navneet

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