At this year’s BioFest Invest pitch contest on Wednesday, two local “femtech” startups were named among more than a dozen young companies vying for $10,000, a package of support services and increased visibility to investors. are connected.
In addition to the competition, the day-long event will feature speakers and panelists on topics relevant to bioscience companies, including alternative financing mechanisms, investment trends, and acquisition methods.
The pitch fest, which BioMedSA launched virtually in 2021 before pivoting to an in-person format the following year, helped the companies that competed raise $69 million in investment, of which $59 million BioMedSA President Heather Hanson said she plans to go to the San Antonio-based company.
The nonprofit Regional Industry Hub was established in 2005 to accelerate what is now the largest segment of San Antonio’s economy. With an annual economic impact of approximately $44 billion, the healthcare and bioscience sectors currently employ one in five people. The workers here.
BioFest Invest is part of BioFest Days, which not only supports startups, but also on the workforce side so that people can find jobs in this industry or get the education to work in this industry. , Hanson said, supporting the entire industry. This is the actual research aspect itself. ”
Femtech is generally defined as technology-enabled, consumer-centric solutions that address women’s healthcare, and is a growing area of the sector. Although women make up about half of the world’s population, women’s health care is still considered and funded as a niche market.
Local femtech startups competing on Wednesday are BobiHealth, a pregnancy monitoring app that promises to provide evidence-based information to pregnant individuals and families;, Freyya is a wearable pelvic floor monitoring device that provides assessment and treatment for pelvic floor conditions that affect one in four women.
Femtech in San Antonio
Hanson said there is a rise in tech startups focused on women’s health care both nationally and in San Antonio, noting that some investment funds are targeting female founders. She noted that femtech companies are often, but not always, founded by female founders or committed female founders. To femtech itself.
This includes $100 million in federal funding this year from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) for early-stage investments in research and startups focused on women’s health.
BioFest Invest attracts dozens of accredited investors from across the country drawn by San Antonio’s strong bioscience startup community. This year’s event includes two tours for investors, including one of the city’s largest bioscience companies, including Southwest Research Institute, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, BioBridge Global, Scorpius Biomanufacturing, and GenCure. , the last two of which are located near VelocityTX’s Eastside campus.
Another tour will visit several military medical facilities in San Antonio, including Brooke Army Medical Center and its Intrepid Center and the 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base.San Antonio is home to the largest military medical facility in the United States.
“San Antonio has a lot of great assets to leverage,” Hanson said, but investors and even other companies often don’t know how many resources are available here.
Also new to this year’s BioFest Invest is “Office Hours.” This is a chance for anyone who signs up to receive his 15-minute one-on-one meeting with “investors, lawyers, and legal professionals.” [quality assurance and regulatory affairs]” others.
Freyya, which has already won a federal Small Business Innovation Research Grant for its pelvic floor monitoring device, was founded by Gabriele Niederauer, a biomedical engineer and serial entrepreneur who has started and sold several bioscience companies. it was done.
Freyya’s device is still in development, but the BobiHealth app, which uses AI for “intelligence and monitoring,” is available for download today and appears to track data such as heart rate, blood pressure, and mood.
The company’s website states that the company’s hallmark is to “serve underserved populations, ensure equitable access to secure data solutions for pregnancy health care, and ensure that all “A commitment to working towards safer pregnancies for women.”
