New findings from the FemTech Founder Roundtable highlight the actions needed to strengthen Ireland’s women’s health innovation ecosystem and support the growth of FemTech companies
Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) welcomes the publication of the findings from the FemTech Founder Roundtable, a joint initiative between HIHI and Browne Jacobson which brought together founders, investors, healthcare leaders and ecosystem stakeholders to explore the future of women’s health innovation in Ireland.
The roundtable provided an important opportunity to examine both the challenges and opportunities facing Ireland’s growing FemTech sector. By bringing together expertise from across healthcare, investment and innovation, the discussion offered a comprehensive perspective on the factors influencing the development and scaling of women’s health innovations.
Browne Jacobson contributed extensive expertise in investment, fundraising, international markets and the wider commercial landscape that shapes the growth of health innovation companies. HIHI brought its unique perspective on healthcare innovation, clinical needs, health system priorities and the realities of adopting innovation within healthcare settings. Together, these complementary viewpoints helped create a richer understanding of the ecosystem supporting Irish FemTech companies.
Central to the discussion were the experiences of FemTech founders themselves. Their contributions provided valuable insights into the real-world challenges encountered when seeking to scale businesses, secure investment and deliver meaningful impact for women’s health.
The findings reinforce many of the themes identified in HIHI’s FemTech in Ireland Report. They highlight that the challenge facing the sector is not a lack of innovation, ambition or opportunity. Rather, founders continue to face barriers relating to investment readiness, access to growth capital, data infrastructure, sector visibility and navigating complex funding pathways.
Read the FemTech report here https://hih.ie/downloads/HIHI-Femtech-Report.pdf
Importantly, the roundtable also identified practical actions that can help accelerate progress. These include strengthening commercial narratives, enhancing evidence generation, building more connected founder networks and addressing the critical funding gap between seed and Series A investment stages.
The findings further underscore the importance of continued collaboration across the innovation ecosystem. Progress will depend on strong partnerships between innovators, healthcare providers, investors, policymakers and researchers, working together to support the development and adoption of solutions that address unmet needs in women’s health.
Looking ahead, the future of FemTech in Ireland is highly promising. Growing recognition of women’s health needs, increasing innovation activity and strong commitment from stakeholders across the ecosystem position Ireland to become a leading hub for women’s health innovation, commercialisation and adoption.
HIHI would like to thank Browne Jacobson and all those who participated in the roundtable and contributed their expertise, insights and experiences. Their engagement is helping to shape a stronger future for women’s health innovation in Ireland.
Read the full FemTech Founder Roundtable report to learn more about the findings and recommendations emerging from this important discussion.