1st Place
Audience Choice
Bone Health Technologies develops breakthrough solutions to help people defend against osteoporosis and osteopenia. The mission is simple: to empower people to lead longer, stronger, and more active lives by safeguarding bone density from the effects of menopause, aging, cancer, and other degenerative causes of bone loss. The company’s first holistic bone health solution, Osteoboost, is FDA-cleared to treat osteopenia in postmenopausal women, with the first devices expected to ship in late 2024.
2nd Place
Partum Health is a hybrid care company delivering multispecialty support from fertility through postpartum. Partum focuses on filling gaps in maternal and family care including birth and postpartum doula support, mental health, lactation, physical therapy, and nutrition. Through digital care coordination and patient education as well as interdisciplinary care offered virtually and in person by expert providers, Partum Health elevates the standard maternal care in the U.S., and is on a mission to ensure that all birthing people and their families have the support they need for healthy and more joyful parenting.
1st Place
Myri Health is an AI powered maternal and postpartum evidence based platform, backed by Techstars and Google. Founded by Dr. Pinkey Patel, Myri Health revolutionizes maternal care with its AI-powered app and SaaS platform. Their technology improves birthing outcomes, detects risks like preterm labor, providing personalized, 24/7 interventions.
2nd Place
Nawara Health is an impact-driven femtech startup building a health literacy platform for women in the MENA region, offering comprehensive, culturally competent, evidence-based, trauma-informed, and lifelong education that empower women on various aspects of health to make informed health choices and achieve better quality of life.
1st Place
Maisha Meds is an African healthcare technology company transforming the quality and affordability of care at the last-mile through pharmacies and clinics that are the first – and sometimes only – point of care for the majority of patients, particularly women. We have created a digital network of more than 4,100 facilities across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, and Zambia – already the largest network of its kind, enabling more than 1.6 million patient visits per month and having directly reimbursed 700,000 patients to-date for quality-assured malaria, HIV, family planning, vision care, and more – the majority of whom are women.
2nd Place
ComfortWaveVR
Comfort Wave VR is a software application integrated into an off-the-shelf VR device, designed to create a brief, immersive experience that includes images and sound, with sessions lasting no more than 12 minutes. Approved by the FDA through the Breakthrough Device Program, Comfort Wave VR targets chronic pain management for the 30-60% of women affected by Post-Mastectomy Pain Syndrome—a condition for which there are no FDA-approved medications. By providing VR-based hypnosis, Comfort Wave VR offers a proven treatment with limited side effects, empowering patients with agency over their pain management.
October 11, 2024 @ 1 – 5:30pm ET
The seventh annual HITLAB Women’s Health Tech Initiative Challenge will be taking place on October 11, 2024 where FemTech innovators will pitch their disruptive healthcare solutions virtually.
The WHTC began in 2018, focusing on emerging technology applications and systems that improve medical care and the provision of healthcare among women worldwide, an industry slated to reach $50B by 2025.
Join us at Pitch Day to see the selected finalists pitch live, and network with industry leads representing the entire digital health ecosystem. The event will feature Panel Discussions, Innovator Pitches, and a highly anticipated keynote by Esther Dyson with Q&A!
Susan Solinsky, Director, HITLAB Women’s Health Tech / Co-Founder Ellipsis Health
Victoria Iezzi, Women’s Health & Wellness Co Team Lead, Withum
Teresa Neil, Founder and CEO, Guidea
Kris Brown, Partner, Goodwin Law
Anna Zornosa, Entrepreneur in Residence at NIH; Investor and Advisor (Investor: Portfolia; Bread and Butter Ventures; Ubiquity; Advisor: Astia Fund, Ignite Health Accelerator, Hera Biotech)
Dr. Sarah Temkin, Associate Director for Clinical Research at the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) part of NIH
Dr. Jennifer Garrison, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity and Equality (GCRLE) and Assistant Professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.
Courtney Leimkuhler, Founding Partner, Springbank Collective
Christina Jenkins, MD (CJ), Co-Founder and GP of Convergent Ventures
Julianne Roseman, Principal, Plug and Play
Dana Sun, Principal, Laerdal Million Lives Fund
Michelle Hoy, Co-Founder, Vitalic Health
2:10 Pre-Seed Presentations
2:30 Non Profit
2:50 Seed Presentations
3:10 Audience Favorite Award
Claret Presley, Nursing Executive, Sutter Health
Dr Ainsley MacLean, Chief AI Officer and CMIO, Kaiser Permanente
Susan Merrigan, VP of Data & Interoperability, Evergreen Nephrology
Savitha Srinivasan, Managing Director, Healthcare Innovation Practice, Trace3
Esther Dyson
Pre Seed (2nd place)
Pre Seed (1st place)
Non Profit (2nd place)
Non Profit (1st place)
Seed Goodwin (2nd place)
Seed Goodwin (1st Place)
Audience Choice Award Silicon Valley Bank (1st place)
Pre Seed (2nd place)
Pre Seed (1st place)
Non Profit (2nd place)
Non Profit (1st place)
Seed Goodwin (2nd place)
Seed Goodwin (1st Place)
Audience Choice Award Silicon Valley Bank (1st place)
Non-Profit Organizations
Pre- Seed
Seed
Applications Closed
Fill out the form below to submit your challenge entry. Deadline to apply is September 11, 2024.
Schedule of Events
2024 Women’s Health Tech Challenge Prizes
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Judging Criteria
Applications will be judged based on the following items:
Frequently Asked Questions
No, there is no application fee.
Finalists will give 5-minute pitches, with 3 minutes for questions from Challenge Judges.
We have Prizes available for companies in Seed, Pre-Seed, and as well as Prizes for Non-Profit Charitable organizations. If you have questions about your eligibility status, please review the Rules and Regulations or contact us at womenshealth@hitlab.org.
No, the Challenge Day on October 4, 2024 will be held entirely virtually. You will not be required to attend in-person. You or someone from your team will be required to attend the Challenge virtually to complete your pitch, and finalists will be invited to complete a mentorship bootcamp the week prior to the challenge, which will also take place virtually.
Finalists will be announced on the week of September 16 via press release, and newsletter.
The application period will close on _____. Please check your inbox in ____ for an announcement about the selection of Finalists. Best of luck! If you have any questions, please contact _______
