What You Should Know About Fem Tech and Why

On average, 31 per cent of women globally are not in education, training, or employment. 122 million girls remain out of school globally. Adolescent girls aged 15-19 in South Asia are three times more likely than boys to not be in school, employment or training. 9 out of 10 adolescent girls and young women in low-income countries do not have access to the internet, while their male peers are twice as likely to be online. Approximately 740 million women in developing economies remain unbanked, representing over 55 per cent of the total unbanked adult population in these regions.  

1. Under 1 per cent of Venture Capital (VC) funding goes to Africa and only $10M tracked went to fem tech companies in the continent in 2023.
2. Globally, only 3 per cent of digital health funding is currently invested in fem tech. However, the fastest growing markets are in emerging economies, for instance, Southeast Asia alone witnessed a 70 per cent growth in Fem Tech startups in 2022, and our desk review indicates rapid developments in India, Kenya and South Africa.
3. Notably 85 per cent of fem tech companies have a female founder. Only 4 per cent of investment capital globally goes to women-founded startups.
4. Only 2 per cent of medical research funding is spent on pregnancy, childbirth, and female reproductive health.
5. The gender gap in labor force participation remains large globally. The regions with the lowest female labor force participation rates are South Asia (26 per cent) and the Middle East and North Africa (20 per cent).

Following robust *market research and analysis and a decade of gender-smart impact investing in low- and middle-income economies the UNICEF Venture Fund will launch a five-year fem tech initiative starting with a call for applications from start-ups in emerging economies on 08 March 2025 – International Women’s Day. 

 "Investing in fem tech is essential to strengthening economies. This initiative by the UNICEF Venture Fund offers a fantastic opportunity to bridge the funding gap for game changing tech solutions from developing countries and we hope to energize and inspire investors to see the potential of fem tech in these markets. Our team is taking bold steps to catalyze a movement that could be a seismic shift across economies." 

Thomas Davin, Global Director, UNICEF Office of Innovation. 

Through strategic partnerships with the Ethereum Foundation, Government of Finland, GSR Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the UNICEF Venture Fund will; increase awareness and access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); improve the availability and quality of healthcare products and services for girls and women and increase investment flows to these solutions in emerging economies. 

"Fem tech is a growing industry with huge potential to deliver personalised health and wellbeing choices and to address gender gaps for girls and women everywhere, including the global south.  I welcome UNICEF Office of Innovation’s initiative aiming to expand the world of who shapes and benefits from fem tech solutions."  

Diana Janse, State Secretary to the Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Sweden. 

Through the fem tech initiative, the Fund will identify and invest in solutions that are women- and girl-centric and respond to disparities related to gender and the social determinants of health, wellbeing and financial inclusion. The Fund is building on a first decade of social impact investing by doubling the impact of investments, reaching more people in more countries in half the time.