FemInnovation

Ep. 1: Femtech in Asia: A Conversation with Lindsay Davis

May 31, 2023 • Bethany Corbin • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Welcome to the launch of FemInnovation! Hosted by Bethany Corbin, this podcast’s focus is all about women’s health innovation and new developments in the femtech marketplace. Our inaugural episode features Lindsay Davis, a global thought leader in brand innovation and the founder and co-CEO of FemTech Association Asia. The first regional association for founders, investors, and others engaged with the women’s health care space, FemTech Association Asia has hit the ground running with educational programming, counseling for femtech founders, community building, and amplification of women’s health voices. Lindsay updates us on commercial trends, barriers to progress, and why entrepreneurial startups are flocking to Asia. You’ll also learn about technologies that are disrupting standard models of female healthcare delivery and what to watch for as the next wave of transformation rolls in. Enjoy this lively conversation about all things femtech in Asia and the world of opportunity opening up in today’s global marketplace.

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Bethany is a healthcare innovation, femtech, and privacy attorney on a mission to help thought-leading companies revolutionize the global women’s health sector. Through her company, FemInnovation, she partners with emerging companies at the forefront of healthcare transformation to ensure they are building robust, scalable, and legally compliant businesses ready to lead the industry. Bethany is a recognized thought leader at the intersection of women’s health, law, and technology, and was named a Top 200 Trailblazing Leader in Women’s Health and Femtech. Her strategic insights have been featured in top news outlets, including Forbes, Fortune, Bustle, NPR, BBC, and Cosmopolitan and she is a guest contributor to Entrepreneur, Med Device Online, and MedCity News.

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 FemInnovation Episode #1: Femtech in Asia: A Conversation with Lindsay Davis

 Host: Bethany Corbin, Attorney & Expert in FemTech/Women’s Health

Guest: Lindsay Davis, Co-Founder & CEO of Femtech Asia

Bethany Corbin (Host):

Hi everyone, and welcome to the first official episode of FemInnovation. On today's episode, we’re going to explore the women’s health innovation landscape in Asia with guest Lindsay Davis. As part of today’s episode, we’ll learn about the mission, vision, and services of the Femtech Association Asia, the barriers that femtech companies in Asia experience, how we can drive more women's health innovation in Asia, some of the key takeaways from the recent Women's Health Innovation Summit in Asia, and much more. 

Lindsay is the perfect guest to join our discussion today as she is both the founder and the co-CEO of the Femtech Association Asia, which is actually the region’s first professional association for femtech founders, professionals, and investors uniting with the core focus of improving women’s health through technology solutions. Lindsay has over 20 years of leadership experience in the luxury sector, overseeing strategic operations, and she has also lived and held executive positions in the US, the UK, and Singapore. With a background in general management and driving international brand expansion into over 60 countries, Lindsay now applies her experience as a community leader, a consultant, and a board advisor. She currently sits on the Women’s Health Innovation Series Asia Board of Advisors. She has been featured on the Health Tech World 2022 long list. She’s been recognized by Luxury Daily as on the Luxury Women to Watch list. And my personal favorite, she has been named the 2023 Most Inspirational Femtech CEO in Asia by APAC Insider. Lindsay, welcome. So happy to have you on the show. Can you tell us a little bit about your journey, given your impressive background? I'm so curious – how did you get interested in femtech in the first place?

Lindsay Davis:

Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here. It's fun that we've been in touch for over a year now. You've done events with Femtech Association Asia and kind of really been a positive voice for so many of us over here when it comes to everything law, everything data, everything compliance. So we feel really fortunate to be chatting with you today. So as a start, as far as my journey goes, I moved to Singapore about three and a half years ago and I had come from a background working in the luxury space. So moving over here, it was kind of a fresh start and I knew I was going to start my own business. And so I went into consulting. So from consulting, I actually had a wonderful client and they were hosting an event and asked if I would be kind of be the host of the Singapore stage, so to speak. Whilst I was at that event, I met a wonderful woman who works for Fermata now. And we just started talking about femtech and she said, “Hey, I'm in femtech, that’s my passion.” I said, “well, tell me more about it.” So she started, you know, chatting, telling me more about femtech and women’s health and technology and just how in Asia, it kind of hadn’t picked up speed yet, but that in the US it had a lot of momentum and in Europe as well. I got to thinking and thought, well, I think that’s something I’d love to be involved with. How could I get involved? I looked – is there an association or clubs, professional organization, and turns out there was not. And so, my journey really started as something that was a personal interest, and maybe even I’d say out of curiosity, and now is something I do kind of every day, day in, day out. What a privilege for me to get to turn something that I’m really passionate about and curious about, even more importantly, into the Femtech Association Asia. 

Bethany Corbin:

That's amazing, Lindsay. And I think that’s what a lot of founders, especially in the femtech space, have in common is that they are looking for a specific solution out there, for a problem that they’ve identified, and most of the time it doesn’t exist. And so that’s kind of usually the spark for them to get them interested and get those kind of entrepreneurial mind juices flowing and create something that has such a positive impact. I’m so thrilled to hear about that and your journey and your inspiration to develop Femtech Association Asia. Could you tell us a little bit more about what the mission is and the vision of Femtech Association Asia?

Lindsay Davis:

Absolutely, absolutely. Our mission is really to drive collaboration across Asia to accelerate the creation of more healthcare solutions for more women. And obviously focusing on femtech very much in women’s health, very much in this region. Our mission is really to address femtech and women’s health in Asia and across Asia. Our vision is much broader and much bigger and probably what a lot of women’s health businesses have in common. which is available, accessible, and affordable healthcare for every woman through knowledge solutions and funding. What we’re really trying to do with that vision is say we believe that once consumers are equipped with the knowledge, once businesses are present and offering the solutions through product or service or otherwise, and once investors are funding these companies, we think that there’s really going to be kind of a successful and beautiful ecosystem that will solve a lot of these problems around available, accessible, and affordable healthcare.

Bethany Corbin:

That is so wonderful. Now we know what the vision and the mission are. How do you achieve those? What services are you providing? What products are you giving? How are you helping these entrepreneurs in Asia really redefine women’s healthcare?

Lindsay Davis:

That’s a really great question because it’s a big one. And I think, again, anyone who works in the femtech space knows: why are there only 24 hours in a day? It doesn’t seem fair. So, when it comes to what we do, we identify five pillars that are our focus. We’re really trying to think about what makes the most impact here in Asia. And we think of those five things as thought leadership, programming, amplification, community building, and advisory. When it comes to thought leadership, we see this amazing research on women’s health. We see a lot of it from the US, some coming through from Europe and other destinations as well, or other places as well. We don’t see as much coming out of Asia yet. So for us, a big part of thought leadership is actually creating that voice and the knowledge about our markets over here in particular. 

When it comes to programming, we have regular events, whether it’s, you know, being the local partner of the Women’s Health Innovation Series in Singapore in March (2023), or whether it’s our monthly events that we host, whether those are networking events, founder learning and development events, consumer events – we had one on the vaginal microbiome last month – just to help people understand what that is and what that means. So it’s really just a variety of programming, but all around the idea of women’s health. 

Next up, we look at amplification. We really consider it our role to represent femtech in the market. And that’s in publications, through podcasts like yours, and really just bring the voice of femtech in Asia to other markets. And then obviously we have our community and community building, which is, you know, a core part of what we do. And making sure that we’re building an ecosystem. And then finally, of course, we have our advisory and consulting, which we just launched in 2023, which is starting to work with startups, investors, governments, corporates, and really trying to help people see the opportunities and understand the markets that they’re entering or that they want to play in. So those are our kind of five pillars that we focus on as far as what our services are and what we provide, not only for our members, but for the community at large.

Bethany Corbin:

I love that Lindsay because you’re addressing not only what entrepreneurs need, but as you just said, what the community over in Asia really needs as a whole because women’s health has been so underserved, I think worldwide. Why do you think women's health has been underserved in Asia in particular?

Lindsay Davis:

You know, it’s an interesting question because when I do all of the research and reading, I think it’s quite similar around the world that I think a lot of it is we just haven’t been a part of the discussion. And I don't think that’s, you know, purposeful. I don’t think that’s without the ability to change. I just think we maybe haven’t been a part of the discussion. When we look at the fact that Asia right now is growing rapidly. And we see that even with the number of members or the number of requests for business support that we receive with the association. I think what we’re seeing is just a lot more presence and a lot more growth, a lot more entrepreneurs in the space, a lot more consumers talking about femtech. So whilst we may still be one of the smaller regions for femtech, we are growing rapidly. And I think we might just be kind of a couple years behind – not in quality, but just in the language, the dialogue in market, [and] the volume of businesses. We're getting there.

Bethany Corbin:

I think that's spot on, Lindsay. I think that women have been neglected from the conversation whenever we think about modern health care, just historically, even across the globe. So, that makes a lot of sense to me what you’re saying. Talk to us now about the femtech landscape in Asia. What types of femtech innovations are most common in the Asian market at this time? What are the locations that have the most femtech activity? What are you seeing on the ground?  

Lindsay Davis:

I am so excited to have this conversation and for this question that you just asked me, because it’s really fun to feel like Asia is now becoming a part of that global conversation. And, what we hadn’t seen 18 months ago when we started the Association is now making such great impact. So I think that’s first of all, just really exciting to see that the landscape starts with representation and actually being part of the global community. We're grateful for that. 

When it comes to actual geographies, 57% of femtech businesses in the Femtech Association Asia is based in Singapore. And that’s consistent with any additional femtech businesses – they are also mainly based in Singapore. The fastest growth market that we’ve seen is Indonesia. We have a lot of entrepreneurs starting some really exciting businesses, which is fun to see. The Philippines seems to be a market that a lot of the Singapore based companies are starting to look at as a potential next move. So we’re excited to see the Philippines starting to grow as well, not only from moving into the market, but some really great homegrown talent. 

And then finally, I would say what we're really excited about is looking at the physical presence of the Femtech Association of Asia in Hong Kong. We’re actually launching or opening, I should say, an office in Hong Kong, which is really fun because I think that’ll kind of connect, you know, the North and the South a bit more of Asia, given it is such a massive region with so many countries, cultures, languages, stages of development. So it’s going to be great to have more of a view and a voice present from Hong Kong as well. 

As far as categories go, sexual wellness actually is the number one category we see here across Asia, with menstrual health right behind. Now, having said that, I think that's a pretty natural flow that we do see a lot of younger generations being the entrepreneurs in the space. So this is obviously the point of life where these individuals are, which makes sense as entrepreneurs. Thirdly, we see a lot with pregnancy related solutions. One example I wanted to raise too was around sexual wellness, was a bit of a perspective from Eden Chiang from The Oh Collective, who saw 20 percent year-over-year growth in sexual wellness in China, based on her research as a company. We’re starting to get some insights about this growth with, number one, sexual wellness, number two, menstrual health, number three, pregnancy-related femtech businesses, as the categories that are growing. And then as far as looking at the landscape to be inclusive of investing as well and the investors, we do see some VC activity growing slowly. We see a lot of angel investors interested in femtech. This is where we think femtech is really going to see more investment coming through in the years ahead. And hopefully one of our pillars being amplification, we’ll be able to help kind of educate, broadcast, and share and build a community and an ecosystem that people will really respond to and feel connected to.

Bethany Corbin:

That’s fantastic. And I think, as you mentioned, that is kind of the natural progression, starting with the menstrual health, sexual health, pregnancy. I think that’s where we started in the US, and we’re able to build a base, get consumer interest, and then amplify and grow. It seems like Asia is following a similar track. 

Lindsay Davis:

Ah, yeah, definitely.

Bethany Corbin:

How big would you say the femtech market is in Asia? I know we talked about it growing, [and that] it's younger. Is it something that now or in the future you think will be as big as the market in the US and Europe?

Lindsay Davis:

Yes, I do. I believe that given the number of people, the percentage of the population that’s based in a broader Asia, [if] we look at numbers alone, it could be much bigger. When we look at the number of internet users, again, very big. So I think there's a lot of things that lean towards yes, it will definitely be as big if not bigger. I think the question is just the timeline for this. And I think a lot of that timeline will come from entrepreneurs engaging in the space, consumers demanding the solutions, and of course, investors really seeing, you know, women's health as the opportunity that we believe it is, which right now it feels more like kind of that early adopter, longer term investor profile. And we think that that will change in time, especially now that we have a lot of the businesses here, whether it’s, you know, the XProject with Roche or whether we see businesses like Organon starting to really bring their footprint wider here in Asia. I think that’s nice to see also as more of those corporate partnerships coming up.

Bethany Corbin:

Yeah, and when we think about those corporate partnerships and expansion, are you seeing a lot of femtech companies that may have started in the US or Europe looking to expand into the Asian market yet, or are you seeing just much more kind of homegrown activity for femtech in Asia? 

Lindsay Davis:

That is a great question. So far homegrown, which is great. It’s really nice to obviously have businesses started here by people from here, by people who know the market, know the culture, know the language, know the nuances. It is interesting though, that I can say the number of people who have reached out in the past year in particular asking for just more information about femtech in Asia, you know, what is the footprint, what's going on there? Who are the key players? So we’re starting to see more professional services based work being requested from, or consulting work being requested from the Association as opposed to just information. People are actually asking like, which markets would my company be good for? And what should I be looking at as far as moving into market? What are considerations I need to have? What does regulation look like? What is the consumer mindset? Because obviously this is a huge region. So saying Asia in and of itself feels almost absurd because there are so many countries that we really have to respect and think about individually and all of those nuances per country and how we localize our approach. So I think, yes, it will be as big as we see in other regions. The question to me is just timing. 

Bethany Corbin:

Oh, I love hearing that, Lindsay. Are there certain barriers that femtech companies in Asia are experiencing? Or are they kind of the same barriers that we’ve had in the US and Europe where it’s more focused on the stigmas and the taboos and getting widespread adoption of discussions of women's health?

Lindsay Davis:

I would say yes to everything you just said for sure. There are some consistent things with being a woman that it doesn’t matter if you're living in Singapore or the US that I’m sure are equally impactful. The challenges I think are quite similar. But there are a few things that I would call out as just maybe considerations. 

First of all, I talked about data earlier and how we don’t have as much country or market specific data. We really would like to build that out. So right now, that’s a challenge, but something that we’re definitely looking to improve. Something else to mention would be it’s still a bit of a premium – we still are looking at a premium market. So really the question is how do we take that and make it more mass accessible and for mass appeal? How are we helping people from all backgrounds in all countries be a part of the femtech movement – I guess we could say the women’s health movement?

We obviously have infrastructure challenges here that I'm sure are similar to other countries in the world, but that’s something I would call out as a challenge. And then of course, based on just the size of some countries, it’s getting to some of our specialists and having that accessibility. Medical professionals, I mean. That’s where telehealth is really great. So again, we want to make sure that we can help with education of a broader consumer base to make sure that everyone understands how technology can support their healthcare needs and provide more information to make better choices or have more choices for that matter with their healthcare decisions. We do have some barriers that are a bit different, but I would say yes indeed, we have very similar challenges as well to the markets, you know, the US or otherwise.

Bethany Corbin:

Are there things that we can be doing to drive more women’s health innovation in Asia at this time?

Lindsay Davis:

Well, another great question. You’re full of them today. I think what we can do as a global team, a global ecosystem of femtech and women’s health professionals is really include all of the regions around the world. And that’s of course Asia, but the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, make sure that we’re really trying to bring the voices of when we say global. You know, global – I’ve seen sometimes used as just the US and Europe, because that’s where the presence is. But really I think having that global view of femtech and truly bringing in, you know, different people from around the world, different companies, different markets, and just really kind of incorporating that presence I think is really important. I think that’s something we can do as an ecosystem, just make sure we’re constantly reaching out to different markets and looking at what’s happening. 

I think secondly, we can look here in Asia, One thing that’s consistent among all of our femtech businesses, and I bet this is similar in other markets as well, is the need for education and community as a foundation for a business. We’re in a position right now where a lot of times we as entrepreneurs are educating our consumer base to say not only this is what it is, but this is why it will help you, and this is how you use it. And these are the challenges you might have had previously, and this is the type of help. So, it's really getting into the detail of educating about women’s healthcare needs and challenges for our consumers, and then also creating a community. 

I think it’s important to keep building communities to drive more innovation by inspiring entrepreneurs to start in the space and also to bring confidence that people know more than they think they do. As women, we’ve, at some point, the majority of us have had our menstrual cycle or our period. The majority of us have friends who have had difficulties with reproductive success. I think these things are very close to home and very personal. As you mentioned at the beginning of the podcast, a lot of entrepreneurship starts from someone’s personal problem. I think a lot of it is supporting the community to drive innovation. And then we have things like making sure we are having discussions at work about women’s health to make sure it’s an inclusive space or making sure that, you know, femtech isn't taboo or women’s health isn’t taboo – that it’s actually just lifestyle. It’s just a part of taking care of ourselves in the health and wellness space. I think there's a lot we can look at here, but those are just a few things to drive innovation to start.

Bethany Corbin:

Yeah, absolutely. You know, we’ve seen that too in the US and Europe where we’ve got to have these conversations and make it so that it’s not taboo. And it’s something that women don’t feel ashamed of talking about. Or feel like they’re being relegated to the private corners of the home, you know, to try and discuss something that 50% of the world’s population is going through.

Lindsay Davis:

Absolutely.

Bethany Corbin:

Lindsay, what you said about making sure that we have a global view and that the [term] global doesn’t just mean the Western Hemisphere – it means talking about the Asia market, Africa, all of these other markets where women’s health needs might be both similar and different, and how we can address and really improve women's lives worldwide. So I think that’s just such an important reminder.

Lindsay Davis:

And I would also say, obviously there’s the social impact part. And then there’s also the commercial part [which] is that these are all markets that people can enter that right now don’t have a ton of competition. So it's actually a really interesting time to think big for entrepreneurs, to say what markets can I get into before anyone else and have that first mover advantage. So just from a commercial perspective, even there’s a lot, there’s a lot to think about from a global perspective.

Bethany Corbin:

That’s a really great point, Lindsay. And one of the other things that you mentioned was really kind of building that community, right? And getting that on the ground support for entrepreneurs. I know one thing that you mentioned earlier in the podcast was that there was a women’s health innovation conference in Asia for the first time this year. Can you talk to us a little bit more about how that happened, how you were involved? What were some of the conference highlights? I know that’s a really exciting community building activity that came there this year.

Lindsay Davis:

It was so great. It was absolutely wonderful. So first of all, a big thank you to the Women’s Health Innovation Series for reaching out to Femtech Association Asia to be their local partner for the event. We are really proud to be a part of it and really excited to be a part of it. It really is the largest and kind of most expansive as far as involvement and attendees from where they came from, conference that we’ve seen for women's health and femtech in Asia. It was exciting to have it in Singapore, which is obviously where the Femtech Association Asia is headquartered. It was exciting to have guests over from so many places, like I mentioned, around Asia and also, of course, the UK. 

So when we got involved, a lot of it was around trying to design an agenda that really spoke to our market. And I think we definitely have a lot of learnings, but also a lot of successes. A few things that people brought up after the event that they found really great was, first of all, just meeting people in other markets was so spectacular, and actually finally meeting face-to-face, which we haven’t had a chance to do before. So that was really special. Secondly, I would say there was a lot of discussion around data, regulation, and how this plays out in different markets. Singapore, Thailand, Japan in particular were discussed. So that was really, really interesting. And I think starting to move away from kind of just saying, all the challenges with femtech and actually moving to how do we run a femtech business successfully? I think is a really great transition that we saw through this event. An investor panel was very good, definitely getting the perspective of investors, angel investors, and larger scale investors as well. So starting to have that talk with the audience and the entrepreneurs and saying, you know, these are things I'm looking for as an investor and I’ve invested in femtech businesses. I thought that was really special. And then really just seeing that ecosystem grow, seeing the big corporates partner and talk with the startups, seeing the startups talk with some of the later stage startups, having people in from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or the UN, just having that great variety and diversity of attendees was really, really special.

Bethany Corbin:

I think too, it says a lot about the growth, as we were talking about before, of femtech in the Asian market, that we actually had a huge Women’s Health Innovation Conference come to Asia for the first time this year. I mean, I think that just speaks so much to the growth that you’re seeing on the ground there as well.

Lindsay Davis:

Absolutely, absolutely. And my assumption is we’ll do it again next year. I mean, I shouldn’t say assumption. We will be doing it again, whether it’s late this year or early next year. So it’s exciting even to think about round two, the next conference. How do we take it to the next level? How do we get, again, more global partners involved? How do we expand the topics and really build something that’s even more impactful for the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the corporates in our region, the ecosystem as a whole?

Bethany Corbin:

Yeah, that's incredible, Lindsay. And as we’re waiting for that next iteration of the conference to come through, are there any other conferences or events that individuals interested in femtech should have their eye on?

Lindsay Davis:

Definitely, yes, absolutely. Health tech is obviously just in general – forgetting femtech – but health tech is growing immensely as I think it is around the world. Asia in particular, [there’s] tons of investment. I think health tech is starting to definitely invite femtech to conferences, femtech companies, the Femtech Association Asia. We have our next conference where we’re speaking next month in Kuala Lumpur. We’re talking at the Asean Healthcare Transformation Summit, which will be great. We have a couple of our members going to speak. We have Fermata Fes happening later this year. That’s femtech in particular, where they kind of showcase products on a more consumer level. And then we also always recommend people check our LinkedIn page of the Femtech Association Asia because we have at least one event a month and we really do welcome anyone to attend. Some are virtual, some are in person. And of course, we’re always happy to schedule events with anyone who wants to do an event with us because I think it’s important that we share what’s going on around the world with experts like yourself to actually, you know, build a better understanding overall of the industry.

Bethany Corbin:

Yeah, and having done a femtech event for Femtech Association Asia, I can say it has been a rewarding experience. You get so many great questions from the companies that are coming and are looking to innovate in that femtech space in Asia. I can honestly say, if it’s something that any of you out there are thinking about, get in touch with Lindsay. It’s a tremendous opportunity.

Lindsay Davis:

Absolutely. Thank you so much for saying that. And we were so lucky to have you. We felt really grateful. You gave us really interesting perspectives that we hadn’t had exposure to. So very grateful for working with you.

Bethany Corbin:

Oh, thank you, Lindsay. And then the feeling is mutual. So I'm curious, because you’ve been on the ground there and you’ve had a lot of interaction with femtech entrepreneurs there: are there any particular companies or products in the Asian market that you are really excited about or that you think are going to kind of be up and coming in the near future?

Lindsay Davis:

I think when we talk about innovation, where we are here in Asia, we talk about innovation, I think a lot of people automatically start thinking about, you know, tech innovation. But I think innovation at this stage of femtech for many of our businesses can be around product innovation, service innovation, customer journey innovation, innovation in the approach to funding. I think I would just touch on that and say, I think where we are, it’s a lot of how our businesses are approaching as opposed to necessarily the strictly technology perspective. An example would be Fern Health, which started more in the sexual wellness space, but has completely pivoted and is now partnering with hospitals in Indonesia to create a post-pregnancy kind of care experience, which is just phenomenal. I mean, talk about taking resource off, you know, our very stretched, hardworking medical providers and actually creating telehealth and creating kind of checkups and a whole system that allows people to feel taken care of after their hospital stay. 

We have Ease, [a] very well-known company here in Singapore and a very loved company. People absolutely love the brand. When we look at what they’ve done with innovation, they’ve again gone from sexual health testing and now they’re moving into preventative care. So actually thinking, how do we keep expanding our product and our service to offer more to more people? They’re looking at preventative care and really a holistic journey. 

When we talk about looking at a funding approach, we can bring up Perfect Fit. Perfect Fit is based in Indonesia, [offers] menstrual care products, and they’re looking to work with the government for grants to actually end period poverty, but also create a business model that’s sustainable. So that’s really interesting to look at as well, as far as solutions and funding. And then finally, we have companies like Zazazu or Luuna that are pivoting from B2C and now very much in the B2B space – how they’re answering how we bring women’s health and femtech to the workplace, whether that’s through education, whether that’s through product availability of menstrual care products in the workplace or in schools, and also similarly just bringing equity to the workplace and that having a period should not keep women or those who menstruate from going to school or from performing at work. So these are really great solutions we see and really innovation around the approach to women’s health, I’d say even more than the technology at this stage.

Bethany Corbin:

Wow, Lindsay, all of those companies that you just mentioned, I’m already in awe of, and I cannot wait to see what they and other companies in that space can do now and in the future. I think, as you mentioned, we’re going to see a lot of growth here. It has the potential to be bigger than the femtech market in the Western part of the world. And I’m so grateful that you are there leading this charge. Is there anything next for FemTech Association of Asia that you’d like to discuss? If somebody is interested in getting more involved with FemTech Association of Asia, how can they contact you?

Lindsay Davis:

Great, great questions again, full of great questions today. Thank you so much. And so grateful to be on the podcast. So if I don't say that at the end, I want to say that one more time that I’ve loved following your work. I’ve really enjoyed chatting with you today. And when we look to the future, well, first of all, we’d love to invite you back for another event, which is what I’m building up to. So we’d love to have your knowledge and bring you back out to market, whether it’s for our upcoming conference, whether it’s for another talk virtually, but we really want to keep the relationship and the partnership we have with you going, because it’s been so positive for the region.  

As far as the Femtech Association Asia goes, we have launched our advisory service and really our consulting services. So that’s the next big thing for us is how do we build that fifth pillar to not only provide information, build a community and education, but actually help people solve their business challenges? So that’s the first thing. Secondly, of course, we’re expanding into Hong Kong. We’ve brought on a co-CEO, Maaike Steinebach, which we’re very excited about. So she started, actually today was her first day. We actually have an office on the ground in Hong Kong, very exciting. We’re going to keep focusing on our pillars that we talked about earlier, and we’re going to keep building the ecosystem – not only here in Asia, but really try to invest more and integrate more into the impressive leadership that we see around the world from so many amazing organizations and entrepreneurs and companies that are really building up the femtech space and hopefully supporting them and partnering with them. For instance, I’m off to London in a couple weeks and I will be meeting with several groups there that I’m really looking forward to. So constantly on the road and constantly thinking about femtech. 

As far as femtech in Asia goes, what do we think we’ll see next? We’ll see an increase in the number of startups, and that’s for sure. We’ve even seen that this year alone. The number of individuals even who are starting businesses while they have a day job and kicking off a side hustle, super exciting because they see the opportunity and there’s so much space. There’s so much white space here. Secondly, I think we’re going to see more mental health and menopause. I think we see a lot of menstrual care, as we mentioned, sexual wellness. The next step, we’d see things like chronic illness, mental health, menopause, and aging, hormonal health, these types of things. 

And then finally, I think what we’re going to see is more businesses from overseas, just based on the trends, more businesses from overseas entering Asia. And I think that's really exciting. And I think competition is healthy. I think bringing in some really well-known brands is also really healthy for the femtech space. And moreover, maybe we can even find some ways to connect companies and build companies as we’ve seen so successfully done in the US with some of the really positive acquisitions and mergers in the past few years. So hopefully we'll be able to see those same trends here.

Bethany Corbin:

Incredible, Lindsay. And how can our listeners find out more about you and about Femtech Association Asia? Is there a website, a LinkedIn page? What's the best way to get in touch?

Lindsay Davis:

Absolutely, thank you. The best way to get in touch is through our LinkedIn page. And if you want to check out more about us, we’ve set up a Linktree that you can go ahead and check out from our LinkedIn page. And of course, you’re welcome to reach out to me anytime. I always love connecting with anyone who is passionate about women’s health and femtech. We always welcome new members from around the world. And my name is Lindsay Davis and I’m on LinkedIn. And of course, I’m sure we’ll be in touch again in the future through you also, Bethany. So if you ever want to chat, then that would be great.

Bethany Corbin:

Lindsay, thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing your expertise. It has been very insightful. I know I have learned a lot. I’m sure our listeners have too. So just thank you so much. And to our listeners out there, thank you for listening. And I hope you'll tune into the next episode.

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Bethany Corbin

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