Femtech At Work

What if the biggest breakthrough in fertility care for millions of couples in Asia isn’t AI, but a simple, clinically validated technology that makes IVF-level outcomes finally affordable for the middle class?
In this episode of FemTech at Work, we sit down with Yve Lyppens, founder of Eve Fertility, to explore a bold vision: bringing IVF-like results to lower and middle-income couples across APAC at a fraction of today’s cost. Drawing on 15 years in medtech and 5 years in IVF and infertility, Yve explains how intra-vaginal culture (IVC) uses the woman’s body as a natural incubator instead of an expensive lab, making fertility treatment more accessible without compromising clinical pregnancy rates.
If you’re interested in FemTech, fertility, emerging markets, or mission-driven innovation, this conversation offers a rare, on-the-ground look at what it takes to design the right technology for the right market and to stay mentally resilient along the way.

Key Takeaways:
How does intra-vaginal culture (IVC) actually work, and why using the body as an incubator be a game-changer for fertility care in Asia?
Why does IVF costs in Malaysia so high, and what can we discover about how IVC could slash per-cycle expenses for middle-class couples?
Learn from Malaysia’s role as the first APAC market to adopt IVC and deliver its first IVC baby in 2022?
How governments in countries like Malaysia, China, and others are responding to declining birth rates
Why AI-driven fertility add-ons actually increase prices, and learn about choosing “the right tech for the right market” instead?
What hidden challenges do founders face when fundraising for pre-seed healthtech in APAC, and what can we find out about grants vs. VC capital in the region?
How does being a male founder in women’s health shape conversations with investors, clinicians, and patients and what surprising dynamics will you discover from Yve’s experience?
What does the emotional side of founding really look like, and how can we learn from Yve’s strategies to manage mental health, setbacks, and “more down days than up days”?
How big is the unmet need in fertility, especially for lower and middle-income patients, and what can we understand about building a product specifically for those who are currently excluded?

Resources:
Yve Lyppens: LinkedIn
Maaike Steinebach : LinkedIn
Website Femtech Future: https://www.femtechfuture.com
Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future

In a world where fertility treatment is still a privilege for the few, Eve Fertility’s vision is a powerful reminder that innovation should serve those who need it most, not just those who can pay the most. This episode is more than a conversation about technology—it’s a call to rethink who gets access to hope.
If this episode moved you, be part of the movement. Share it with someone who cares about women’s health, fertility, or healthcare equity. Like, subscribe, and leave a review so we can amplify the voices of founders like Yve and bring these stories to more ears across the globe.
Thank you for listening, and see you next week for another episode of FemTech at Work, where we spotlight the people reshaping the future of women’s health.

What does it really take to build a women’s health company in Asia when funding is tight, stigma runs deep, and the stakes are literally people’s futures?
In this very real and unfiltered conversation, I sit down with my long-time friend and serial entrepreneur Anna Haotanto, founder of Zora Health. Anna shares her personal journey—freezing her eggs years before it became 'trendy' and her frustration with the healthcare system that drove her to build a fertility, menopause, and family health platform in Asia, one of the toughest and most complex spaces to operate in. Together, we unpack the emotional and practical realities of building a women’s health company, pitching to investors for a seed round, navigating stigma, regulations, and high treatment costs, and the dark days when Anna almost walked away from Zora.
Raw, honest, and hopeful, this episode is for anyone interested in women’s health, building in FemTech, or needing a dose of real resilience behind the glossy founder stories.

Key Takeaways:
Discover how a Fintech and F&B founder ended up building Zora Health after thinking she was perimenopausal and hitting multiple medical dead ends
Learn why egg freezing, IVF, menopause and even sperm health are still wrapped in stigma in Asia and how technology can start to break that
How Zora Health actually works behind the scenes to connect users with trusted clinics, doctors, diagnostics and care navigators across multiple countries
Explore why men now make up a significant portion of Zora’s clients, and what this shift reveals about the evolving fertility journeys of couples today
Find out how corporates really think about fertility and menopause benefits, budgets and internal stakeholders and why selling B2B in health is so complex
Learn how Anna coped with days of not getting out of bed, and still chose not to quit when everything felt impossible
Discover what “patient capital” truly means in women’s health
Find out how genuine human connection and “friction” might be our biggest advantage in an AI world
Learn the most practical advice Anna has for new FemTech founders in Asia, especially when it comes to monetization, mental health, and playing the long game

Resources:
Anna Haotanto: LinkedIn
Zora Health: LinkedIn
Zora Health: https://zorahealth.co/
Maaike Steinebach : LinkedIn
Website Femtech Future https://www.femtechfuture.com
Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future

If this conversation moved you, let it be more than just another episode you listened to on the go. Women’s health in Asia is still being built from the ground up, one founder, one story, one hard conversation at a time and your support genuinely helps that movement grow.
Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, hit like, leave us a review so more people can discover these voices, and help us push women’s health higher up on every agenda.
Thank you for listening, and see you next year for another episode of FemTech at Work, where we keep building this new future together!

Find out how a PhD biomedical engineer turned founder is building a wearable that cools hot flashes, collects real-world data and reframes menopause from “invisible problem” to solvable public-health priority.
Today, we chat with Mabel Nguyen, co‑founder of Singapore’s EloCare, to unpack the science, product strategy and personal drive behind a startup creating wearable solutions for menopause. Mabel explains why menopause has been overlooked, why hot flashes matter far beyond a few uncomfortable moments, and how a combination of cooling technology and data collection can change diagnosis, care and daily life for millions of women. She shares the technical hurdles of building a new class of wearable, the trade-offs between clinical validation and rapid consumer launch, and the funding route that kept research alive through grants and early VC support. Along the way, Mabel offers candid founder advice about taking the first step, managing mental health during the grind, and what success will look like for her and her team. Let’s dive in!

Key Takeaways:
Find out why Mabel believes menopause is a public‑health problem, not just a personal discomfort, and what costs are hidden when hot flashes go untreated
Learn how combining cooling wearables with symptom‑tracking data could change how we recognize and treat menopause
Discover the unexpected signals and noise that made lab-based hot‑flashes detection fail in real life, and how that led EloCare to reinvent its approach
Understand why launching first as a consumer wellness product can accelerate iteration, even when clinical validation is a long‑term goal
Find out how grants, university partnerships and early VC funding shaped EloCare’s R&D path and why each funding type mattered
Discover the habits that helped Mabel stay resilient and what she does to preserve mental health during the inevitable ups and downs
Understand what “success” looks like for a Femtech innovator; is it scaling, clinical validation, or simply seeing your product help a woman live better

Resources:
Mabel Nguyen: LinkedIn
EloCare: LinkedIn
EloCare: https://www.elo.care/
Maaike Steinebach : LinkedIn
Website Femtech Future https://www.femtechfuture.com
Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future

Mabel’s story is more than a product roadmap, it’s a reminder that quiet, widespread problems deserve bold, science‑backed solutions. From the lab benches of NUS to prototype bracelets and grant partnerships, this conversation shows how empathy, data and iterative design can turn menopause from an invisible burden into a measurable, treatable part of life. If you’ve ever felt ignored by health systems or wondered how founders build hardware that must also be trusted by clinicians and real people, this episode will leave you inspired and equipped to think differently about women’s health.
If this episode moved you, don’t keep it to yourself. Share it with a friend, give us a five‑star review to amplify women’s health stories, and follow the podcast so you never miss an episode that champions founders making real change. Thank you, and see you on our next episode!

Tired of clinic trips and waitlists? Hear how one medtech startup gives mothers real‑time reassurance and lets doctors intervene earlier when it matters most.
In this episode of FemTech at Work, we speak with Amrish Nair, co‑founder of Biorithm, about building a wearable at‑home cardiotocography solution and the broader mission to reduce preventable poor outcomes in pregnancy. Amrish shares the personal and technical origins of the company, why remote fetal monitoring matters, how Biorithm integrates maternal vitals (blood pressure, glucose) with fetal signals, and the clinical evidence from trials across Singapore, Australia, UK and the US. He also explains why Biorithm positions itself as medtech rather than FemTech, how they earned clinical trust through transparent data and key opinion leaders, and why AI must be grounded in high‑quality maternal datasets to be truly useful.
This conversation also dives into fundraising lessons, regulatory strategy, and a long‑term vision that treats pregnancy as a window into a woman’s decades‑long health trajectory.

Key Takeaways:
Find out how a hospital cardiotocogram (CTG) was redesigned into a wearable patch
Learn why combining fetal monitoring with home blood pressure and glucose data may detect pre‑eclampsia and gestational diabetes earlier, and how this might reduce stillbirth risk
Discover why Biorithm chose to pitch as medtech and how that positioning changed investor conversations, and what differences regulatory and funding strategies make
Understand how clinical trust is built and what role transparent trials and key opinion leaders play in convincing doctors to adopt remote monitoring
Find out where the industry stands on AI for maternal health and why a better, causal, outcome‑linked data must come first
Discover the founder tradeoffs behind long‑term health startups and why sacrifices and supports matter when you commit eight years to building medtech

Resources:
Amrish Nair: LinkedIn
Biorithm: LinkedIn
Biorithm: https://www.bio-rithm.com/
Maaike Steinebach : LinkedIn
Website Femtech Future https://www.femtechfuture.com
Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future

Today’s episode shows how a personal mission became medtech that brings hospital‑grade fetal and maternal monitoring into the home. BioRhythm’s approach reframes prenatal care as prevention, builds clinical trust with transparent data, and paves the way for healthier mothers and babies long after birth.
If this moved you, help turn listening into impact! Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with your network. Join the movement to bring better pregnancy care home! Tune in next week for another story that matters.

What happens when a young founder decides to rewrite the conversation on menopause and midlife in Singapore—starting with her own mother?
Join us for an inspiring episode of Femtec at Work featuring Valery Tan, co-founder of Surety Singapore, as she breaks taboos, builds communities, and empowers women (and men) to navigate this important life transition together.
From pivoting away from pharmaceutical sciences to becoming one of the youngest startup founders in the region, Valery’s journey is deeply personal and profoundly impactful. Discover how her mother’s experience inspired her to fill crucial gaps in menopause education and support, why cultural relevance matters in women's health, and how Surety Singapore is tackling stigma, policy gaps, and even corporate inclusivity.
Tune in, be inspired and be empowered!

Key Takeaways:
Find out why Valery started Surety Singapore and the moving story behind it
Discover how Surety Singapore is bridging cultural gaps and delivering credible, localized health content.
Learn how Surety’s Midlife Festival is creating a more inclusive dialogue for families and workplaces alike
Understand the policy and awareness gaps in Singapore and what’s being done to close them.
Find out what obstacles Valery has faced as a young founder and how she overcame skepticism and age bias.
Discover how Surety’s new Pulse Play app aims to help women track symptoms and access support
Find out how Valery’s bond with her mother continues to shape Surety’s mission and what it means for those going through midlife transitions.

Resources:
Valery Tan: LinkedIn
Surety: LinkedIn
Surety: https://www.suretysg.com/
Maaike Steinebach : LinkedIn
Website Femtech Future https://www.femtechfuture.com
Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future

This episode isn’t just a conversation. It’s a call to action to challenge the stigma, embrace new perspectives, and support loved ones through every phase of life. Valery’s journey is living proof that transformative change can begin at home, with one honest conversation. By shining light on menopause and midlife transitions, Surety Singapore is sparking vital discussions, building bridges across generations and genders, and showing us all what empowered care truly looks like.
Don’t let these important stories stay in the shadows. If this episode moved you, inspired you, or made you think differently, share it with your friends, family, and colleagues. Hit like, leave us a review, and help amplify the voices that are changing the future of women’s health in Asia and beyond.