Femtech At Work

Maaike Steinebach

Femtech At Work is a new podcast that showcases inspiring femtech founders, corporate champions of women’s health in the workplace, and ecosystem innovators. Starting off in Hong Kong we will travel across Asia and Oceania and the rest of the world to explore the most innovative new women’s health solutions around reproductive health and diseases that disproportionately affect women, talk about the challenges and opportunities of starting a women’s health company and the role of the workplace for impact and change.

  1. The Story Behind the Cycle Guide Fertility Treatment Organizer App

    22 HRS AGO

    The Story Behind the Cycle Guide Fertility Treatment Organizer App

    What if the most stressful part of IVF wasn’t the hormones, the scans, or the emotional rollercoaster, but the chaos of managing it all alone at your kitchen table? In this episode, we meet the doctor-turned-founder who decided that fertility patients deserve better than photocopied instructions and guesswork. Joining us is Dr. Caroline Fiddler, a medical doctor and founder of Cycle Guide, a purpose-built IVF and fertility treatment organizer app. Drawing on her own two-and-a-half-year IVF journey and her career in hospital systems, Caroline shares how witnessing outdated, fragmented processes pushed her to build a simple, intuitive fertility app that helps patients take back control of their treatment. If you’re going through fertility treatment, building in femtech, or working in healthcare and wondering how to improve patient journeys, this conversation will give you practical insight and emotional validation. Key Takeaways: How did Caroline’s own IVF journey as a single woman and years inside hospital systems lead her to create the Cycle Guide fertility organizer appDiscover why “simple, intuitive, and flexible” design can be more powerful than feature-heavy fertility platformsHow does Cycle Guide help patients understand and organise blood tests, ultrasounds, injections, procedures, and trigger shots across an entire IVF cycleLearn from the pre-cycle checklist that prepares you for Day 1, tackles clinic contact issues, manages medication storage, and navigates real-life scheduling clashesHow do Cycle Guide's reminders and colour-coded tasks help patients avoid heartbreaking mistakes, such as missing crucial trigger injectionsUnderstand the emotional and financial decisions around when to stop collecting your own eggs, change clinics, or consider donor eggsHow Caroline’s experience highlights the hidden friction inside fertility clinics and hospital systems, and what does that mean for femtech foundersLearn from Caroline’s honest reflections on rejection, resilience and why she’s still convinced that IVF patients deserve better digital support Resources: Caroline Fiddler: LinkedIn CycleGuide: Instagram Cycle Guide: https://cycleguide.com.au/ Maaike Steinebach : LinkedIn Website Femtech Future https://www.femtechfuture.com Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future In a world where fertility patients still juggle life-changing decisions with paper instructions and fragmented systems, Dr. Caroline Fiddler’s story is a reminder that compassionate innovation can rewrite the experience - one organised, empowered cycle at a time. If you’re navigating IVF yourself, supporting someone who is, or building the next wave of femtech solutions, this episode is your invitation to believe that the process can be clearer, kinder and more in your control. If this conversation moved you, be part of the movement! Share this episode with someone who needs it, hit like, leave a review so more listeners can discover these stories, and subscribe so you don’t miss out. See you next week for another episode of FemTech at Work, where we spotlight the founders reshaping women’s health- one bold idea at a time!

    42 min
  2. Building Asia’s First End-to-End Fertility Ecosystem with Margaret Wang (Rhea Fertility & GenPrime)

    JAN 29

    Building Asia’s First End-to-End Fertility Ecosystem with Margaret Wang (Rhea Fertility & GenPrime)

    What happens when an investor walks away from high finance to rebuild the fertility journey across Asia? In this episode, you’ll step inside the world of Rhea Fertility & GenPrime and see how one woman is redesigning reproductive care for an entire region. Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Margaret Wang, founding CEO of Rhea Fertility and GenPrime, to unpack how she left a global finance career to build one of the Asia’s first truly end-to-end fertility platforms. Margaret shares her deeply personal egg-freezing journey across New York and Singapore, the legal and cultural hurdles unmarried women face in Asia, and how those experiences inspired her to create a more patient-centric, emotionally supportive fertility experience. Key Takeaways: How Margaret's own egg-freezing journey in New York and Singapore inspires her to design a more human and patient-centric fertility experience across AsiaDiscover the end-to-end fertility ecosystem, including consults, labs, and cryopreservation, in five different countriesHow do Asia's diverse fertility laws shape Rhea's strategy, including adding an LA clinic for surrogacy and LGBTQ+ servicesWhat are the often-overlooked emotional challenges of IVF and egg freezing, and how can simple rituals make a big differenceHow does Rhea partner with tech startups, and what hurdles do they face in getting clinicians to adopt innovative toolsWhat's driving investment in women's and reproductive health, and why are global investors betting big on Asia-focused fertility platformsHow do cultural expectations around marriage, motherhood, age, and solo parenting shape fertility choices for Asian womenWhat might you discover about your own fertility, and how could it shift your family planning strategyHow does Rhea envision growing its services beyond fertility to support women's overall reproductive and hormonal well-being across Asia Resources: Margaret Wang: LinkedIn Rhea Fertility: LinkedIn Rhea Fertility: https://www.rheafertility.com/ Maaike Steinebach : LinkedIn Website Femtech Future https://www.femtechfuture.com Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future Fertility isn’t just a medical journey- it’s emotional, cultural, and deeply personal. Margaret’s story shows what’s possible when we redesign care around women’s real lives, not outdated systems. If this conversation helped you feel seen, informed, or inspired, don’t keep it to yourself. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, leave a review so more women can discover it, and hit follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. Be part of the movement to build better, more accessible reproductive care for women everywhere and we’ll see you next week for another powerful episode of FemTech At Work.

    43 min
  3. From Patient to FemTech Founder: How Ovum AI Is Redefining Women’s Health Care

    JAN 22

    From Patient to FemTech Founder: How Ovum AI Is Redefining Women’s Health Care

    What happens when a young doctor, failed by the very system she works in, decides to rebuild women's healthcare from the ground up using AI? Today, we're chatting with Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks, founder of Ovum AI, about how her battle with debilitating vestibular migraines exposed the deep biases and data gaps in women's healthcare and sparked a radically different solution. Ariella reveals how Ovum AI works as an AI health partner for women, integrating medical reports, wearables, symptoms, and reproductive health into a longitudinal 'health brain' designed around women's physiology. You'll hear how she moved from medical school to building and funding a FemTech startup, why generic tools like ChatGPT can't safely serve women's health needs, and how a human-first, privacy-obsessed approach to AI is reshaping doctor visits, workplace wellbeing, and women's long-term health. Ariella also lifts the curtain on investor bias, designing for neurodivergent users, and the self-care routines that keep her grounded while she pursues the audacious goal of closing a trillion-dollar gender health gap. Let's dive in! Key Takeaways: How Ariella's "mystery illness" led her to create Ovum AI, a lifetime health record and AI advocate for womenHow Ovum AI connects periods, perimenopause, chronic illness, and mental health into one intelligent systemUnderstand the gender health gap and why women spending 25% more time in poor health, and what does that really cost our economies and careers?Find out how Ariella is tackling AI bias head-onWhat does it take to build a women-specific AI from the ground up, instead of just plugging women’s questions into generic large language models?Learn why data privacy is non‑negotiable and Ovum's approach to consent, de-identification, and face ID for secure health data uploadDiscover Ovum's B2B strategy and how it supports women's health at work without accessing individual dataUnderstand the fundraising journey, what did the right investors see in women's health and AI that skeptics missed? How can founders identify aligned backers?Learn from Ariella's founder routine (treating seasons, self-reflection and coaching) as core parts of building a FemTech company. Resources: Ariella Heffernan - Marks: LinkedIn Ovum AI: LinkedIn Ovum AI: https://www.askovum.com/ Maaike Steinebach : LinkedIn Website Femtech Future https://www.femtechfuture.com Instagram Femtech Future: @femtech_future Ready to see what women’s healthcare can look like when it’s designed by women, for women, and powered by AI that actually understands us? Tune in now and step inside Ariella’s journey from dismissed patient to doctor-founder, building the “smartest AI woman in the world” with Ovum. If this episode spoke to you, don’t keep it to yourself, be part of the movement to close the gender health gap. Share this conversation with a friend or colleague, hit follow, leave a review, and help us amplify the voices shaping the future of FemTech. See you next week for another episode of Femtec at Work, where we spotlight the founders, builders and believers driving women's health forward!

    39 min
  4. Breaking the Cost Barrier in IVF: Eve Fertility’s Mission to Serve the 70% Left Behind in APAC

    JAN 15

    Breaking the Cost Barrier in IVF: Eve Fertility’s Mission to Serve the 70% Left Behind in APAC

    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 ratesWhy 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.

    25 min
  5. How Zora Health is Redefining Family Health in Asia

    2025-12-11

    How Zora Health is Redefining Family Health in Asia

    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 endsLearn why egg freezing, IVF, menopause and even sperm health are still wrapped in stigma in Asia and how technology can start to break thatHow Zora Health actually works behind the scenes to connect users with trusted clinics, doctors, diagnostics and care navigators across multiple countriesExplore 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 complexLearn how Anna coped with days of not getting out of bed, and still chose not to quit when everything felt impossibleDiscover what “patient capital” truly means in women’s healthFind out how genuine human connection and “friction” might be our biggest advantage in an AI worldLearn 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!

    37 min
  6. Wearable of Relief: How EloCare Cools Hot Flashes and Collects Life‑Saving Data

    2025-11-27

    Wearable of Relief: How EloCare Cools Hot Flashes and Collects Life‑Saving Data

    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 untreatedLearn how combining cooling wearables with symptom‑tracking data could change how we recognize and treat menopauseDiscover the unexpected signals and noise that made lab-based hot‑flashes detection fail in real life, and how that led EloCare to reinvent its approachUnderstand why launching first as a consumer wellness product can accelerate iteration, even when clinical validation is a long‑term goalFind out how grants, university partnerships and early VC funding shaped EloCare’s R&D path and why each funding type matteredDiscover the habits that helped Mabel stay resilient and what she does to preserve mental health during the inevitable ups and downsUnderstand 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!

    33 min
  7. Hospital Accuracy, Home Comfort: The Story Behind Biorithm’s Wearable CTG

    2025-11-13

    Hospital Accuracy, Home Comfort: The Story Behind Biorithm’s Wearable CTG

    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 patchLearn 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 riskDiscover why Biorithm chose to pitch as medtech and how that positioning changed investor conversations, and what differences regulatory and funding strategies makeUnderstand how clinical trust is built and what role transparent trials and key opinion leaders play in convincing doctors to adopt remote monitoringFind out where the industry stands on AI for maternal health and why a better, causal, outcome‑linked data must come firstDiscover 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.

    32 min
  8. How Surety Singapore is Redefining Midlife Support for Asian Women

    2025-11-06

    How Surety Singapore is Redefining Midlife Support for Asian Women

    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 itDiscover 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 alikeUnderstand 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 supportFind 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.

    26 min
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About

Femtech At Work is a new podcast that showcases inspiring femtech founders, corporate champions of women’s health in the workplace, and ecosystem innovators. Starting off in Hong Kong we will travel across Asia and Oceania and the rest of the world to explore the most innovative new women’s health solutions around reproductive health and diseases that disproportionately affect women, talk about the challenges and opportunities of starting a women’s health company and the role of the workplace for impact and change.

Information

  • Creator
    Maaike Steinebach
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    58
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Femtech At Work