WoW Woman in FemTech | Alice Pelton, co-founder and CEO of The Lowdown
Interview by MarijaButkovic
Alice Pelton is the CEO and co-founder of The Lowdown, the world's first review platform for contraception. She studied at the London School of Economics, before working in strategy and product management for the Exec team at News UK. She set up The Lowdown in 2019 and is based in London.
Alice, what is the idea behind your project/product and how did you come up with it?
The Lowdown is the world’s first review platform for contraception. Our mission to make contraception easier to choose, access and use.
I set up The Lowdown because I struggled for years to find a contraceptive method that didn’t negatively impact my mood. In my search for the right method, I realised I couldn’t find useful data on real women’s experiences and side effects from contraception at scale, anywhere.
I came up with the idea when I was on sabbatical in 2017. I was out for dinner with my boyfriend and it popped into my head; we review everything from our hotels to our tradesmen - why don’t we review our contraception?
When did all start and do you have other members in your team?
I bootstrapped and built the ldown.com throughout 2018; it went live in 2019. At the beginning of 2020, I quit my job and decided to focus on The Lowdown full time, and found my technical co-founder David on the Entrepreneur First program in March. We’ve got an amazing team who manage our design, blog, podcast, social media and influencer outreach.
How long did it take you to be where you are now?
2 years from when I started building theldown.com as a side hustle.
What was the biggest obstacle?
Myself! I’m bloody hard on myself and wouldn’t have got this far without the backing of my friends and an incredible team.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
I’m most proud of our organic traction and growth - thousands of women now come to us for help with their contraception every day, and we’ve been featured in almost every media publication in the UK. I love getting emails from women telling us The Lowdown has changed their life.
What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in the niche you are in? How about being a female founder/entrepreneur?
There is still a tendency to see contraception as a ‘niche’ thing even though it’s something over 1 billion people use worldwide. Explaining its scale, and the problems people have with it - can be a challenge (but I quite enjoy going into bat in investor pitches).
I think there’s a slight tendency to think that female founders in Femtech are doing some sort of charity work because of the socially responsible nature of some of our companies. The reality is that we’re just as ambitious and efficient as other industries, and should hold ourselves to the same standards.
What are the projects you are currently working on?
We’re using our 200,000 data points to help women find the right contraception for them. We are building out our platform into an app that provides women with data, experts, and community to save women time, hassle, and embarrassment.
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
Absolutely. If more women were in tech and science, things like contraception would not be this much hassle. The problems the world bothers to solve are reflected by those who are solving them.
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to all female founders and female entrepreneurs out there?
Done is better than perfect. Getting started is the hardest part - just put something down on paper and then refine it. And ask for help.
What will be the key trends in the health tech industry in the next 5 years and where do you see it heading?
To avoid saying the same generic stuff about Telehealth and AI, I will say that there will be a continuation of the criticism and rejection of synthetic hormones amongst younger women - and obsession with our ‘natural’ selves. The Pill is very much going out of fashion.
Who are your 3 inspirational women in health tech?
Nicole Leeds - Clue. An absolute class operator.
Annie Coleridge - Founder of Alva. Brilliant pragmatist with a great reputation.
Brigitte West - Co-Founder of Health Tech Hive. Brigette and Jasmine have set up the best community for women in health-tech.
Instagram: @Gettheldown
Twitter @Getthelowdown / @alicepelton
This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship and diversity. Follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic.