WoW Woman in FemTech I Delphine Moulu, co-founder and CEO of the Femtech France
Delphine Moulu is based in Paris and has always worked in the French tech scene. Her latest experience was at STATION F where she co-created the first program dedicated to femtech startups in France. She’s now the co-founder & CEO of the Femtech France collective.
The Femtech France collective aims at accelerating innovations in women's health by providing entrepreneurs with a strong knowledge of the industry and creating more collaboration within the ecosystem (founders, healthcare professionals, investors, or industrials to name a few). Our first action is a bootcamp that focuses on 3 key topics: gynecology, the French healthcare system, and the femtech market. This bootcamp will give aspiring femtech entrepreneurs who don't have a medical background the toolbox they need to innovate in women's health in France.
Tell us a bit about your background and your projects so far.
I’ve always worked for startups, the latest one being Capitaine Train (acquired by Trainline). Then I joined STATION F, the world’s largest startup campus, where I stayed for 3 years. First as an Events Officer and when my boss left, one year later, I got promoted to Events Manager. STATION F was a great experience, I’ve learned a lot and got to meet so many different people from the tech ecosystem. The building in itself is unique with its size, its light, and its history —it used to be a train station!
How did you get into this industry? Has it been an easy industry to get into or have you had many challenges?
At STATION F we were encouraged to do side projects. My colleague Marine came to me with the idea of a femtech program. We ran a ton of interviews together to understand the needs of femtech founders and make sure to create a relevant program and this is where I caught the femtech bug. It was at the same time super frustrating to see that there were still so many needs in terms of women’s health, and super exciting to discover the great products and services that those founders were building.
I would say it’s an easy industry as femtech enthusiasts are benevolent, always available for a chat/call. Most of us are on a mission, we’re driven by women's health, so happy to help one another when we can.
How long did it take you to be where you are now? What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being in the industry you are in?
Not so long as my two cofounders & I had good femtech networks. Juliette Mauro used to work in the public health sector and is now the founder of the femtech startup My S Life, while Christel Bony is the President of the non-profit Sextech For Good and is a former femtech entrepreneur. We started to work on Femtech France in June and officially launched the collective in September.
I think education is the biggest obstacle in femtech. Education of men who do not always understand women’s health issues —dads relate to fertility and maternity projects but it’s harder to get men’s attention when it comes to menstruation, endometriosis, menopause, or sexual health. But also the education of women who are not always aware of the gender health gap. Whether it’s financial (why do women have to pay every month to buy menstrual products?), medical (why isn’t there more male contraception? Men are fertile 365 days a year vs 6 days per month for women), or social (why is it so taboo to talk about topics such as menopause or female sexual pleasure?).
In terms of industry challenges, funding is a big one. In France, female-founded startups are 4.3 times less funded than male-founded startups —and it’s increasing as the gap was 2.4 times in 2019 (source: BCG & SISTA annual report). And we do know that femtech startups are mostly founded by women. So not only is it hard to raise money as a female founder but it’s even harder when your project is on women’s health for the above reasons. I would also add the collaboration of founders and healthcare professionals as a challenge. Founders know how to create and run a business when healthcare professionals are on the field and know what products and services are needed. How can we make those two worlds meet and co-create?
What are your biggest achievements to date?
I would say co-creating STATION F Femtech Program as it was the first time since the opening 3 years before that STATION F was launching a new in-house program, and it sent a strong signal to the ecosystem to have such an actor positioning in this industry. And my most recent achievement, of course, was co-creating the Femtech France collective with Juliette and Christel. I’m super proud of the milestones we managed to reach in such a short period of time: creating the collective, winning the French Tech Community Fund, confirming two great industrial partners, and launching Femtech School’s call for applications!
What are the projects you are currently working on?
Our first action with the Femtech France collective is a bootcamp. It’s a 20-hour class called “Femtech School” to train aspiring femtech entrepreneurs on 3 topics: gynecology, the French healthcare system, and the femtech market. We know many femtech founders are women who, at some point, couldn’t find the product/service they needed for their health and decided to create it themselves but most of them didn’t have a medical background. This bootcamp is here to give those badass ladies a toolbox to navigate the healthcare industry and to have a strong understanding of the challenges but also opportunities in femtech. We’re very proud of the two partners supporting us for this first bootcamp, Organon France and Group VYV.
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
As a feminist it is, of course, important to me, we need more women in tech creating products and services for women. I’m trying to do my part as best as I can with Femtech France and I also volunteer for the French nonprofit SISTA which aims at bridging the funding gap for female-founded startups.
What will be the key trends in your industry in the next five years and where do you see them heading?
I think we’ll see more innovation in male contraception, I’m looking closely at US startups such as Contraline who’s developing a kind of IUD for men.
Speaking of sextech I believe sexual education will be a key trend, schools won’t do it so how can tech make our kids learn about their bodies, their pleasure, consent, and much more?
Menopause is also underserved, we need more drugs or products to decrease the symptoms —I’m looking at startups like Evernow in the US delivering the MHT (Menopause Hormonal Treatment) through a patch or a pill
I also think we need more innovation for diseases where women are more affected than men, I’m thinking of cardiovascular diseases, addictions (tobacco, alcohol) but also food disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.
What is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in this industry?
Talk to your peers! Do calls and coffees with other femtech founders to learn about their history and get their advice. Make sure to also co-create your product/service with healthcare professionals and go to hospitals and clinics to meet patients, it’s super important.
Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?
Wow, this is hard, there are so many! To be honest I admire every single female femtech founder as it’s such a difficult industry to break into, especially in France where the market is not mature yet.
Brittany Baretto, Founder of Femtech Focus. Not only do I love her personally but I also admire her work. She’s an inspiration when it comes to creating femtech communities and thank god she’s here to publish up-to-date and relevant data on femtech!
Maria Teresa Perez Zaballos, CEO & Cofounder at Endogene Bio. To me Maria is a rising star, she’s a great example of smart collaboration between business and science as she used to work at Merck when her cofounder Madeleine was a researcher. Together they are working on endometriosis diagnosis.
Oriana Kraft, Founder of FemTechnology Summit. I admire Oriana for this great event that she initially created by herself as a medical student and which is now an annual gathering of the industry.
Find out more about FemTech France collective on their website.
Follow FemTech France on LinkedIn.
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 and read her stories for Forbes here.