On August 7, 2026, new research from law firm Mills & Reeve found that UK femtech investment has risen more than 194% over the past decade, with both deal activity and total funding climbing sharply. The number of femtech deals grew from 18 in 2015 to 53 in 2025, while total annual funding rose from £9.4 million to more than £100 million over the same period — and average deal size more than doubled, from £527,000 to £1.9 million.

Why It Matters

Femtech — which spans fertility, menstrual health, menopause, pelvic health, and sexual wellness — has long been the poster child for stigma-driven underfunding. A decade-scale data set showing 194% growth and a 600% jump in VC participation gives founders and LPs something they've rarely had in this category: a clear, quantified maturation curve. The persistent gap versus general healthcare funding also sharpens the investment thesis — there is documented demand and a widening pipeline, but capital allocation still lags, implying room for returns for investors willing to move early. For UK founders specifically, the concentration of domestic backers suggests a strengthening local ecosystem rather than dependence on US capital.

The report frames femtech as maturing but still early-stage. Seed rounds account for most deals, but venture-capital involvement has grown dramatically, with the number of VC deals up 600% over the decade — a sign, the researchers argue, that institutional investors are increasingly comfortable with a sector once left almost entirely to angels and angel networks. Among the largest UK rounds of 2025 were metabolic-health platform SheMed (£37m+), digital sexual-dysfunction therapy maker Gaia (£12m), emm (£6.8m), and hormone-and-fertility testing company Hertility (£5.9m), with the majority of backers based in the UK.

For all the growth, the research is candid about scale: femtech deal volume and value remain small relative to the broader health-and-care market, which recorded 171 deals in 2025 versus femtech's 53. In other words, women's-health technology is growing fast off a low base, and still commands a fraction of the capital flowing into healthcare generally — a persistent gap that femtech advocates say reflects historic underinvestment rather than lack of opportunity.

Mills & Reeve corporate partner Vicky Protano called the trend "a positive upward" one that "demonstrates growing investor confidence in femtech and increasing institutional interest in the sector," while noting how heavily the field has historically leaned on angel capital. The findings echo parallel 2026 signals of a femtech funding thaw: a record quarter for US private femtech equity earlier in the summer and fresh dedicated funds closing on both sides of the Atlantic.

Sources

Update — 2026-08-09

{Initial entry — story first created.}