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Five female founded mental health start-ups to watch
We list some of the best female-founded mental health apps
As the femtech world and wellness industry start to combine. We explore the mental health apps, startups and female-founded businesses you need to know.
Mental health conditions, especially after two years of pandemic restrictions and lockdowns, are on the rise. It is estimated that 1 in 4 people in England will experience some form of mental health issue such as depression or anxiety each year.
Spiritune
Spiritune combines principles of neuroscience and music therapy to inspire positive mental health outcomes. It aims to help reduce stress while increasing emotional regulation, productivity and performance through the music-based app.
The app was created by Jamie Pabst after she struggled with her own stress levels while working in the finance industry in New York. She realised the lack of accessible resources and wanted to create something impactful. The company highlights that headphones can become health tools allowing people to support their emotional health and perform better.
Jamie wrote: “Music is one of the most powerful stimuli that addresses the brain networks that underlie stress, emotions, motivation and reward. My vision to combine the effectiveness of music therapy and the accessibility of audio to help people better manage stress drove the creation of Spiritune.
Appreciating the role our auditory system plays in our health through my mom’s hearing loss, and understanding the significance of music in neurological function through my sister’s pursuits in music therapy, I am dedicated to bringing the vast benefits of music to people and organizations globally to create better health outcomes.”
It also offers a workplace setting that can help employers to boost productivity and employee well-being.
Thymia
Thymia is a health tech company with a difference founded by CEO Emilia Molimpakis.
Thymia researchers developed a game based on neuropsychology combined with facial micro-expression analysis and speech pattern analysis to make faster mental health assessments. Its’s system allows clinicians a fun and engaging way to monitor their patient’s health. The game records subtle differences that doctors may miss and it also offers a way to monitor patients from home.
The app may have increased benefits for women in that it is also being developed to search for early signs of Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons’ Disease. Although both diseases affect both sexes, studies show Alzheimer’s is more prevalent in women. This is reversed when it comes to Parkinson’s Disease as men are 1.5 times more likely to develop the condition. However, women have a higher mortality rate and faster progression of the disease.
Speaking with Health Tech World, Emilia said: “In the patient’s view, they are just interacting with beautifully animated screens. However, what we are doing on the backside is where we are looking for specific patterns of behaviour because depression is associated with differences in cognitive function, psychological and behavioural patterns. Put all of those together and you get a signature for depression, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.”
Thymia secured €920k at the end of June 2021 from investors to help grow the company.
Moody Month
While practising good mental can be essential for every day of the month, there are times when it may be a little more difficult than others.
Pre-menstrual stress (PMS) can cause mood swings, tension, anxiety or depression. It can also cause social withdrawal and irritability. Although people with periods will recognise the start of their period, it can be tricky to know what is PMS or what may be depression or anxiety.
Moody Month, founded by Amy Thomson, helps users to receive a forecast of information on what is happening in their bodies each day. Amy was inspired to create the app after her periods stopped due to stress, travel and burn-out while working in event management in London. She began searching for answers but was shocked to find a severe lack of information available for women. She also felt that period tracking apps stopped short at providing long term care for the entire cycle.
The app can help users to optimise their well-being by changing their mood, food and following fitness advice. It also tracks your hormonal cycle to better understand your moods and symptoms making it easier to recognise when it may be PMS. The more information input to Moody Month, the better the app is able to track and deliver information.
The best part?
The app is free unless you purchase something when using it.
Heart it out
Femtech products or solutions are often designed after founders become frustrated by a gap not addressed in women’s healthcare. When it comes to mental health start-up, Heart It Out, that’s exactly what happened.
Nithya J Rao became concerned by the lack of psychologists practising in India which led to the creation of the platform. The result was a data-driven platform that can help to train psychologists for 16 weeks before they meet a patient. It also offers therapy to address issues such as depression and anxiety.
The startup also launched a free helpline called Briefly during lockdown which aimed to provide access to a network of 27 volunteers psychologists. They went on to help more than 600 patients with trauma and anxiety.
Patients can self-refer themselves through the platform for a number of different therapies including couple, family and child services. It also offers a ‘supervision’ service where professionals can join two or more psychology professionals in a continuous, collaborative, and supportive process. It aims to facilitate the exploration, monitoring and enhancement of professional functioning.
The website states: “Heart It Out began humbly as a ‘Room on the Roof’ in a quaint neighbourhood, providing a safe space for people to talk their hearts out. Today, it is a tech platform poised to provide confidential and non-judgemental access to mental healthcare, to 1.5 billion people by 2030.”
Altopax
Altopax combines care with community by offering a virtual group therapy platform aimed at connecting mental healthcare providers with patients who need care.
Pharmaceutical and health investor Narmeen Azad created the platform to help others connect with a group of peers who are also experiencing the same mental health condition or chronic illness. Healthcare providers can also connect with other professionals to discuss personalised, integrated care.
An EU committee has backed a report warning of systemic inequalities in women’s health research, diagnosis and treatment across Europe.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality approved the report, which was initiated by Renew Europe.
Women remain under-represented in medical research and clinical trials.
Around 72 per cent of drug trials do not provide data separated by sex and gender, while only five per cent of global research and development funding is dedicated to women’s health.
The report was led by Renew Europe rapporteur Billy Kelleher MEP of Fianna Fáil in Ireland.
It calls for greater investment in women’s health research, stronger inclusion of women in clinical trials and gender-sensitive diagnostics and treatments, particularly for endometriosis, menopause and cardiovascular disease.
Kelleher, first vice-president of Renew Europe, said: “Women’s health remains one of medicine’s biggest blind spots.
“When research, clinical trials and medical data fail to reflect women’s experiences, the result is poorer diagnosis, treatment and care.”
The report also calls for improved access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, including follow-up to the successful European Citizens’ Initiative “My Voice, My Choice”.
Its recommendations include better support for women’s physical and mental health and access to high-quality care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period, free from discrimination.
It also highlights additional healthcare barriers faced by LGBTQI+ people and women in marginalised communities or vulnerable situations.
Kelleher said: “This report is about closing those gaps and ensuring that women’s health is recognised as a core measure of the quality and fairness of our healthcare systems.”
By placing women’s health higher on the political agenda, the report aims to support the implementation of the EU Gender Equality Strategy and shape future European health policies.
A final vote by the European Parliament is expected in September 2026.
Women’s Health Week Europe 2026 has released its full programme ahead of the October event at The Emirates Stadium in London on 7–8 October, with 700+ senior decision-makers and 80+ speakers confirmed across what will be the organisation’s most ambitious edition to date.
For the first time, the event will run across two dedicated stages, each built around a distinct set of questions facing the women’s health industry.
The Global Stage takes on the macro forces shaping the sector: where capital is flowing, how AI is transforming diagnosis and treatment, the gender data gap, wearable technology, stigmatised markets, and the policy landscape across Europe.
Confirmed speakers include Merete Clausen (EIF), Frida Polli (MIT), Nichole Young-Lin (Google), Alison Cave (MHRA), Emily Darlington MP, Kerry Buckley (Boots), Tim Davis (LSEG), Henriette Hessen (Verdane), Hillary Ball (Atomico), and Christine Hockley (British Business Bank).
The Scale Stage runs in parallel, focused on execution: how to navigate regulatory approval pathways, survive the valley of death, build the evidence stack that wins payers and partners, implement AI into a women’s health business, and position for acquisition. Sessions include a reverse pitch format, in which corporates and investors pitch to founders, and a founder’s guide to getting acquired.
The programme also includes two Pitch competitions, one per day, across the Consumer & Tech and Medical Devices & Therapeutics categories, with 16 finalists competing on the mainstage in front of the full delegate audience.
Every session is case study-driven, with speakers selected on the basis of having lived the problem they are on stage to solve.
Women’s Health Week Europe 2026 takes place 7–8 October at The Emirates Stadium, London. The full programme is available now.
View the 2026 programme here
Pre-agenda pricing ends 26 June
Tickets are currently available at pre-agenda pricing, with savings of up to £600 off standard pricing. The deadline is midnight on Friday 26 June. After that, prices go up.
Secure your place: https://wplatform.co/summits/womens-health-week-europe-2026?utm_source=advocacy&utm_medium=ext_email&utm_campaign=whw-europe-26-femtech-world#tickets
Also at The Emirates: Women’s Sport Summit 2026
The day before WHW Europe, on 6 October, The Emirates Stadium will also host the inaugural Women’s Sport Summit, a dedicated one-day event bringing together 400+ attendees from across sport, business, and investment. Focused on the commercial side of women’s sport, the Summit covers the full sports cycle: money, product, and market. Where women’s sport means business.
Most IVF add-ons lack reliable evidence, with benefits either absent or inconclusive, the largest review of its kind has found.
More than 70 per cent of IVF patients in the UK, Australia and New Zealand reportedly pay for one or more additional treatments.
However, researchers found that most of the procedures, medicines and techniques had no effect on fertility or were backed by limited or low-quality evidence.
Unproven add-ons can also lead to false hope, greater financial strain and unnecessary medical procedures at an already difficult time for patients.
Dr Sarah Lensen, of the University of Melbourne, said: “In many countries, infertility care is largely provided by private clinics where IVF is highly commercialised, and some add-ons are extremely expensive.
“Our review finds a lack of evidence that most of the IVF add-ons we assessed provide any benefit to patients. Unproven add-ons can lead to false hope, greater financial strain and unnecessary medical procedures at what already can be a very difficult time for patients.”
Researchers said concerns have grown in recent years about potentially untrustworthy randomised controlled trials in reproductive medicine, including studies of IVF add-ons.
The team set out to review the effectiveness and safety of 10 commonly offered add-ons using trustworthy studies.
Researchers initially identified 157 potentially eligible randomised controlled trials but excluded 72 because of concerns about their reliability.
Randomised controlled trials compare treatments by assigning participants to different groups, helping researchers assess whether an intervention causes a particular outcome.
The team combined data from the remaining 85 trials in a meta-analysis, which brings together findings from several studies.
The review found no effect on fertility or inconclusive evidence for seven of the 10 add-ons examined.
These included acupuncture, which involves inserting thin needles into points on the body, and corticosteroids, medicines that reduce inflammation and suppress immune activity.
Endometrial receptivity testing was also not backed by reliable evidence. The procedure involves taking a sample from the lining of the womb to examine patterns of gene activity.
Another add-on was intralipid infusion, which delivers a fat-containing liquid into the bloodstream.
Researchers separately examined injections of platelet-rich plasma into the ovaries and infusions of platelet-rich plasma into the womb.
Platelet-rich plasma is made from a patient’s blood and contains a high concentration of platelets, which play a role in healing.
The seventh treatment was pre-implantation genetic testing for aneuploidy, which examines embryos to check whether they have the expected number of chromosomes.
The review found only weak evidence of a possible benefit from three other add-ons.
EmbryoGlue, an embryo transfer medium containing hyaluronic acid, may increase the probability of pregnancy and live birth. However, the evidence on live birth rates was not considered robust.
Endometrial scratching, a minor procedure that deliberately disturbs the lining of the womb, may also increase the probability of pregnancy and live birth.
Physiological intracytoplasmic sperm injection, known as PICSI, selects sperm based on their ability to bind to hyaluronic acid. Weak evidence suggested it may reduce the risk of miscarriage.
Lensen said: “There is widespread misinformation about IVF add-ons with private clinic websites and patient forums on social media – major information sources for patients – often overstating the benefits and omitting the costs and risks of add-ons.
“IVF clinics and clinicians should carefully consider whether it is appropriate to offer unproven add-ons, as their availability is often perceived by patients as implicit endorsement of benefit.”
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