▼ Summary
– Jenny Button conceived the idea for Emm during COVID lockdown after noticing no wearable devices tracked reproductive health despite existing fitness trackers.
– Emm developed the world’s first smart menstrual cup using medical-grade silicone with embedded sensors to collect menstrual cycle data after years of design iterations.
– The UK-based company raised $9 million in seed funding led by Lunar Ventures and has over 30,000 pre-orders ahead of its UK launch next year.
– The device aims to transform diagnosis and treatment of conditions like endometriosis by providing previously unavailable menstrual health data that takes years to diagnose clinically.
– Emm plans to expand beyond menstrual health into broader women’s healthcare tools while keeping user data encrypted, anonymized, and securely stored.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Jenny Button found herself surrounded by wearable technology like the Oura ring and Whoop band, yet she noticed a significant gap. None of these devices offered insights into menstrual or reproductive health, an area she felt deserved far more attention. This realization sparked the initial idea for what would eventually become Emm, a pioneering company focused on women’s wellness.
Button recalls thinking it was astonishing that such a fundamental aspect of health remained unmonitored by existing tech. She reached out to a Dyson engineer, forging a connection that allowed her to begin exploring the concept. After five years of intensive development, involving thousands of design revisions and extensive user testing, her vision materialized into the world’s first smart menstrual cup.
Based in the UK, Emm recently secured $9 million in seed funding led by Lunar Ventures. This financial backing will support the official product launch scheduled for next year. While the device functions similarly to a traditional menstrual cup by collecting rather than absorbing fluid, its medical-grade silicone incorporates sophisticated, ultra-thin sensors. These components gather valuable cycle data, which Button believes could revolutionize how menstrual and reproductive health conditions are researched, diagnosed, and treated.
Button’s perspective is shared by other leaders in the femtech sector. Several founders have previously highlighted that menstrual blood represents a largely untapped resource in women’s healthcare, potentially offering unique biological insights that standard blood tests cannot provide. For instance, this innovative approach could aid in diagnosing endometriosis, a painful condition that frequently goes unrecognized for years.
According to Button, approximately one in ten women experiences endometriosis, a disorder that typically takes seven to ten years to diagnose correctly. She attributes this lengthy delay to a general shortage of meaningful data and inadequate characterization of menstrual health in clinical environments. Until now, she notes, there have been no dependable tools available for accurate, objective tracking in this area. Beyond endometriosis, she points out that one in three women will face significant reproductive health challenges during their lifetime.
Data security is a cornerstone of the Emm system. Information collected through the accompanying app is encrypted, stored securely, and protected with two-factor authentication. Button emphasizes that all user data is anonymized or pseudonymized, meaning personal identifiers are either removed or replaced with codes. Access is strictly limited to authorized Emm personnel who require the information for legitimate purposes.
Button describes the funding round as strategic, noting that her lead investor came through her professional network. Additional participants include Alumni Ventures, an investor in Oura, along with The Labcorp Venture Fund and BlueLion Global. The capital will primarily fund the UK market launch next year; a waitlist for the product has already attracted over 30,000 pre-orders. Funds are also allocated for ongoing research and development, with plans to enter the U.S. market by early 2027.
Looking ahead, Button sees menstrual health as just the starting point for Emm. She envisions the company making a substantial impact on women’s health more broadly, potentially expanding into diagnostic services, additional digital care tools, and even therapeutic solutions. The core mission, she explains, is to speed up diagnosis, empower individuals with their own health data, and ultimately help people take charge of their personal health journeys.
(Source: TechCrunch)
