Title: The Business of Sexual Health

Abstract:

Female health is important business – and big business. The femtech market – companies focused on a wide range of sexual and reproductive problems – is estimated to reach $50B by 2025. The facts and figures tell the story: 43% of women have sexual concerns and difficulties at some point in their lives, over 30% of women experience symptoms of incontinence, close to 50% pregnancies in the United States are mistimed or unplanned, 1/3 of women report never having had an orgasm. Add to that, less than 50% of the states in the United States require sex education with a subset of those not requiring the information to be medically or factually accurate. Only 2 states – California and Louisiana – forbid the promotion of religion in sex education. While women control roughly $20 trillion in annual customer spending (accounting for 74% of total consumer spending), businesses have historically failed to adequately create and market products that meet the specific needs and paint points of women across the female health life cycle. Today’s femtech leaders, many of whom are female, see these industry gaps and are capitalizing on fundamental business principles, new technology, social transformation models, education and disruption in distribution to build their organizations. They are creating better solutions for big problems. And yet, these businesses still face huge challenges of bias and stigma when it comes to access to funding and access to key media channels, among others. Advertising bans on Facebook and Instagram causing growth limitations, regulatory uncertainty and the possible or alleged career consequences of including a femtech (or sextech) company in their portfolios, are some of the specific concerns from the investment community. The incredibly complex tangle of outdated barriers and challenges that stand in the way of the successful commercialization of women’s health products and services, as well as the immensely lucrative opportunities, are exposed in Rachel’s book, Orgasmic Leadership: Profiting from the Coming Surge in Women’s Sexual Health and Wellness. The book, which includes perspectives from over 3 dozen academics, HCPs, and entrepreneurs, speaks to business leaders about the trials, tribulations, travesties, and triumphs experienced in building businesses in new and challenging categories.

Biography:

Rachel Braun Scherl is a champion for women’s health and a pioneer in the space, where she has passionately focused on driving the conversation on the business of women’s sexual and reproductive health. Rachel works on women’s businesses “from the tops of their heads to the tips of their toes.” As Managing Partner and Co-Founder (1998) of SPARK Solutions for Growth, a strategic and marketing consultancy, Rachel has built an international client list that includes Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Pfizer, Merck, Bayer and Church & Dwight, as well as venture-backed start-ups. As a business builder and Vagipreneur®, she brings deep experience in menstruation, fertility, sexual disease prevention, birth control, pregnancy, menopause and incontinence to help brands and businesses grow. Rachel’s experience, learnings and recommendations are at the heart of her book: Orgasmic Leadership: Profiting from the Coming Surge in Women’s Sexual Health and Wellness, a #1 International Best-Seller on Amazon.