SEA Horizons
An Opportunity Brief for LPs Investing in SEA.
Women’s Health
June 2025
Women’s Health: An Underinvested Opportunity in Southeast Asia
Women’s health has long been underestimated and underfunded. Globally, women’s health is a US$1T investment opportunity.
In this edition of SEA Horizons we explore the opportunity as it relates to Southeast Asia, including the wave of femtech startups in the region, the importance of seeing the opportunity beyond just women-only health issues, and how new paradigms of service delivery options can open up new markets.
Fund Managers to Watch
Fund managers across Southeast Asia are increasingly seeing women’s health as a high growth market opportunity.
Women’s healthcare is a strategic investment theme for Recharge Capital, a VC with a firm belief in the sector’s tremendous growth potential. They bring together noteworthy partners such as Baylor College of Medicine, NUS Singapore Lab and Thomson Medical, to focus on in-vitro fertilization, tech and diagnostic companies. Portfolio companies include Elix, focused on women’s hormonal health, and GenPrime, offering fertility services throughout Southeast Asia.
Margaret Wang, Managing Partner at Recharge Capital
Singapore-based Verge Healthtech invests in innovations to make healthcare more accessible, better in quality, and more efficient, with an increasing focus on women’s health. Portfolio companies include Sooma, which offers at-home neuromodulation therapy for depression - ~50% more common in women than men - and chronic pain; and VitruvianMD, which offers AI-enabled medical diagnostics, including cervical cancer screenings that are faster and more accurate.
Scarlett Chen, Managing Partner at Verge
Healthcare is a focus sector for MDI Ventures, a strategic VC originally anchored by Telkom Indonesia. They have invested in SwipeRx, the largest network of pharmacies in Southeast Asia, connecting over 50,000 pharmacies on a single platform with access to information, education, medicines and products. Benefits to women customers of SwipeRx pharmacies include expanded contraceptive choice and improved access to blood glucose monitoring and diabetes referral.
Donald Wihardja, CEO of MDI Ventures
Insights
THE HIDDEN OPPORTUNITY
Unmet Needs in Women’s Health and Sexual Health: A $360B Ghost Market
“Ghost Markets” refers to markets that do not yet exist - spaces free from competition where there is demand, without viable solutions. This Amboy Street Ventures report quantifies the annual revenue potential of women’s health and sexual health - $360B in the U.S. alone. The findings show that the opportunity is enormous, the demand is proven, and the solutions are emerging.
LEADERSHIP
THE WHAM REPORT: The Business Case for Accelerating Women’s Health Investment
Investing in the health of women is one of today’s most compelling business opportunities—a high-growth market with untapped potential. Women drive 80% of healthcare spending decisions, yet solutions tailored to their specific health needs remain largely underfunded. This report unveils the compelling business case for investing in women’s health—a sector with immediate return on investment (ROI), greater profitability and successful exits.
THE BUSINESS CASE
Representation of Women in Healthcare: Preliminary Findings, Trends and Considerations for Impact Investors
While significant progress has been made in addressing gender disparities in healthcare, women continue to face significant barriers. Women remain underrepresented in medical trials, underserved by existing treatments and are often dismissed by their providers regarding pain concerns. Research has shown that increased representation of women as leaders in healthcare can address disparities for both providers and patients. While women face barriers to employment opportunities in healthcare, there are promising outcomes for patients of all backgrounds when women are able to break through.
Coming Soon…
Nominations are open for the 2025 Investing in Women Awards!
The 2025 Investing in Women Award will celebrate institutional investors and family offices who play an outstanding role in supporting diverse fund managers. We will recognize LPs who invest in women-led or gender-balanced fund managers.
We will be hosting an SEA LP Meet-Up at:
DealstreetAsia PE-VC Summit
10 September 2025
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This publication has been funded by the Australian Government through the Investing in Women initiative. The views expressed in this publication are the author's alone and are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government.