Women's health conditions that have been systematically underresearched for decades
For decades, the health of women in Latin America has been shaped less by medicine than by the quiet arithmetic of neglect — where research dollars flow, and where they do not. A new regional FemTech platform, anchored by a summit in Bogotá this August, is attempting to redirect that arithmetic by connecting startups, universities, and investors around conditions that have been systematically underfunded across nine countries. The initiative arrives against a backdrop of 93,000 preventable deaths each year, and asks whether a continent's entrepreneurial energy can outpace a structural inequality that has compounded for generations.
- Every year, 93,000 women in Latin America and the Caribbean die from cervical and breast cancers that are frequently caught too late or never adequately researched — a mortality rate for cervical cancer three times higher than in North America.
- Only 7% of global health research funding targets conditions exclusive to women, and just 1 in 7 investors worldwide prioritizes women's health, leaving a market gap that is not accidental but the result of repeated institutional choices.
- More than 70 FemTech startups across nine Latin American countries are now pushing into this space, led by Brazil's 36 companies, signaling that entrepreneurial momentum is building even where institutional funding has long been absent.
- A new regional platform — spanning universities, startups, investors, and health systems — is being assembled to move beyond isolated apps and devices toward clinical evidence, regulatory pathways, and sustained capital flows.
- The Femtech Innovation Summit in Bogotá on August 25–26 will serve as the platform's public launch, anchored by a year-long university hackathon and a regional startup competition designed to keep the conversation — and the pressure — permanent.
Women's health in Latin America is defined by a set of numbers that reveal structural neglect rather than medical misfortune. More than 33,000 women die annually from cervical cancer across the region — three times the North American rate — while breast cancer claims another 60,000 lives each year. Around 10 million pregnancies go unintended in low- and middle-income countries across the region, many preventable with better access to care. These figures trace back to a single upstream failure: only 7% of global health research funding addresses conditions exclusive to women, and just 5% of available medications have been properly tested for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Into this gap has emerged FemTech — technology built specifically for women's diseases and conditions, from cervical and breast cancer to reproductive health, menopause, and cardiovascular disease as it presents in women. Across nine Latin American countries, more than 70 startups are now working in this space, with Brazil leading at 36 companies, followed by Argentina with 14 and Mexico with 7. The ecosystem is young, but the need driving it is not.
Iris Parra, who directs the Femtech Innovation Summit and founded the company Enlaza, is clear that FemTech is not a cosmetic rebranding of general health technology. It addresses conditions that have been systematically underresearched and underdiagnosed for decades. Advancing the field, she argues, requires more than building products — it demands clinical evidence, regulatory clarity, and data protection frameworks.
A new regional platform is now being built to connect universities, startups, investors, and health systems around these goals. Its first major moment will be the Femtech Innovation Summit on August 25–26 in Bogotá, held as part of the city's GoFest innovation festival. Alongside the summit, a year-long university hackathon will draw students from medicine, engineering, biotechnology, and business across eleven Colombian universities, with the University of the Andes anchoring the effort. Four finalist teams will present their solutions to investors and health leaders at the August gathering, supported by international mentorship throughout.
Parra describes what is being constructed as a permanent platform, not a single event. The Bogotá summit opens a sustained conversation intended to move capital, talent, and policy toward solutions Latin American women actually need. Whether that machinery can turn fast enough to close a gap that has widened for generations is the question the initiative now has to answer.
Women's health in Latin America carries a weight of numbers that tells a story of systematic neglect. Every year, more than 33,000 women die from cervical cancer across the region and the Caribbean—a death toll that runs three times higher than in North America. Add another 60,000 deaths from breast cancer, and the picture darkens further. Around 10 million pregnancies go unintended in low- and middle-income countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, many of them preventable with better access to care and information. These are not abstract statistics. They represent a structural inequality baked into how research gets funded, how diagnoses happen, and which medicines make it to market.
The root cause sits in the global distribution of medical research dollars. Only 7 percent of worldwide health research funding flows toward conditions that affect women exclusively. Of the medications available today, just 5 percent have been properly tested for safe use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. One in seven investors globally—roughly 14 percent—actually prioritize women's health in their investment strategies. The gap is not a mystery. It is a choice, repeated across institutions and markets, year after year.
Into this landscape steps a new category called FemTech: technology built specifically for diseases and conditions tied to women's health. The term covers breast and cervical cancers, reproductive and hormonal health, menopause, mental health, and cardiovascular disease as it presents differently in women. Across nine Latin American countries, more than 70 startups are now working in this space. Brazil leads with 36 companies. Argentina follows with 14. Mexico has 7. The rest scatter across six other markets. The ecosystem is young but growing, and it is growing because the need is undeniable.
Iris Parra, who directs the Femtech Innovation Summit and founded the company Enlaza, frames the challenge plainly: FemTech is not a pink-colored version of general health technology. It is technology addressing conditions that have been systematically underresearched, underdiagnosed, and underfunded for decades. But for the category to truly advance in the region, the conversation has to expand beyond just building apps and devices. It has to include clinical evidence, regulatory pathways, and data protection.
In response, a new regional platform is taking shape. It will connect universities, startups, investors, companies, and health systems to accelerate the development of women's health technology from Latin America. The first major gathering will be the Femtech Innovation Summit, scheduled for August 25 and 26 in Bogotá as part of GoFest, the innovation festival run by the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce. The platform will also include a university hackathon, a regional startup competition, and a Spanish-language YouTube channel dedicated to women's health.
The hackathon itself will run throughout 2026, drawing students and recent graduates from medicine, engineering, biotechnology, and business to develop solutions for women's health. The University of the Andes is anchoring the effort through its School of Medicine and Health Sciences, its Department of Biomedical Engineering, and its entrepreneurship center, working alongside ten other universities across the country. From the teams selected, four finalists will present their work at the August summit to investors, corporate leaders, and health ecosystem figures across Latin America. They will also receive mentorship from international experts throughout the process.
Parra describes what is being built as a sustained platform, not a one-time event. The August summit in Bogotá is a beginning. What comes after is a permanent conversation that will move capital, talent, and policy toward the solutions Latin American women actually need. After Bogotá, the initiative plans to develop a regional agenda focused on education, coordination, and investment to push forward technologies designed specifically for women across the continent. The machinery is starting to turn. Whether it turns fast enough to close a gap that has widened for decades remains the question that will define what happens next.
Citações Notáveis
FemTech is not a pink version of health technology. It addresses conditions that have been underresearched, underdiagnosed, and underfunded for decades.— Iris Parra, director of the Femtech Innovation Summit and CEO of Enlaza
The conversation about women's health has changed. Now it's not a problem of awareness—it's a problem of execution at scale.— Iris Parra
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does women's health in Latin America lag so far behind? Is it just a money problem?
It's money, but money is a symptom, not the disease. The real issue is that women's health conditions were never treated as urgent research priorities. When you only fund 7 percent of research into conditions that affect women exclusively, you're making a statement about what matters. That compounds over time—less research means fewer treatments, fewer treatments mean worse outcomes, worse outcomes mean less investor interest. It's a cycle.
So FemTech is trying to break that cycle by making women's health startups visible and fundable?
Exactly. But it's not just visibility. It's about building infrastructure. You need universities training the next generation of engineers and doctors who understand these problems. You need investors who see the market opportunity. You need regulatory clarity so companies know what they're building toward. Right now, a startup in Brazil might not know what a startup in Mexico is doing. There's no connective tissue.
The numbers are staggering—33,000 cervical cancer deaths a year. Why hasn't this driven more action before now?
Because those deaths happen in countries that don't have the loudest voices in global health policy. And because women's health got compartmentalized. It became a women's issue, which meant it got less resources, less prestige, less money. FemTech is trying to reframe it as a business opportunity and a public health emergency at the same time.
What does success look like for this platform?
It's not just the summit in August. That's the announcement. Success is whether, five years from now, there's a thriving ecosystem of companies solving real problems, whether investors are actually putting money into women's health, and whether Latin American women are getting better diagnoses and treatments. The platform is the infrastructure. The real work is what happens inside it.