International insurer Tokio Marine Kiln (TMK) has released a new report outlining the market opportunity for brokers and insurers to support founders in the ‘FemHealth’ sector, emphasising that insurance is crucial for unlocking growth in this space.
Based on interviews with 47 FemHealth founders, the report reveals that while the sector is expected to grow significantly—from $28 billion to $103 billion by 2030—76% of businesses face challenges in obtaining crucial insurance. This lack of coverage slows down their ability to bring products and services to market.
More than half of the founders (56%) cited high insurance costs as a barrier, while 51% found the process overly complex. Additionally, 42% of respondents said brokers and 39% said underwriters lacked an understanding of the unique risks in this sector. Other challenges included a lack of appetite for these risks from underwriters (39%) and restrictive policy exclusions (34%).
With founders describing insurance as ‘confusing’ and ‘archaic’, there is a clear opportunity for the insurance industry to better understand the risks these businesses face, simplify policies, and contribute to the growth of this vital sector. According to the report, improving access to insurance could unlock £28 billion in global sector growth.
The report also highlights other challenges faced by FemHealth companies, including difficulties accessing funding and digital censorship.
TMK’s Life Sciences insurance product, IntelliMed, is designed to address the unique risks in this sector, offering coverage for Life Sciences liability, Cyber, and Intellectual Property (IP) under a single policy. This simplifies the process for businesses and helps reduce the risk of coverage gaps. The product serves a range of sectors, including FemHealth, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, smart medical devices, and telemedicine.
Kirsten Shastri, Head of Life Sciences at Tokio Marine Kiln, said, “FemHealth is an exciting and fast-growing sector that needs our knowledge and expertise to thrive and insurance needs to keep pace with innovation.
“TMK is committed to working with our industry partners to highlight these issues and bridge the knowledge gap around women’s health, so we can help bring more of these businesses’ much needed innovations to market. Our bespoke IntelliMed product is proving to be a key enabler for businesses like these, and this is just the start. Raising awareness and understanding of these issues will open doors for these founders, our industry, our customers and society at large who will ultimately benefit from the advances they make.”
