Women’s health has been getting a lot of news coverage in the US lately.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court voted to preserve mifepristone access. Meanwhile, maternal mortality is on the rise. More women are also being diagnosed with breast cancer, prompting the US Preventive Taskforce to recommend that mammograms should start at age 40 instead of 50.
Companies providing crucial services like menstrual care, contraception, fertility services, cancer care, and menopause care are more important than ever before — in the US and beyond.
In this PE Playbook, the Grata team has put together the need-to-know trends for investors considering making moves in the women’s health market, including:
- How the space is fragmented
- Which segments have the strongest financial performance
- Where the most M&A deals are happening
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The market map above is not intended to be an exhaustive representation of companies in the space.
Companies that provide services that fall into multiple segments are categorized in this report by their primary offering.
Industry Overview
Market Distribution
Geography
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Source: Grata
The US leads the globe in the number of women’s health companies with 12,312, followed by Australia and Canada, respectively.
Source: Grata
Within the US, California tops the list. The state is home to over 2,000 women’s health companies.
Texas follows with 1,016 companies, and New York with 982.
Ownership
Source: Grata
The global women’s health industry is highly fragmented, with the top 10 companies accounting for less than 1% of employees in the space.
The vast majority of women’s health companies are independently owned, but those organizations account for only a quarter of industry employees.
Conversely, public companies and their subsidiaries comprise the smallest number of companies, but they employ 68% of women’s health workers
Segment Distribution
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Source: Grata
This report focuses on the following segments, all of which provide products and services that support women’s health. Grata users can see a curated list of some of the companies used to create each segment by clicking the links below.
- Menstrual Care: These companies offer feminine hygiene products such as pads, tampons, menstrual cups, and more.
- OBGYN: Firms in this sector provide routine and preventative gynecological healthcare services as well as obstetrics.
- Menopause Care: Companies in this segment specialize in services for women experiencing menopause, including hormone therapy and general midlife wellness.
- Cancer Care: These firms provide treatment and services for women living with cancer.
- Fertility: Companies in this space offer services such as fertility evaluation, IVF, drug therapies, infertility counseling, and more.
- Contraception: These companies provide services around birth control, pregnancy prevention, and family planning.
Public Comparables
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Source: Grata
Menstrual care companies perform well above the industry average by nearly every metric. The segment sees the highest mean gross margins (72.1%) of those analyzed in this report. The space has seen significant growth in recent years as awareness of and policies supporting menstrual health are on the rise.
The fertility sector brings in the most revenue on average with $109.2B. The sector has the lowest multiples across the board, however, the only public company listed in the space is Humana subsidiary OSF Healthcare.
Public multiples are not available for the contraception segment as nearly 100% of companies in the space are independently owned.
Source: Grata
Private Comparables
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Source: Grata
In the private sector, cancer care companies lead in terms of average revenue with $164.3M.
The fertility segment has the most mean total capital raised with $307M. Demand for fertility services has been climbing in recent years, but accessibility remains a challenge. In the US, only about 30% of women with fertility issues have used relevant healthcare services, according to the National Health Statistic Reports. As a result, fertility startups have been cropping up to try to bridge the gap, and they’ve seen a notable rise in funding in the last few years.
Investors looking to make deals in the women’s health space could find opportunities in the OBGYN, menopause care, and cancer care markets, as those industries have raised the least amount of funding.
Notable Acquisitions
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Source: Grata
The women’s health space has seen a significant number of M&A transactions in the last 12 months. Menstrual care is the clear leader with 37 deals.
With awareness of menstrual health growing and the stigma around talking about it waning, companies are innovating more to create a wider range of feminine hygiene products. E-commerce has also made these new products more accessible to consumers, contributing to market growth.
New government policies and initiatives are also boosting growth in the space. In the US, states have passed over 60 bills in the last decade to increase access to low- to no-cost feminine hygiene products. For example, 18 states and the District of Columbia passed legislation in October 2022 requiring schools to provide free products to students.
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Source: Grata
Menstrual Care: Compass Diversified Acquires The Honey Pot Company
In January, Compass Diversified announced its intention to purchase feminine care brand The Honey Pot for $380M. Beatrice Dixon, CEO of The Honey Pot, said the deal would allow the company to expand its line of products.
If you’re an investor interested in The Honey Pot, try these:
OBGYN: Together Women’s Health Enters Affiliation Agreement With Women’s First OBGYN
OBGYN network Together Women’s Health completed a PE add-on deal with Michigan-based Women’s First OBGYN Center in September. The deal is reportedly the fifth Michigan-based affiliation for Together Women’s Health.
If you’re an investor interested in Women’s First OBGYN, try these:
Get the Most Out of the Playbook
If you’re an investor interested in making moves in the women’s health space, Grata can help you put the insights in this article into action.
From in-depth market research to sourcing to pipeline management and relationship nurturing, Grata’s end-to-end dealmaking platform streamlines your workflows so that you can close more deals.
Schedule a demo today to get started.
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