Women’s health represents both a vast unmet need and a trillion-dollar opportunity. Despite living longer than men, women spend 25% more of their lives in ill health. Health burdens have a heavy impact on women’s lives, with ripple effects for broader society. Despite this, innovation and investment in women-focused healthcare has historically lagged. Closing this gap is not only about equity and improving lives - it also represents a major economic opportunity.

A recent McKinsey Health Institute report highlights that addressing women’s health more effectively could generate huge societal and financial benefits. Solutions in this space could:

• Improve lives: by closing critical gaps in care, from menstrual health to maternal wellbeing.

• Boost economies: the women’s health gap represents a $1 trillion annual lost economic opportunity globally.

• Offer compelling returns for investors: women’s health is a rapidly expanding market where innovation is long overdue, and new companies can establish attractive market positions.

• Deliver public sector savings: for example, one UK study cited by McKinsey found that for every £1 of public investment into obstetrics and gynaecology services in England, there is an 11-fold financial return in cost savings and productivity gains.

Eka Ventures

This alignment of health impact, financial returns, and systemic savings is exactly why Snowball backs funds like Eka. Eka has announced its first three investments from Fund 2, which are focused on women’s health. This is a very broad and underserved area which has been an important part of Eka’s thesis since Day 1. These range from postnatal, to menstrual health, to endometriosis diagnostics with very different go to market motions and expertise sets within the Founding teams. All of these companies are great examples of Eka’s Shared Value thesis, which you can read about here.

Reimaging expert-led and accessible postnatal care - Hesta Health

What they do

Hesta is building a new benchmark for women’s healthcare, starting with comprehensive postnatal care. Its platform combines digital tools with in-person clinical support, offering milestone-led care pathways that address pelvic health, breastfeeding, and mental health.

Why it matters

Postnatal care is one of the most critical - and neglected - stages of women’s health. By closing this gap, Hesta aims to improve recovery and long-term well-being for millions of new mothers and birthing parents.

Foundational nutrition for menstrual health - Ditto Daily

What they do

Ditto Daily is creating clinically backed supplements that improve women’s everyday health. Its first product targets menstrual cycle symptoms, using advanced delivery technology to enhance absorption. Early trials show significant reductions in symptom severity.

Why it matters

With millions of women facing monthly pain and disruption, Ditto is translating academic science into accessible consumer products - bridging the gap between research and real-world solutions.

Combining tissue and computation to treat endometriosis - Cyclana

What they do

Cyclana Bio is building a data and research platform for a condition affecting around 1 in 10 women but still poorly understood and underfunded. By using menstrual fluid to create novel health insights, Cyclana Bio aims to unlock better diagnostics and treatment pathways.

Why it matters

Endometriosis causes years of pain, infertility, and reduced quality of life, yet the time to diagnosis averages nearly a decade. Cyclana Bio’s approach could revolutionise the way therapeutic discovery is performed.

Investing in a healthcare system designed for women

Eka’s women’s health portfolio already spans three critical stages: postnatal care, menstrual health, and endometriosis. Together, these businesses represent a step toward a healthcare system that is designed for women.

At Snowball, we’re excited to see our capital at work through funds like Eka - backing entrepreneurs who combine deep clinical expertise, scientific innovation, and scalable business models to tackle some of the most pressing gaps in healthcare.

About Eka Ventures

Eka is a UK seed-stage venture capital fund focused on consumer technology companies that enable sustainable consumption and/or consumer health. They lead pre-seed and seed rounds with £1-3m initial tickets into companies. To date, they have backed companies like Runna, Axle, and Flok Health.