Hillel's Tech Corner: Tempdrop helps women track fertility while asleep
According to Frost & Sullivan, the femtech market is expected to reach $1.1 billion by 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 12.9%.
By HILLEL FULDTempdrop.(photo credit: Courtesy)
While most headlines today in the medical field address the need for a COVID vaccine, so much is happening outside of COVID that is getting less attention for obvious reasons. One of those industries that is growing rapidly and deserves some attention is femtech.Did you know that one-in-three women deal with bladder problems? Other common women’s health issues include autoimmune diseases, prolapse problems and gynecological health. Up until very recently, health tech innovations that specifically cater to women have been lumped into a general health category. With the rise of femtech as its own category in the past decade, healthcare for females has received a greater spotlight, making room for disruption, and inspiring new novel innovations.However, the femtech industry needs greater representation. This growing field of technology covers numerous aspects of women’s health, including fertility, birth control, menstruation, menopause, breastfeeding, sexual wellness and so much more. I’ve covered multiple Israeli femtech companies in the past, including the likes of Hela Health, and Innoventions, but there is so much more ground left to cover!According to Frost & Sullivan, the femtech market is expected to reach $1.1 billion by 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 12.9%. The market potential is great, because topics surrounding women’s health have traditionally been considered taboo. Women are now widely discovering the power of this emerging industry.More than 200 million women downloaded fertility tracking apps alone in 2018. These apps give women the ability to quickly read their individual cycle and identify their most fertile time. For those trying to conceive and running into fertility issues, tracking their cycles daily by taking their basal body temperature (BBT) gives them the power of knowing when their ovulation or fertility window is, maximizing their chances of conception.However, daily charting presents its own set of challenges. Inconsistent sleep patterns, irregular cycles, and hormonal imbalances can all affect the BBT reading. This can be even more frustrating for women who work night shifts, have erratic schedules, or are nursing babies and find themselves up at all hours. Fortunately, there is a tool for all women that lets them track their cycles while they sleep, and it is called Tempdrop.Tempdrop is a wearable device that women can place on their upper arm to record their BBT while sleeping. As we sleep, our body temperature fluctuates, creating our very own unique patterns. Tempdrop’s unique algorithm learns and pinpoints a woman’s nightly and monthly sleeping patterns and temperature by building a unique database for each woman. It then gives her valuable insights regarding her fertility, thereby granting her the ability to control her health and fertility throughout various life changes.It’s important to note that cycle tracking is more than just a tool for women trying to conceive. Many women chart their cycles to avoid pregnancy as a means of natural birth control. Others struggling with chronic hormonal disorders like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis use Tempdrop to manage their symptoms. There are also women who may choose to track their hormone health simply because they want to connect more with their own bodies’ rhythm and cycle health.Tempdrop includes two temperature sensors and an acceleration sensor. These sensors are used to acquire information on motion, ambient, and body temperature. Tempdrop then combines its two algorithms – a learning algorithm and the patent-pending Active Temperature-Noise Cancellation (ATNC™) filtering algorithm. The two algorithms learn all about an individual’s personal sleeping temperature patterns and filter out disturbances, such as changes to the sleeping environment, disturbed sleep, and other variables that affect body temperature, such as alcohol.Their syncing app is used to retrieve the recorded data. Then the user can input her results into her preferred fertility charting app manually or automatically. Until now, Tempdrop has required users to rely on a third-party charting app option, but very soon, the company will be launching their own charting feature that will provide a completely integrated solution.
Tempdrop started when founder Michael Vardi, a biomedical engineer, and his wife were struggling to conceive their second child. Inspired by their struggles, he was determined to find a better way to help his wife monitor her BBT. He launched an Indiegogo campaign and raised $24,000, through which Tempdrop was born.Tempdrop delivered its first unit in July 2017. Since then, the company sold its products, which are manufactured in Northern Israel, directly through its own online shop. They added Amazon as another online option in February 2020, which helped sales skyrocket.Tempdrop credits the support of its community for much of their success. More than 80% of their users are in the United States, and over half of their sales come organically from their community, via social media, or from women helping each other.Tempdrop’s offices are in the Ramat Hasharon area. The team is led by Michael Vardi and Sharon Gelbaum-Shpan. Vardi’s vast experience in the health arena coincided with his desire to start something of his own. Gelbaum-Shpan brings extensive experience in hi-tech and media and together they are committed to providing real women with real insights about their body.From Australia, Vardi and Gelbaum-Shpan brought in Melony Angus. Angus was one of Tempdrop’s first users and a strong backer of the initial Tempdrop campaign. She serves as a massive wealth of information for Tempdrop users and the wider community, and a critical element of Tempdrop’s growth. In addition, Shirley Pavlik is a Certified Academic Public health nurse specializing in women’s natural fertility health education and providing fertility counseling for women.The Femtech world is growing, and it’s fantastic to see Israeli solutions quickly making their mark in the space. Tempdrop was fortunate to get its start through crowdfunding efforts and the support of their community, and there is no time like the present for entrepreneurs, developers and venture capitalists to familiarize themselves with the opportunities that the femtech sector brings. Watch this space!
