World’s First FemTech Trend Forecasting Agency Launches

LONDON, United Kingdom — The world’s first FemTech trend forecasting agency “Ultra Violet Futures” has launched in London to empower brands and investors to not only envisage but define the future of the burgeoning wellness category.

The company, founded by FemTech veteran Anna Butterworth and innovative Future Forecaster Rhiannon Jones, will deliver market landscape forecasts, future consumer mindsets, product trend analysis and future brand strategy to brands and businesses across a range of sectors.

As the first specialised trend forecasting agency in the space, it believes it is uniquely positioned to harness intimate industry knowledge and experience to provide insightful and, most importantly, accurate forecasts within the now thriving market, which is predicted to reach a value of more than $1.073TR by 2026.

“For years FemTech has been touted as ‘niche’ but everyone, the world over, is impacted by women’s and marginalised health, by maternal technologies and wellbeing innovations,” commented Co-Founder and Director Anna Butterworth.

“The industry has been crying out for a collective like ours that brings together dedicated forecasters with specific market knowledge, personal contacts and intimate understanding, to execute a strong vision for the future of this category. I’m surprised it’s taken this long, to be honest.”

According to Ultra Violet Futures, the impact of innovation in women’s and marginalised health reaches far beyond FemTech itself, and it endeavours to educate and inform a range of businesses across every category from health to fashion and food to construction, on the benefits of understanding emerging attitudes in the sector.

Bringing a wealth of knowledge to the table, Butterworth has been at the epicentre of the industry for over six years working for, and with, pioneering brands including Elvie, THINX, Mooncup and more. Jones, meanwhile, has shaped the future strategies of global brands across the fashion, FMCG and women’s healthcare industries, such as Superdry, HelloFresh, Mattel, Philips and Moonpig – making both perfectly placed to deliver such expertise.

And despite the rise of innovation and investment in the sector, Butterworth argues that on the whole people are still drawing on immediate data and insights rather than foresight, which is where Ultra Violet Futures comes in.

“It’s such a wide industry, but innovation without the right tools, research, data, and the right people unpacking those different elements could mean we end up in a place where there’s almost more innovation than sense,” she told Welltodo.

“In every other industry, fashion, food tech, travel etc. there are trend forecasting agencies dedicated to them. So we’re here to provide the same tools to those in FemTech.”

For example, Butterworth explained that at the moment the big global drivers like sustainability and climate change are really influencing the way people are working and making decisions. But, there’s less noise and understanding around how those conversations are going to develop — and what businesses are going to need to do to cater to those changes.

“If brands are already tapping into those insights, then they can be much more prepared, and ultimately, much more able to service those needs, rather than constantly being reactive to the here and now,” she explained.

So, what does Butterworth think are going to be the biggest challenges and opportunities for the FemTech sector moving forward?

“I’m really passionate about FemTech as a tool to drive innovation for marginalised voices or marginalised communities. And I’m really looking forward to seeing how the whole industry becomes more inclusive,” she told Welltodo.

“That’s really what the foundations of the industry were built on in the first place but we need more diversity on the creativity side, on the innovation side and on the funding side,” she added.