Women’s health innovators face an arduous path to success in Australia

For Tara Croft, keeping her women’s health company in Australia has meant repeatedly slowing down because the money was not there. Croft, the chief executive of Baymatob, said developing Oli, a $25 million AI-powered sensor for pregnancy and childbirth, had been “exceptionally difficult”.

“

exceptionally difficult

She told the Women’s Health and Wellbeing summit in Sydney that she had completed three funding rounds, with 30% of the capital coming from offshore and about half of her funding coming through government grants. Stronger investor support, she said, could have brought the product to market two or three years earlier. “I’ve had to pull the handbrake on so many times because we didn’t have the capital to do what we needed to do.”

Croft argued that Australia has the talent and research to “teach the world what good looks like in women’s health”. But she said the country needs an innovation ecosystem comparable with the systems built around other major industries. She hoped local success stories would help create that environment and reduce the pressure on companies to move overseas.

“

I’ve had to pull the handbrake on so many times because we didn’t have the capital to do what we needed to do.

Associate Professor Helen Frazer, clinical director at St Vincent’s BreastScreen, said she had spent much of the past decade writing grant applications for an AI tool that detects breast cancer and estimates risk. Most were unsuccessful, she said, and short periods of intermittent funding made it impossible to build the multidisciplinary teams needed for major innovation.

“

teach the world what good looks like in women’s health

Ariella Heffernan-Marks, founder of the health app Ovum, said her company secured funding from investors focused on social impact and the gender health gap. The app helps women track symptoms, manage medical records and advocate for their healthcare needs. After launching 12 months earlier, she used Australia as a testing market before expanding internationally.

“

We do need to reform the research funding system because little bouts, of two to three years of intermittent funding, it’s just not possible to build the multidisciplinary teams that you need to build a great innovation.