Paltrow has an oral supplement called Madame Ovary. Actor Naomi Watts has Stripes, a wellness brand. Actor Judy Greer has a line of plant-based supplements, Wile. This is not just a bunch of women channelling experience into entrepreneurship. The global menopause market hit $15.4 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $24.4 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research.
Earlier this year, former Bond girl Halle Berry yelled: “I’m in menopause.” For something usually talked about sotto voce, if at all, this is a step up. Menopause is having a moment—and not just globally. Closer home, menopause— peri or otherwise—is being demystified by pro-age influencers and dispensed via those bite-sized panacea to all our problems: Reels.
panacea to all our problems: Reels. Siddhant Mishra, founding member of Bengaluru-based Elda Health that handholds women through their menopausal journey, says this is just the tip of the iceberg. Mishra, along with cofounders Swathi Kulkarni and Dr Ameya Kanakiya, launched Elda Health in 2020, starting with community building. “Women health in general, other than pregnancy, doesn’t get talked about,” he says. Elda wants to create a safe space for women to discuss midlife and its attendant issues. Today, the Elda app helps over 85,000 women navigate through their menopause. In a LinkedIn post in 2022, Mishra wrote how his mother did not talk about what she was experiencing. Why? Because midlife symptoms are still a taboo. Studies have shown that Indian women on average hit menopause at 47, a few years earlier than their counterparts in the West. Premature menopause, at 30-39 years, is on the rise. Yet there are few resources to help them.
Growing demand
While the segment is underfed, there is tremendous demand for what is on offer, says Mishra. In 2021, Elda launched its app and got a seed funding of $1.5 million. In 2023, they launched four nutraceuticals. “In the first two months, we saw 45% repeat purchases and a 50% growth, month-on-month,” he says.
Sanjith Shetty, founder of Miror, was inspired by the women in his life —his mother and wife—to start a digital health platform for periand menopausal women. “For nearly half their life, women go through stages of perimenopause and menopause with very little information about it,” he says. Shetty started Miror to bridge the information gap and create a community. He is convinced of the immense opportunity, but is not ready for VC funding. In July, Miror launched Revive, a nutraceutical. Although it costs over `1,100, it has seen 68% return customers. He says, “Supplements are a revenue generator but India is not yet a mature supplements market.” Shetty says the focus is to create conversations so that more women demand better. “When women demand solutions, companies will help fill the gap,” he adds.
Women are demanding them, as is evinced by many women-led femtech brands that offer solutions based on their experiences with healthcare services in India. For instance, Menoveda, a Noida-based startup that specialises in ayurvedic supplements for menopause, was founded by Tamanna Singh in December 2022, as a response to what she went through at 42 after experiencing perimenopausal symptoms.
Singh saw a market gap in India for customised solutions. Menoveda offers supplements to handle various menopausal issues. Singh says they have seen a 200% jump, month-on-month, in customer base. “If women take care of themselves in middle age, it will determine the quality of life for the next 30 years. I feel this is the last generation to feel apologetic about taking care of themselves,” she says. Next year, Singh aims to take Menoveda to the US market.
Shaili Chopra and Swarnima Bhattacharya, cofounders of Gytree that developed India’s first plant-based protein for menopausal women, feel strongly about women’s health. Bhattacharya says women’s healthcare needs to be looked through a gendered lens— and beyond gynaecology. “We have recently started focusing on menopause as a category. Menopause is talked about only in the context of period cycle being over. That’s oversimplified. What about perimenopause that can range from 5 to 15 years,” she says.
“There’s a medical and cultural invisibilisation of women as they age,” says Bhattacharya. “And they get even more deprioritised on the medical scale. What is helping demand is that women are reasserting themselves.” Bhattacharya says the lack of awareness among women remains the biggest challenge. Gytree formally launched a Meno Club on World Menopause Day, October 18.
Vibha Harish, cofounder of Cosmix, a superfoods solutions company, says, “Menopause is not like PCOS or diabetes that only a few go through. Half the world’s population experiences it, yet effective solutions have been lacking.” Cosmix has a blend called What Women Want but Harish says they want to create conversations around menopause, not just products. “The current focus of femtech on menopause is not hype; it’s a long-overdue response to a significant healthcare need.”
Deep Bajaj, cofounder of Sirona Hygiene, says the growing focus on menopause is driven by women themselves. “The femtech space is responding to this demand.” Sirona makes vaginal lubricants and incontinence pads to tackle issues during this phase, aims to develop a broader range of products and is building a community.
Check with your doctor
The change is coming slowly and surely, says embryologist, author and medical content creator Dr Tanaya Narendra, more popular as Dr Cuterus. But medical professionals are wary of nutraceuticals as a solution. Dr Annapoorna, specialist, obstetrics & gynaecology, KIMS Health, Thiruvananthapuram, says menopause and perimenopause are part of ageing process. “Yes, menopause can have a big impact on your life. To counter these, you can seek lifestyle modifications.” She suggesting talking to one’s doctor before taking supplements and nutraceuticals as there is a lack of studies indicating how safe and effective they are. Narendra says if one has to try them, go for trusted brands that ideally have some data to back their claims and to check reviews or some studies. She adds, “The need for conversation is there, but the need for products is not.”
Yet, women are open to trying the products. Entrepreneur Swati Seth, 46, got multivitamins for perimenopausal women and felt they worked to an extent. Similarly, trainer and consultant Shweta Sankhla, 41, tried primrose oil capsules and magnesium supplements but says she combined them with proper exercise. Narendra says boring things like exercise and eating right help more than supplements.
The annual global economic impact of menopause, due to productivity loss and healthcare costs, is estimated to be $150 billion, according to a Bloomberg report. There is a huge business opportunity. Shetty says it’s not going to be a blockbuster overnight. “You have to keep up the tempo and survive.” But this current wave is not a (hot) flash in the pan
