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Women's health startups are worth a fifth less than their generalist-focused peers, according to a recent Silicon Valley Bank report.

Why it matters: While several men's telehealth companies quickly soared to unicorn status, women-focused startups continue to be viewed as niche — even though women make 80% of household health care decisions.

Details: Although seed-stage valuations for women's health companies were on the rise in recent years — alongside those for all health companies — that shift reversed course this year, with median valuations dropping 16% to 2021 levels, per the report.

What's happening: The lack of research on women's health could be one factor driving the gap, the SVB analysts posit. Women were first allowed to participate in clinical trials in 1993.

What they're saying: "This [dearth of data] is a roadblock when it comes to convincing investors there is a need, accurately estimating market size, receiving FDA approval, and getting reimbursement in uncharted waters," the authors of the report said.

Yes, but: Valuations could right-size as more research is gathered via campaigns such as the first White House Initiative on Women's Health Research and by women's health startups themselves.

What they're saying: The lower valuations "discount is applied to women's health companies regardless of stage or focus area," SVB lead authors Jackie Spencer and Raysa Bousleiman write.

Be smart: The women's health sector remains nascent, attaining just 6% of overall digital health venture funding in 2022.

And in 2021 when digital health hit its $29.3 billion funding peak, women's digital health only received $1 billion in total venture dollars.

Editor's note: The story has been corrected to reflect that women's health companies are worth a fifth less than (not a fifth of) their generalist-focused peer businesses.

Women's health startups consistently undervalued, per SVB report

Seed-stage women's health companies are worth a 1/5 of their generalist businesses, per the report.

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The line chart shows the median pre-money valuations for seed stage companies in women's health and overall health sectors from 2018 to 2023. It highlights a steady increase in valuations for both sectors, with women's health experiencing more significant growth but consistently lower valuations.

Women&#x27;s health startups are worth a fifth less than their generalist-focused peers, according to a recent Silicon Valley Bank <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="report" data-vars-click-url="https://www.svb.com/trends-insights/reports/womens-health-report/" data-vars-content-id="f098d643-6813-4db0-a30c-3500507e5631" data-vars-headline="Women&#x27;s health startups consistently undervalued, per SVB report" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.svb.com/trends-insights/reports/womens-health-report/" target="_blank">report</a>.Why it matters: While several men&#x27;s telehealth companies quickly soared to unicorn status, women-focused startups continue to be viewed as niche — even though women make <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="80%" data-vars-click-url="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25418222/#:~:text=Women%20in%20the%20United%20States,for%20themselves%20and%20their%20families." data-vars-content-id="f098d643-6813-4db0-a30c-3500507e5631" data-vars-headline="Women&#x27;s health startups consistently undervalued, per SVB report" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25418222/#:~:text=Women%20in%20the%20United%20States,for%20themselves%20and%20their%20families." target="_blank">80%</a> of household health care decisions.

Women's health startups consistently undervalued, per SVB report

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