Some markets follow this script: A need appears. Entrepreneurs respond. Capital flows in. Eventually, the sector matures and innovation accelerates. But some markets don’t follow that script.
In a recent episode of Blindspot Capital, I sat down with Lindsay Davis, founder of FemTech Association Asia, to talk about what it actually takes to build women’s health markets in Southeast Asia.
When Lindsay moved to Singapore in 2020, she wasn’t planning to work in women’s health. But what she noticed was difficult to ignore: founders, policymakers, and investors were all present, but disconnected. There was no shared infrastructure, no unified ecosystem, and no clear pathway for innovation to scale. So she started building.
What began as a simple act of connecting people has evolved into one of the largest specialist networks for women’s health innovation across Asia spanning research, partnerships, founder support, and ecosystem development.
But this conversation is not about startup growth. It’s about what has to exist before growth is even possible.
We talk about:
Ecosystem building before capital: why markets don’t emerge fully formed and why infrastructure matters long before funding arrives
The education burden on founders: how stigma and low awareness shape how companies are built in Asia
Regional complexity: why Southeast Asia is not a single market, but a matrix of cultures, systems, and behaviors
The visibility gap: how lack of data and precedent keeps women’s health overlooked by investors
Capital flows in Asia: where femtech funding is actually coming from and how that is beginning to shift
What emerges from this conversation is a different understanding of women’s health.
🎧 Watch the full episode on YouTube
📄 Learn more about FemTech Association Asia and share this episode.
