Founder Journey: Humbled & Hyped

So my ego got a little too protein-packed after All Things Femtech got recognized at a couple of European conferences… thought I could just casually stroll into Sis.Global NYC like ✨media✨ would unlock doors. Spoiler: it did not 😂

You win some, you get politely turned away from others. But honestly, I’m grateful. Been meeting the coolest founders lately and feeling so inspired. The show goes on.

Follow my live updates on IG.

All Things Femtech is an entirely reader-supported publication that unpacks the psychology behind what young women are actually buying and why. If you read it every week and find these cultural insights valuable, consider liking or sharing this essay or becoming a paid subscriber! Or consider buying me a coffee instead!

Gen Z Decode: Body Positivity Paradox

Today’s dispatch is a breakdown of a wellness contradiction we’re all watching unfold in real time. How Gen Z publicly champions body positivity while privately chasing thinness through gym IG selfies, GLP-1 injections, and TikTok trends dressed up as "health journeys."

What we're seeing isn't thinness going ‘underground' but rather multiple, sometimes contradictory standards coexisting across different spaces. Here the progress is real like brands featuring more diverse bodies, expanded sizing, and authentic representation aren't just performative gestures. At the same time, structural incentives across social media, fashion, and wellness industries continue to reward certain body types while creating new pressures through 'optimization' language.

This isn't about uncovering hypocrisy so much as recognizing that cultural change is uneven, with genuine shifts in representation occurring alongside persistent patterns of idealization. The most interesting aspect isn't that thin ideals persist but that Gen Z is actively negotiating these competing value systems, sometimes embodying both simultaneously.

We’re seeing a full-on resurgence of aesthetic-driven wellness, particularly across TikTok where the newest wave of health content has been coined #SkinnyTok. In this corner of the app, calorie deficits are aspirational, "what I eat in a day" videos have returned with a vengeance. It's retro diet culture with a filter and it's being rebranded as discipline, health, and empowerment.

Body positivity, at its core, is about embracing bodies that have historically been marginalized or deemed undesirable. It's not about everyone loving their body all the time. It’s a structural counterpoint to toxic beauty expectations. But somewhere between brand messaging and TikTok trends, the meaning got flattened. Gen Z may know what body positivity should be, but their personal health routines often tell a different story.

Here’s the data:

• 51% of Gen Z feel pressure to “get in shape” for vacations
  ↳ Social media is cited as the #1 driver

• 50% rely on social media for weight-loss advice
  ↳ Only 35% consult a doctor

• 73% have a gym or health club membership
  ↳ Gen Z also made up ~29% of new gym members in early 2024

• 47% list “improve appearance” as a key exercise motive
  ↳ Even though holistic health ranks higher overall

• 37% plan to use GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic in 2025
  ↳ The highest of any generation

• +594% increase in GLP-1 prescriptions among ages 12–25 from 2020–2023
  ↳ Usage among females aged 18–25 spiked 659%

  

What’s striking is the disconnect. Gen Z is the most vocal generation when it comes to dismantling beauty standards. And yet, they’re also the most eager to hack their way toward the same outcomes that those standards always rewarded.

Some predictions:

1. The rise of "functional physique" messaging - Rather than promoting weight loss directly, brands will increasingly frame body transformation through performance metrics and functional benefits. Watch for campaigns emphasizing "mobility," "recovery capacity," and "metabolic efficiency" - all code for aesthetic goals but with scientific legitimacy.

2. Medical wellness stratification - GLP-1 access will create two distinct wellness markets. Those who can afford medical interventions and those pursuing traditional methods. This divide will drive class-specific wellness identities, with high-end brands subtly targeting the medically-enhanced segment while mass market brands embrace more accessible approaches.

Don’t confuse the campaign with the consumer. Gen Z is navigating a deeply contradictory landscape, where the desire to be seen and the pressure to perform are inseparable. Gen Z’s behavior thus reveals a duality.

The coexistence of body-positive rhetoric and a renewed thinness chase puts femtech and wellness brands in a tricky position: How to validate all bodies and encourage self-love, while also addressing consumers’ very real demand for appearance-driven solutions?

Share

Curation:

• Concerns raised over lack of female-only medical trials in the UK (Guardian)

• Roblox expands into physical commerce, targeting Gen Z shoppers (BI)

• Gen Z redefines economic indicators through social media trends (WSJ)

• Venture capital funding for women's health hits new high, but policy upheaval poses challenges (MedtechDive)

• WELL Health Technologies initiates share repurchase plan (FT)

• Daily endometriosis pill approved for NHS could help 1,000 women a year (Guardian)

• Oura Ring Enhances Menstrual Tracking (Tom’s Guide)

• Oral Contraceptives Linked to Increased Stroke Risk (Medical Press)

Deal sheet and Fundraising:

• SpotitEarly, a breast cancer detection startup using AI and trained dogs, raised $20.3M to expand into the U.S. market. (Femtech Insider)

  Loading...

  ---

Who’s Hiring?

Hims & Hers is the leading health and wellness platform, on a mission to help the world feel great through the power of better health.

• Lead Copywriter, Organic Content - US

• Sr. Manager, Financial Planning & Strategy - US Remote

• Manager, Paid Social Performance Marketing - US Remote

• HR Generalist - US

The Cycle: Making of a Deal, Fundraising Reality Check

Fundraising right now is not for the faint of heart. Rejections feel more personal. The market feels more skeptical. And even the VCs who “get it” might still ask, Can you prove traction before we write a check?

So I’m here to tell you, it’s not just you.

Last week, I listened in on a conversation between a founder and investor (from a deeptech startup) who just closed a pre-seed round in NYC. While their product was in data infrastructure, the way they navigated the round and the relationship that led to it, was packed with insights any femtech founder can use.

Relationships > Transactional Reach-Outs
The investor didn’t write a check after pitch #1 or #5. It took over a year of in-person run-ins, intentional updates, and being part of the same ecosystem. They saw each other at niche breakfasts, underground dinners, and founder-led events and not demo days or cold intros.

In femtech, especially, where credibility isn’t assumed, don’t wait until you’re “ready to raise” to show up. Be visible before you're fundraising.

Community Building Is a Fundraising Hack
The founder spent early fundraising days hitting 3 events a night. Later, she narrowed it down to highly relevant rooms, brunches in her area of expertise, not just generalist founder happy hours.

At pre-seed, you’re building trust capital. Post-product, be strategic. Find the people who can actually write your check or refer someone who will. Start by curating your own breakfast series or roundtables. Community is credibility.

How VCs Actually Remember You
One investor tracks everyone he meets in a spreadsheet. Another remembers you by your story. But they both agree that surface-level convos go nowhere. The interactions that stick? Casual, human, and personal.

Founders who show up, share early wins, and don’t pitch too soon are remembered. Focus on making an impression, not a transaction.

Storytelling Is the Investor’s Job, Too
When you’re pre-revenue, pre-regulatory approval, or in a new vertical like vaginal health or AI-powered diagnostics, your job is to sell clarity. But it’s your investor’s job to package that clarity for their LPs.

Help them tell your story. Give them punchy framing, conviction-building market trends, and proof points that don’t scream "hype." Fundraising isn’t just about being fundable, but also being easy to explain.

This Market Still Punishes Non-Obvious Bets
The founder had to raise in chunks, a 25k check here and another 100k there, sometimes unsure of payroll. She pitched for over a year. Then the institutional check came months into the process. The investor had to rally LPs through macro fear, post-election jitters, and public-market caution.

If you’re building in femtech—a vertical still misunderstood by many GPs—you will face friction. Don’t let that be your stopping point. Most startups don’t faill, their founders just stop showing up.

NYC vs SF: Choose Your Hard
NYC is more skeptical. More due diligence. More grounded. But also: more human. Founders get grilled. But if you win here, your business is more resilient.

Femtech already operates outside the hype cycle. That makes NYC a strategic place to build investor conviction the hard way and create a stronger company in the process.