London, 21 October 2026 — FemTick, a new accreditation recognising organisations supporting the growth of the women’s health sector, today launches with nine founding partners spanning banking, insurance, ecommerce, and other financial and commercial services.

Founding partners include HSBC Innovation Banking, Tokio Marine Kiln and Commerce, alongside Withum, Practicus, Novabook, Mills & Reeve, LT PR and Communia, bringing together expertise across banking, insurance, ecommerce, accountancy and advisory, legal services, executive search, communications and digital platforms.

Developed by CensHERship, a global organisation addressing structural bias affecting women’s health companies, the FemTick initiative recognises the financial and commercial service providers that enable these businesses to start, operate, grow and scale – from banking and payments to insurance, underwriting, ecommerce and risk services.

The launch comes as research highlights the scale of infrastructure barriers still affecting the sector. CensHERship’s 2026 Bias Burden report found that 100% of surveyed women’s health companies had encountered barriers accessing financial or commercial services, including banking, payment processing, insurance or ecommerce platforms. More than 60% reported lost revenue as a result, while others said barriers delayed launches, disrupted operations and created additional legal and operational costs.

In many cases, the challenges stem from outdated classification systems and automated risk models that have not kept pace with modern women’s health innovation – with terms such as “menstrual”, “vagina” or “sexual health” incorrectly triggering restrictions originally designed for adult content or high-risk industries.

Instead, FemTick recognises and surfaces the financial and commercial service providers helping build the infrastructure women’s health companies need to grow and scale. It launches as women’s health is estimated to represent a $600 billion market opportunity by 2030, according to PwC.

“Women’s health is one of the largest and fastest-growing opportunities in global healthcare, yet the infrastructure supporting the sector has not always evolved at the same pace,” said Clio Wood, co-founder of CensHERship, the organisation which has developed the FemTick initiative.

“Our founding partners for FemTick recognise the scale of the opportunity and are among the first movers helping build the infrastructure needed for the sector to scale.”

The accreditation also aims to create greater visibility for founders, investors and partners seeking service providers that understand the unique regulatory, classification and operational needs of women’s health businesses.

Participating organisations complete a structured assessment of how women’s health businesses are classified, reviewed and supported, covering leadership and accountability, risk classification and policy, and culture and customer experience. Organisations must meet CensHERship’s assessment threshold to achieve FemTick accreditation.

“FemTick is about recognising what good looks like and making it visible,” said Anna O’Sullivan, co-founder of CensHERship.

“There are already banks, insurers, payment providers and other organisations actively adapting how they work to support women’s health companies, and we want to put a spotlight on them.

“Our founding partners recognise both the scale of the opportunity and the role they can play in helping the sector grow. By bringing those organisations together around a common standard, we want to help build the commercial infrastructure women’s health will need for its next stage of growth.”

The founding partners will work alongside FemTick to help shape the development of the accreditation as the initiative expands to include additional financial and commercial service providers supporting the women’s health ecosystem.

“Women’s health is a fast-growing area of healthcare innovation with significant unmet need. We’re seeing high-quality innovation across the sector, but companies still face barriers to accessing capital, commercialising their products and scaling successfully. With one of the world’s strongest innovation ecosystems, the UK is well placed to drive progress in this space, and we’re proud to support the extraordinary innovators shaping its future,” said Emma Stephens, Head of Growth and Financing, HSBC Innovation Banking UK.

“Women’s health is a fast-growing and increasingly important area of healthcare, but too many founders still face unnecessary barriers when trying to access the insurance and financial services they need to grow. As underwriters, we have a responsibility to understand emerging sectors on their own terms and to build solutions that reflect the real risks and opportunities they present. We’re proud to support FemTick as a founding insurance partner and to help create clearer, fairer pathways for women’s health businesses to scale with confidence,” said Kirsten Shastri-Moscher, Head of Life Sciences at Tokio Marine Kiln.

“As women’s health innovation continues to expand globally, access to the right financial and commercial infrastructure will increasingly matter to companies looking to scale. Initiatives like FemTick give founders greater visibility of the organisations that understand this market, while recognising the service providers investing in its long-term growth,” said Cristina Ljungberg, investor and co-founder at The Case for Her.

About FemTick
FemTick is an accreditation recognising financial and commercial service providers supporting the growth of the women’s health innovation ecosystem. Developed by CensHERship, the initiative recognises organisations building infrastructure that enables women’s health companies to start, scale and reach patients globally.

About CensHERship
CensHERship is a global initiative addressing structural bias affecting women’s health companies across digital platforms, financial services and advertising systems. The initiative works with founders, policymakers and industry partners to improve visibility, access to infrastructure and fair treatment for the women’s health sector.

Media contact
Anna O’Sullivan
Co-founder, CensHERship
anna@censhership.com
www.censhership.com