“I was just incredibly angry that we don’t get the innovation that we need because a bunch of guys are embarrassed to talk about vaginas,” Gerner tells Stylist. “So that’s what propelled me to tell this story. I knew that I wanted to put all my energy into this space, write a book about it and bring it into the mainstream.”

To achieve this admirable goal, she interviewed 100 people, not only founders but researchers, investors and all kinds of people involved in the industry. “I immersed myself into the space for three years and went to conferences, pitch events, sessions for healthcare professionals – everything I could find on the topic across multiple countries,” she says. “I saw close to a thousand companies and chose the ones that were most inspiring to feature in the book.”

Has the women’s health space changed since she started investigating in 2018? Awareness has increased, with various factors helping to shift the dial, including Covid and the rise of at-home testing, the femtech movement in general and the advent of celebrities becoming more vocal on the subject, from Gwyneth Paltrow talking about pelvic floor exercises to Meghan Markle speaking openly about her miscarriage. Gerner reports that in the last year, 4.3% of the total venture capitalist investment in healthcare companies has gone into women’s health, a woefully small percentage but nonetheless a 59% increase on the previous year.

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